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Culture and Sport

Catalonia is a country with a deeply-rooted appreciation of culture An example which speaks for itself is the celebration of Saint George´s Day: according to tradition the ladies are presented with a rose by their admirers, while they in turn offer their menfolk a book. The streets are filled with flowers and books, forming a perfect symbiosis between sentimentality and culture.

There are few countries in which artists and writers receive as much attention as in Catalonia. However this love of their own culture does not stop Catalonia being one of the most receptive countries towards new ideas and tendencies emerging from the international world of culture.

This love of culture can only be compared with the Catalonian dedication to Thousands of sporting associations form a formidable propulsive network for Catalonian sport which has produced some first-class sportsmen and women on both the Catalonian and the international sports scene. There are also clubs and teams for dozens of disciplines which incite mass feelings of enthousiasm and support.

Catalonia is well equipped both for culture and sport. There are excellent facilities in both fields, such as the "Orfeó Catalan" (Choral Society) and the Picasso, Dalí and Science museums, or the Barcelona Football Club Stadium and the Catalonian Automobile Circuit, in which Formula 1 and international motorcycling championships are held on a regular basis.

Culture

Festivities l Cuisine l The Art | Saint George´s Day |

Festivities

Catalonia’s festivals and traditions unify Catalan society and help to give it its particular character. Amongst the most striking of festive events are the "Correfocs", in which devils play with fire and with the people. These devils are not the incarnation of evil; they are sprightly and festive, dancing to the sound of the tambour and the traditional oboe, while they set off their fireworks.

But perhaps the most spectacular of the Catalan festivals are those of the "colles castelleres", groups of enthusiasts who form impressive human towers. This is an old tradition of the Tarragona region, which has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, and has become a real spectacle, or sport, that attracts thousands of Catalans. Amongst other important festivities are the carnival in Vilanova i la Geltrú and the Patum in Berga.

Then, there is the very special music of the cobles, the wind bands that play "sardanas". The sardana is a circular, open dance, that originated in the north of the country, and is now danced in many squares and streets. Anyone can join in.

Cuisine

Catalan cooking is above all a gastronomic version of the famous Mediterranean diet. Therefore, it combines a very special quality with healthy eating. Notable is fish on its own, or in a multitude of more complex dishes such as suquet, or in combination with rice.

Rice is the basis of a number of gastronomic delights such as arròs a banda or "arròs negre", which are other examples of seafood dishes.

Vegetables are another crucial component, either raw in several sorts of traditional salad, or cooked, as in espinacs a la catalana (spinach), escalivada (red peppers and aubergines) or "samfaina" (peppers, tomato, onion and garlic).

The calçotada. One of the typical vegetables of the country, calçots, spring onions grilled over hot embersis the centre of festive gatherings spent in the countryside, at which the main event is the meal.

Meat also plays an important role, with Catalan beef being exported all over Europe, as well as pork products

There are three particular items that combine apparent simplicity with a very special quality. One is a sauce to go with meat, allioli; another is a sauce to go with fish, romesco; and the other is pa amb tomàquet, which is simply bread rubbed with a ripe tomato and sprinkled with olive oil and salt.

Catalonia´s Olive Oils too combine quality with healthiness, particularly the oils of Siurana, Les Garrigues and the districts in the southern part of Tarragona, the latter with a very vigorous flavour.

Fruit, including citrus fruit, is found in great variety in Catalonia. As are pastries; in fact, every festival in Catalonia has its own sweet: crema catalana for Saint Joseph’s day, mones de pasqua for Easter, panellets for All Saints’ Day, torrons for Christmas, and so on.

Almost certainly the Catalan agricultural product that is best-known internationally is cava. Cava is a sparkling wine made by the champenoise method, but differs from other sparkling wines on account of some of the exclusive varieties of white grape used. It is now the best-selling sparkling wine in the world. There are also important still wines, of which historically the whites have been most prominent, although in recent years more reds have been emerging.

There is also a Catalan cuisine that seeks to prepare imaginative, creative dishes, the fruit of the wisdom of true artists, who are the heirs of a long and fertile culinary tradition.
The work of two typical cooks of this new generation has made a great impact on the world of gastronomy, and they have received international recognition.

Ferran Adrià, chef at "El Bulli", a restaurant set in the countryside of the Costa Brava, at Cala Montjoi, received his third star from the prestigious Michelin guide in 1996, and was awarded 19 points out of 20 by the famous gastronomic guide Gault-Millau France 95.

Santi Santamaria, chef at "El Racó de Can Fabes", in Sant Celoni, in the foothills of the Montseny, was also awarded a third star in the 1994 edition of the Michelin guide.

The "Ca l’Isidre" restaurant in Barcelona was included by the International Herald Tribune critic Patricia Wells in her list of the 20 best restaurants in the world.

These three restaurants that have earned the highest international prestige are just examples of the great Mediterranean culinary richness that can be found in Catalonia.

The Art

Traditionally Catalonia and her people have taken keen interest in the cultivation of the arts. This has meant a growth in infrastructures for the arts, while Catalonia has given the world artists of world renown. At the moment, Catalonia has 293 cinemas, 501 theatres and 803 sales d'exposicions, as well as 491 concert halls and auditoriums.
There are many Catalan artists who have been highly successful and are recognised all around the world.

Montserrat Caballé and Josep Carreras

Painters such as Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró or Antoni Tàpies, singers such as Josep Carreras, Jaume Aragall, Joan Pons, Montserrat Caballé, musicians such as Robert Gerhard, Enric Granados, Francesc Tàrrega, Ferran Sors, Jordi Savall, acclaimed architects such as Josep Maria Sert, Oriol Bohigas or Ricard Bofill, theatre companies such as El Tricicle, La Fura dels Baus, the Comediants or Josep Maria Flotats, the current director of the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, popular singers such as Lluís Llach, Joan Manuel Serrat, Maria del Mar Bonet or Raimon provide a small sample of the artistic activities of Catalans of the past and present. Many of these have become veritable ambassadors of their country wherever they have gone.

Pau Casals

This was the case with the outstanding’cellist Pau Casals who, at one of the worst moments in Catalonia’s national life, addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations to reaffirm his nationality and the desire of all Catalans for national redress. The admirable work of Jordi Savall, both as conductor and instrumentalist, should also be mentioned.

Because of this relationship with the Catalan language, Catalan literature is a very special aspect of the national culture. Many important works are written in Catalan, and increasingly these are appearing in translation in other languages. Since the Middle Ages, Catalan literature has been able to boast authors of outstanding significance, such as the mediaeval writers Ramon Llull, Ausiàs Marc anb Joanot Martorell, or Salvador Espriu and Mercè Rodoreda in the 20th century.

Saint George's Day

For the fourth consecutive time, the Government of Catalonia is running the campaign to promote World Book Day, this year in collaboration with 26 countries, the most recent to join in being Brazil, Hungary and Poland. The graphic element of the campaign is a glass raised in a toast to celebrate Catalonia's success in introducing this great cultural festival to the world.

Lastly, the International Publishers Association, in agreement with UNESCO, has taken a further step to turn World Book Day into an institution by setting up a foundation. This is the International World Book Day Foundation, which is to be based in Geneva. In addition, each country can create its own foundation for the same purpose, which will form part of the international foundation. On 3 March, Catalonia saw the founding of the Catalan Private World Book Day Foundation, established for this purpose. As a result, the next Catalan World Book Day Campaign, for the year 2000, will be run by this foundation.

The Catalan foundation will work with and co-ordinate its action with the International World Book Day Foundation. In this way, the formal, solemn declaration of UNESCO will be supported by institutions in Catalonia and elsewhere, the aim of which will be to make this Catalan tradition a great celebration of culture around the entire world.

Sport

Although golf is not a sport of the masses in Catalonia, most of the existing courses have been laid out to satisfy the growing native demand, while not forgetting the many tourists who visit the country every year. The benign climate makes Catalonia an ideal place for golfers.
According to 1995 figures, Catalonia has 30 golf courses. Most of them are in the Girona region, but there are also important courses around Barcelona, on the Costa Daurada and even in the Pyrenees.

In recent years, interest in adventure sports has been growing all over the world. Because of its geographical situation, with many mountains and many rivers with rapids, is an ideal place for the practice of many of these new sports. The Pyrenees has become a centre for sports such as white-water rafting or hang-gliding. At the seaside, water-scooters, windsurfing and other water sports are popular.

Other clubs and individual sports men and women have made their mark in international competitions. Joventut de Badalona "La Penya" basketball club have been European champions. This team, and the town of Badalona, are part of the history of Catalan and European basketball.

In individual sport, too, several Catalans have played a leading role. In tennis, Sergi Bruguera and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in particular. Àlex Crivillé, Jordi Tarrés, Marc Colomer, Sito Pons, Carles Mas, Salvador Servià, amongst many others, are some of the Catalans who have achieved success in international motorcycling.
Mountaineering has many devotees in Catalonia. A Catalan expedition raised the flag of the four bars on the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest, for the first time on 28 August 1985.

All this dedication to sport, both popular and high-level, means that Catalonia has an extensive variety of sports facilities, some of them known around the world.

Barcelona Olympic Games 1992

When, on 25 July 1992, the archer Antonio Rebollo released his arrow to start the Barcelona Olympic Games, that arrow had behind it the force of the whole of Catalan sport, of thousands of small sports clubs which, together with the whole of the people of Catalonia, had turned the dream into reality.
It was the moment of recognition for the efforts of generations of Catalans who had worked for sport and culture. It was the logical outcome of the recognition afforded by the International Olympic Committee in 1923, when they awarded the Olympic Cup.

Of all the innumerable local sports clubs and associations, by far the most important is the Futbol Club Barcelona, with over 100,000 members and sections for numerous sports. It is one of the world’s leading sporting bodies.

The symbiosis between FC Barcelona and the collective feeling of the Catalans can be experienced wherever one of the club’s teams goes to play. The final of the European Cup of 1992 was a clear example. Barcelona’s triumph was celebrated as a triumph for all Catalans.

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