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An enterprising country

Catalonia is a country with a creative capacity and will which is made manifest by its rich, active and powerful civilsociety. There are at present 21,198 associations of every variety distributed throughout all the districts ofCatalonia. These associations perform an important role in the social cohesion of the country and they also make it easier for people to become integrated into the Catalan social fabric, whether they come from other corners of the peninsula or from the rest of the world.

This tradition of people coming together has driving force behind associations such as the Catalan Ramblers’ Association, the Omnium Cultural, the Catalan Choral Society (the Orfeó Català) People spend a good part of their free time involved in the activities of these and many smaller organisations and they are a tower of strength for the organisation of large scale events.

On the occasion of the Olympic Games, a hundred thousand Olympic Volunteers formed a body of people to help in the organisational tasks involved. This spirit of voluntary activity extends to many fields including social work.

l Catalonia: a land of reference l