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The Catalan Countries have 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 the Catalan Countries. However this love of their own culture does
not stop the Catalan Countries
being one of the most receptive nations 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.
The Catalan Countries are 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.
Valencia's, Balear's
and Catalonia’s festivals and traditions unify its 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.
Politically the Catalan Countries are, at the present, 3 Autonomous Communities within the Spanish state plus a region of the French state. They have 3 parliaments, which, however, have little legislative power, and 3 autonomous government called Govern Balear, Generalitat Valenciana and Generalitat de Catalunya. They became part of the Spanish state in 1707-1714. In those years, the army of the kingdom of Castlile invaded the Catalan Countries and from then on they were no longer a sovereign state.
Until the present, the Castilian
kings, at first, and then the different Spanish governments and dictatures have
tried to eliminate the Catalan cultural identity and create animosity between
the Catalans and the rest of the people in the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless
the Catalans have managed to keep their language and traditions alive and we,
the Catalans, continue to claim the sovereignty that was ours but was taken
from us by armed force.
More than the 30% of the population is in favour of independence: we demand complete national sovereignty for the Catalan Countries, that is total political independence from France and Spain.
