Our Etwins: Spain (Catalonia) El Bosc de la Pabordia School, Girona
Girona
Barcelona
Lleida
Tarragona
Important cities - Landmarks
Girona
Cathedral of Girona It is the Cathedral with the big nave of the world. It was built between 715 and 785.
The Lioness Bottom
Call Joeu
The Lioness is a sculpture of a lioness situated in “El Barri Vell” of Girona. The tradition says that if you want to come to Girona you have to kiss its bottom.
The Call Joeu is situated in the “Barri Vell” of Girona. This Jewish neighbourhood is the best preserved in Spain.
Girona
The Wall of Girona
River (Onyar)
The wall of Girona is the conjunction of defensive elements (castles, towers) and its all around the city of Girona. It was built by the Romans to protect the city during the war in the 14th-15th century.
The river Onyar is situated in Catalonia and it is approximately 220km. It is the most important river in Girona. Some of the cities that are near of the river Onyar are: Girona, Vilovà d’Onyar, Riudellots de la Selva.
Barcelona
Sagrada Familia
Casa Batllo
La Pedrera
The Sagrada Familia is a very famous cathedral in Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi, a famous Catalan architect. They started building the Sagrada Familia in 1882 and haven’t finished yet.
It is a big house with big beautiful stained glass windows. It was designed in 1903 by Gaudi.
La Pedrera is a very famous landmark in Barcelona. It is part of the World Heritage of Unesco. It was designed by Gaudi and it was built between 1906 and 1910.
Barcelona
Guell Palace Guell Palace is a building situated in the centre of Barcelona. It was designed by Gaudi and it was built between 1885 and 1890.
Park Guell Park Guell is a big garden made with architectural elements. It was built on the top of Barcelona by Gaudi from 1900-1914.
Barcelona
The Agbar Tower The Agbar Tower was built between 2001-2004. It is 128 meters high. The architect who designed the tower was Jean Nouvel. It’s an important landmark of Barcelona.
Theatre Liceu Liceu theatre is one of the most important theatres in Catalonia and it was designed by Miguel Carriga Roca, Josep Oriol Mestres and Ignasi de Sola Morales. This theatre opened in April 1840.
Lleida
La Seu Vella The Seu Vella is a cathedral and a fortification. It’s situated in a mountain in Tarragona.
La Suda or Castell del Rei La Suda is situated in Lleida (Catalonia). In fact, it is situated in La seu Vella de Lleida. It is a big castle and it was built between 1032 and 1036.
Tarragona
Roman Circus The roman circus is located in Tarragona and it is a very big roman circus. It was used for racing chariots, normally pulled by two or four horses. It was built in 186 AD.
Central Market The Central Market in Tarragona was built in 1915. It is a rectangular 75Ă—35 metres. Inside the market there are lots of vegetables and fruit stalls.
Tarragona
Amphitheatre of Tarragona It was built in Tarraco, Tarragona in the middle of 2nd century BC. It is a Roman building. There Romans celebrated fights, sometimes with wild animals.
Tarragona Cathedral
Castle Montblanc
The Tarragona Cathedral was built in the 12th century. Its style is roman.
Montblanc is a very big castle. This castle is in Conca de BarbarĂ , South of Tarragona.
Typical Catalan Food
Pa amb tomaquet This is bread with tomato, olive oil and salt and it represents the sea and the mountains like Catalonia which is surrounded by the Pyrenees and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.
Brunyols Brunyols is a type of sweet dough and is eaten in “Semana Santa� =Easter Week.
Panellets The panelletes are small cakes made with marzipan. They are a traditional dessert for All Saints holiday. On All Saints day the bells had to ring all night so that people would not forget the faithful departed. At midnight, the church goers went to share nuts, biscuits, candy and sweet wine with the bell-ringers.
La Mona “Mona de Pasque� is a cake with eggs on top. The first egg givers at Easter were bird eggs. These eggs were painted in bright colours to give them a further meaning as a gift. We still paint eggs today but usually only chicken eggs. There are always some plastic figures on the cake. The teenagers instead of Mona usually have chocolate eggs.
Crema Catalana (or Crème Brulee) Crema Catalana is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel.
Calçots They were discovered by Xat of Benaiges, a farmer. When he went to have dinner thinking about what to cook, he saw two spring onions growing next to the normal onions. He cut the roots and put it in the fire. In this way the calçots were discovered! In Catalonia people make calçotada with their family and friends in winter and spring during a traditional celebration.
Xuixos It is a typical food of Girona. The invention of the Xuixos has to be credited to “El Tarla”, an acrobat who entertained the people in quarantine during the epidemic. He fell in love with the daughter of a pastry chef. Once, when he visited his beloved girl her father appeared and he hid in a bag of flour. Unfortunately, he sneezed (which sounds like xui-xui) and was discovered. Before the pastry chef could get angry, he promised to marry his daughter and give him the recipe of a special pastry, the Xuixo. He named it after the sneeze that betrayed him.
Catalan Products
Mató with honey Mató is a fresh Catalan cheese with no salt. We eat mató with honey. One of the most famous is the mató of Montserrat.
Tió Tió is a stick of wood with eyes. It is typical of Christmas. During 15 days the children feed him and on the 24th we sing a song and hit him. Then the Tió throws chocolate and presents.
Torras factory Torras factory opened in 1890. It’s a chocolate factory and it makes the best chocolate ever.
Casa Tarradellas Casa Tarradellas produce very good pizzas, fuet, pate and dough. This factory opened in 1976 by Josep Tarradellas.
Chupa-chups Enric Bernat invented the chupa-chups in 1958. Bernat had the idea that boys and girls eat sweets with a fork in order not to get dirty and then he changed to a stick to make it more confortable to use.
Fuet It is a Catalan thin cured and dry sausage of pig meat. It usually has a white skin. Types: espetec, tastet and secallona.
Barretina The Barretina is a hat that the “pastorets’’ wore.
Trias Trias is a very big company which makes biscuits. The founder of this company was Joaquim Trias. The company opened in 1908 and his biscuits are the most famous in Catalonia.
Estrella Damm Estrella Damm started in 1872. The inventor of Estrella Damm is August K.Damm. Estrella Damm is a famous Catalan beer.
Galets Galets are a typical kind of pasta that people usually put in their soup for Christmas dinner. Soup with “galets” is a hot soup that we usually eat during the winter. They look like little snails. They exist in different sizes: small and big. People also use galets in different recipies: stuffed galets, “escudella amb pilota”…. .
Catalan Music
Catalan musical instruments
Tambori and Flabiol
Gralla
National Hymn Els Segadors The Catalan Revolt “Guerra dels Segadors” was between 1640 and 1659. The war had its roots in the discomfort in Catalan society by the presence of Castillian troops during the wars among France and Spain. “Els Segadors” is the national hymn of Catalonia since 1993.
Catalan dance Sardanes The Sardana is a type of circle dance typical of Catalonia. This type of dance was originally from Emporda. There are two types, the original short Sardana style and the more modern long Sardana, which is more popular. Music for the Sardanes is played by a cobla, a band consisting of 10 wind instruments, double bass and a tamboni (very small drum) played by 11 musicians.
Peret Peret was a Spanish singer, guitar player and composer of Catalan rumba. One of his most famous songs is “Una Lagrima”.
Els Catarres Els Catarres are a pop folk band and they are famous for the song “Jenifer”. This song was a hit in the summer of 2011 in Catalonia.
Lluis Llach Lluis Llach was born in Girona on 7th May 1948. His songs are always in Catalan. He retired in 2007 with a career of 42 years. He has written a lot of songs but probably the most famous is L’estaca.
Lax ‘N’ Busto Lax ‘N’ Busto is one of the leading bands of the Catalan rock scene. They were formed in 1986.
Els Pets Els Pets is a Catalan pop rock band. The band was formed in 1985. It is the most popular group that was created in the 80s and 90s in Catalonia. Now this group is famous again in the type of music Rock Catala.
Celebrities
Politicians
Artur Mas (1956) Artur Mas is a Catalan politician and he is the President of the Generalitat of Catalunya .In 2010, it was the first time that Mas indicated he would vote yes on a referendum from Spain. Sovereignty and Catalan independence became the central part of his political agenda.
Lluis Companys (1882-1940)
Oriol Junqueras (1969)
He was a Catalan politician and the first President of the Generalitat de Catalonia between 1932 and 1933.
He is a politician and a historian. He is the president of the Esquerra republicana de Catalanya which is a political party.
Writers
Joan Maragall (1860-1911) He was an important writer from Catalonia. He wrote poems.
Pillarin Valles (1941) She is a very important writer and artist in Spain. She is from Catalonia. She studied in Bellas Artes de San Jorge real academy , in Catalonia. She started working for the magazine Cavall Fort in 1964 and she wrote lots of books.
Artists
Gaudi (1852-1926) Antoni GaudĂ i Cornet was a Catalan architect. His style was modern. He created a lot of monuments, like the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Casa Batllo.
Dali (1905-1989) Salvador Dali is one of the most wellknown surrealist painters. His best work is Percistence of Memory ( La Percistència de la Memoria ). He loved luxurous things and oriental clothes. He studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
Musician
Joan Manuel Serrat (1943) Joan Manuel Serrat is a Spanish musician, singer and song writer, recording artist and performer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern and popular music in both languages, Spanish and Catalan.
Chef
Fashion Designer
Ferran Adria (1962)
Custo Dalmau (1959)
He is a Spanish chef. He was born in 1962 in Barcelona, Spain. He was the chef of the El Bulli restaurant in Roses, on the Costa Brava. He is considered one of the best chefs in the world.
Custo Dalmau is a Catalan fashion designer. He is the owner of “Custo Barcelona�. He has a lot of fashion stores in the world. He is famous for his colourful patterns. He is a stylish person and his opinion is very important in the fashion world.
Sports men
Marc Marquez (1993)
Pep Guardiola (1971)
Marc Mรกrquez is a Spanish motorcyclist of MotoGP. He is one of the best drivers in the world, in fact he is the youngest driver who won the MotoGP World Championship. He was only 20 years old.
Pep Guardiola is a Spanish football coach, now he is the coach of Bayern Munich. Guardiola played in the defensive position when he played for Football Club Barcelona. One year Guardiola and his team won the League, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
Xavi Harnandez (1980) Xavi Hernรกndez is a Spanish football player, who plays for FC Barcelona as a central midfielder. He is the captain of F.C.Barcelona team.