The culture of Cataluña

Now that you’ve got the (rough) history of Spain down and understand its regions, I can write all about the region where I’m serving, Catalonia.

 

Our camp is about 25 miles north of Gerona

 

Catalonia (“Cataluña” in Spain) is one of the northern most regions in Spain, right up against France (and also Andorra). Its capital city is Barcelona, which is also the most popular tourist destination in Spain. The further north you go, the more rural and nationalistic the area becomes. For example, while Barcelona is technically in Catalonia, it doesn’t feature much of the official language of Catalán. However, once you get up near the French border, everything is written in this language, and some of the older generations don’t even speak Spanish.

 

Catalonia has about 7.5 million people living in it. Because they’re so close to France, the people in Catalonia have a history and culture distinctly different than their neighboring regions. The language itself has bits of French-inspired phrases, as well as architecture and food elements. Traditional clothing here is much different looking than the flowing, lacy dresses of southern Spain, and the food uses less spice than other areas.
 

So, what’s Catalonia like? Well, that depends on where you are. If you go to Barcelona, you have a staggeringly-modern metropolis jam-packed with millions of people. Next to that is the famous Mediterranean Sea. If the beach isn’t your cup of tea, you can drive north two hours and run smack into the Pyrenees Mountains, which form a barrier between Spain and France. There are also plenty of forests and plains, and even medieval towns if you’re a history buff. All in all, there is stunning scenery in this region wherever you end up. The camp where I’m serving is right up against the mountains, which is great because they’re my favorite, probably since we’re decidedly flat in Wisconsin and it’s such a change of pace.

 

France is just a hop, skip and a jump over those mountains...

 

The food here is pretty interesting, too. One traditional appetizer is bread with tomato and olive oil. You take a tomato, cut it in half, and smear it all over the slice of bread. Then you pour olive oil on top and sprinkle the whole thing with garlic. It’s pretty tasty! They also serve Spain’s famous sangria and paella. But my favorite food I’ve found in Spain is choco-duo. It’s sort of like nutella, but a mix of chocolate and white chocolate spread. You can put it on anything. At camp, we put it on our bread every morning for breakfast. You can never stop before five slices because it’s so delicious!
 

The food of kings

 

The people themselves are a mixed bag, which I suppose is true wherever you go. The ones I’ve met have been pretty reserved at first, even to the point of coldness, but once you break through with persistent friendliness, they melt into really cheerful people. For example, even some Christian counselors at camp were wary of outsiders at first. Debbie (the missionary with whom I’m living) says that’s all part of the culture. People in this region are distant and aloof at first, sticking in safe groups until they really get a feel for a newcomer. Then again, I also met some people who were so exuberantly cheerful, you couldn’t help but get swept up in their friendliness.
 

Catalonian customs run deep. I mentioned in the last entry how many people here are pushing for Catalonian independence—heck, today (Sept. 11) is Catalonian Independence Day. Yep, they have a whole holiday about it. Pretty gutsy for a region that is not, in fact, independent. Besides their fierce sense of autonomy, people here really cherish their families. Whole family groups will live in the same town (or the same house!), and people rarely move far from home after they become adults. In my family, having dinner with the grandparents is something we do on holidays. For people here, it’s a weekly event. 

That's a giant Catalonian flag on the cliff face... this guy is serious about supporting his region

 

So there’s a small sketch of Catalonia and its culture. Obviously, it runs deeper than what I’ve been able to explain via blog post. But maybe now you can picture my environment a little more clearly. Next time, we’ll dive into the spiritual environment of Spain, which is an even more complex and important topic.