Typical Catalan traditions
Typical Catalan traditions
Typical Catalan traditions
At many festivals you are likely to see circles of people dancing the Sardana. This is the national dance of Catalonia and does not resemble to other Spanish dances. The origin of this dance lies in Greece. The story tells that once the Greek introduced the dance during the period of Greek trading posts in Catalonia. Other people say that the Sadana is not so old. It's origin lies in the 15th century. In any case, the Sardana became a symbol of national identity. The Sardana is a dance performed in a circle with your arms raised. The more people join the circle, the bigger it gets. After a certain time the circle is getting too large and will be split in multiple smaller ones. Do not join the Sardana, because it's a difficult dance and one wrong move can break the complete circle.
Castellers
Every city in Catalonia celebrates its Grand Festival once a year. You'll find the streets full of people wearing traditional costumes. People also perform the so called Casteller on the streets. This is a human tower. Teams of men stand on each others' shoulders in an effort to build the highest tower.
Festivals in Barcelona
Mostly the origin of the festivals in Barcelona are religious as the Catholicism recovered all the pagan and accepted them. On April the 23rd everyone in Catalonia celebrates the day of the book (San Jordi). On the official website of the government of Barcelona you can find the public holiday. Below I'm mentioning some special events:
End of Februari: The moment of Carnivals in Barcelona. On February the 14th it's Valentines Day and on March the 3rd is the San Medir festival in Grcia.
April 23rd: Saint George festival, in Spanish San Jordi. This festival is also known as the rose and book festival.
Begin of June: A modern festival calles Sonar is held. It's a party of 4 days long with famous DJ's.
June 24th: The festival of Saint John, in Spanish San Joan is held. On the beach of Barceloneta you'll find big fireworks and bonfires.
August 15th: The festival of Assumption in the district of Grcia.
September 24th: The festival of La Merce, the patron saint of Barcelona. During this festival there are typical dances, like the Sardanas, parades through the streets, sport events and religious celebrations.
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The Catalonian history in short
Catalonia was colonised by the ancient Greeks, who settled around the Roses area. Later the Romans came and Catalonia became part of the Roman empire. Catalonia then came under Visigothic rule for 4 centuries after Rome's collapse. In the 8th century it came under Moorish al-Andalus control, after the defeat of Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi's troops in 732. In the 8th century Charlemagne's troops wrested parts of today's Catalonia from the Muslims. The Catalan culture started to develop during the Middle Ages in a number of kingdoms organised as small counties. In 987 Barcelona became under the Frankish rule. When the count of Barcelona married the Queen of Aragon in 1137, the Country of Barcelona merged with the Kingdom of Aragon. Under Jaume I the Conqueror the Catalans sought to drive the Moors out of the Mediterranean completely. During his reign (1213-1276), Catalonia conquered Mallorca, Ibiza and Valencia. Over the next century Mediterranean expansion continued with the conquest of Sicily, Sardinia and Southern Greece. During the Golden Age a distaster took place in the House of Barcelona. In 1410, Mart the Humane died and Fernando de Antequera was elected King of the Catalan-Aragonese Confederation. Spaniards claim that the reign of the Catholic Kings marks the beginning of Spain as a nation. During the reign of Felipe IV, the monarch came under the influence of the autocratic Count-Duke Olicvares, who when war broke out with France in 1635, demanded a disproportionate contribution of money and men. The Spanish Succession war started in 1705. To the English and Dutch a united Austria and Spain was unpleasant a prospect as a French-Spanish axis, so they pulled out of the alliance leaving Catalonia alone to dace 200,000 Franco-Spanish troops. On the 11th of September 1714 Barcelona finally fell after a long siege.
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