A Catalan in Edinburgh: Catalonia

Friday, 6 June 2008

Boycott to Air Berlin

Outrageous. A shame. Unbelievable. And amongst all sad. The president of Air Berlin has written the editorial of the in flight magazine of his airline putting down my language and the language of ten million people, Catalan. The government of Majorca, one of the places where Catalan is spoken, kindly asked him if he could train his workers and adapt his services to include Catalan in the flights leaving or departing from Majorca. His answer has been to discredit and diminish Catalan language saying a bunch of lies like that Spanish language is almost banned from the public life, when everybody knows that the weak language is Catalan. What I wander is, why is this monstrosity of human being mettling in internal affairs which have nothing to do with his business? Maybe is he some kind of German Imperialist wanting to invade Majorca? And, putting myself to his same low level, is maybe an unrecycled Nazi wanting to recover the Third Reich which would include the Balearic Islands as a holiday resort? Each place has its problems and nowhere external intrusion is welcomed. You can see the article (in german) here or in Catalan here.

I shall never take an Air Berlin plane until a formal apology is made and this pillock is fired from the company. I encourage everybody with some dignity to do the same, not take any Air Berlin plane, it doesn't matter if you are Catalan, German, Scottish or French. If you want to communicate with Air Berlin to tell them how you feel about this issue e-mail them. Another option is to use the model given here (in Catalan).

Some related links in the news:

Shame on you mr. Hunold, shame on you.

Sunday, 2 March 2008

Catalan traditions: Castellers

Catalonia has tons of traditions, but unfortunately they are not well know outside of it. Most traditions from Spain which are famous world-wide come from southern Spain (Andalusia) or from Castile (the central part of the Iberian peninsula). Who hasn't heard of flamenco dance, bullfighting or paella? But unfortunately Spain doesn't consider Catalan traditions important enough to become more than a marginal part of their tourist guides, brochures or commercials, perhaps because Catalonia is only good to Spain to pay taxes, perhaps because not even the Spaniards believe Catalonia is a part of Spain.

Anyway, Catalonia has tons of curious traditions. Maybe the most spectacular one are castellers or human towers. The idea is very easy, to put people one on top of the other to see how high they can get and then come back down. A castell is considered a success when it is properly assembled and dismantled, that is, when everyone has climbed into place, the enxaneta (the last one) climbs up to the top, raises one hand (with four fingers erect, said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag), climbs down the other side of the castell, and then everyone else comes down safely. Even though it is a simple concept the organisation, skills, strength and will required to complete the task are humongous.

This tradition originated in the southern part of Catalonia at the end of the 18th century. More specifically in Valls, near the city of Tarragona. The tradition later spread to other regions of Catalonia and even Mallorca, and has become very popular. However, the best and most skilled castellers are still found near Tarragona.

It may seem a very dangerous tradition/sport, but in 150 years only two people have been killed while practising it. The last unfortunate victim was a girl who died about three years ago and this has lead to the use of helmets to protect the children. The reason why it is safe is because people gather around the tower and act as a cushion in the event of a fall. A very good example can be seen here, the biggest castell ever built: