Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Castells
One of the highlights of a traditional Catalan festival is the building of human
castells
(castles), a Catalan tradition that dates back to the 18th century. Teams from across the re-
gion compete to build human towers up to 10 storeys tall. These usually involve levels of
three to five people standing on each other's shoulders. A crowd of teammates forms a sup-
porting scrum around the thickset lads at the base. To successfully complete the castle, a
young (light!) child called the
anxaneta
must reach the top and signal with his or her hand.
At Christmas some rather unusual Catalan characters appear. Thecaganer(crapper) is a
chap with dropped pants who balances over his unsightly offering (a symbol of fertility for
the coming year). There's also thecaga tío(poop log), which on Christmas Day is sup-
posed tocagar(crap) out gifts.
FC Barcelona
One of the city's best-loved names is FC Barça, which is deeply associated with Catalans
and even Catalan nationalism. The team was long a rallying point for Catalans when other
aspects of Catalan culture were suppressed. The club openly supported Catalonia's drive to-
wards autonomy in 1918, and in 1921 the club's statutes were drafted in Catalan. The pro-
Catalan leanings of the club and its siding with the republic during the Spanish Civil War
earned reprisals from the government. Club president Josep Sunyol was murdered by
Franco's soldiers in 1936, and the club building was bombed in 1938.
In 1968 club president Narcís de Carreras uttered the now famous words,
El Barça: més
que un club
('more than a club'), which became the team's motto - and emphasised its role
as an anti-Franco symbol and catalyst for change in the province and beyond. Today FC
Barça is one of the world's most admired teams; in 2014 FC Barcelona's social networks
surpassed 100 million followers - the first team anywhere to reach this mark.
