The last few days have been full of tension here in
Catalonia as long awaited events have been resolved, one via the ballot box and the other on the sports field.
The first important event were the elections for the Generalitat, the autonomous government of Catalonia, which saw a noticeable swing to the right which may well be reflected more generally in Spain over the next 6 months as other regions hold their own elections. This change was accompanied by a high turnout (60%) and emphasized peoples desire for change after 7 years of a Socialist coalition and a confused "head in the sand" approach to the general crisis which has swept Catalonia as well as the rest of Spain.
The second event was not political per se, but sporting, the football (soccer) league game between Barcelona and Madrid held at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona with over 90,000 fervent spectators cheering their respective teams. This particular game is far more than a football game, having been elevated to a status akin to a direct battle between the Catalan people and their oppressors, the central government as represented by the Madrid team who tax and control them excessively, so the general feeling goes. In actual fact the result was an absolute domination by Barcelona with a convincing 5-0 annihilation, and a show of skills which were spine tingling to watch and led to much celebration here for hours afterwards.
My feeling is that these two events could spark a feeling of renewed self confidence within Catalonia which might just help get them through the economic problems they have been engulfed in over the last few years, certainly they surprised everyone with the results of these two events, not least themselves!
Posted via email from Discover Girona
For anyone that has visited
Girona recently, and especially by train, you cannot have failed to notice the major construction works that are going on all around the station. From the elevated train platform you get a great view of the works which will eventually connect
Girona to
Madrid and
Paris via high speed train in some 4 hours.
The works going on in
Girona are to build an underground station below the current one for both the
TAV (Tren de Alta Velocidad) and later on conventional trains as well.
Why, you may ask, are they spending all this time and money putting a new station in the centre of Girona instead of 12 kms out of town at Girona airport for example, where car parking would be easy and no major tunnelling works would be needed? This is a complete mystery to me but knowing how things work in Spain I assume that the "powers that be" are behind it for ego as well as financial reasons…
Anyway, those that live in the centre of town will be inconvenienced for the next 2-3 years but hopefully Girona will become an even better connected and easier to visit city in the future!
Posted via email from gironaJ
After the wonderful Sorolla exhibition, which is now in Madrid, the MNAC is hosting another must see with photos which inflamed the world and sent thousands of idealists like George Orwell to join the anti-fascist cause during the Spanish Civil War.
Robert Capa and his partner Gerda Taro were instrumental in filling the new media of illustrated weekly magazines which became so influential and of which they were some of the pioneers of photo-journalism.
The pictures are of the front line at the Battle of the Ebro, one of the bloodiest of the war and also shows the other tragic side of war with the flood of refugees heading out of Tarragona and Barcelona and heading for the French border in 1939 when the war was almost over.
Capa went on to record wars in China and was present for the D Day landing of which there are few such dramatic pictures.
Even after 70 years the Civil War and it’s legacy is a period most Spaniards would rather forget but these photos will not let us and so it should be especially since Gerda Taro and so many others gave their lives in the effort.
See and download the full gallery on posterous
Posted via email from gironaJ
Lleida is on the westernmost edge of Catalonia and on the main roads to Zaragoza and Madrid from Barcelona. The plains around here produce many kinds of soft fruit like pears, peaches, cherries and apples as well as grapes from the D.O.Costers del Segre. The key to the agriculture is having the river Segre as a source for irrigation as without it only olive trees, almonds and vines can survive the extreme conditions.
Lleida itself has a hill in the middle topped by the Seu Vella, a Romanesque cathedral which was later abandoned and incorporated into a modern fort in the 17th century.
The cloisters are some of the biggest and most beautiful in Europe, built in the 13th and 14th centuries and from where there are magnificent views of the surrounding city and countryside. There is a small museum which houses some of the recovered archaeological remains found within the walls of the fort. The contrast of the thick walls of the fort surrounding the delicate arches of the cloister makes this a very special place.
So, if you are driving by make sure you make a detour and revel in the beauty of the cloisters of the Seu Vella, you won’t regret it.
See and download the full gallery on posterous
Posted via email from gironaJ
After the wonderful Sorolla exhibition, which is now in Madrid, the MNAC is hosting another must see with photos which inflamed the world and sent thousands of idealists like George Orwell to join the anti-fascist cause during the Spanish Civil War.
See and download the full gallery on posterous
Lleida is on the westernmost edge of Catalonia and on the main roads to Zaragoza and Madrid from Barcelona. The plains around here produce many kinds of soft fruit like pears, peaches, cherries and apples as well as grapes from the D.O.Costers del Segre. The key to the agriculture is having the river Segre as a source for irrigation as without it only olive trees, almonds and vines can survive the extreme conditions.
See and download the full gallery on posterous