Catalonia

Thurs 27th Feb 2014

Had a lay in this morning as we had had a late night, went with Jane to the markets in town to get fresh veg and fruit. Visited Edward in his shop that he opens occasionally in the off season. He had in there little statues of a typical Catalonia man in costume called a ”Caganer” (a shitter) who is squatting down with bare behind and is shitting with a pile of pooh to prove it. We thought that they were just jokes because there were also ones of famous people too. It turns out that it is in fact an old Catalonia tradition and they actually have one of these set in their Nativity scenes as a sign of fertility, and that famous Spanish people (footballers, film stars etc ) come to the factory to have their photos taken with their new effigy of themselves as it is quite an honour here. From here we went to the town square for a morning coffee. We spent most of the day catching up with our emails and blog in Jane and Lauras’ apartment as they have good Wifi. Managed to have a lovely walk along the front at sunset that was beautiful and Jo and Jess managed to get some great photos. Spoilt again tonight with a lovely Carbonara cooked by Jane and Laura.

Another thing we have learnt but forgotten to mention is that “cul d sac” comes from the Catalonia language literally meaning caught in the bottom of a sack and unable to get out.

The Catalonian people are very proud of themselves and would prefer to have a separate state from the rest of Spain. They proudly fly their National flag from their balconies and buildings (yellow and red stripes with a blue triangle with star at one end) and speak their own dialect of Spanish which annoys the rest of Spain as they don’t understand it. Catalonia produces a substantial amount of wealth for Spain but they feel they don’t get enough of the wealth returned to them to help with the running of the state (sounds a bit like WA in Oz) The Spanish people in general hate the government in power and the present President as they tend to be a bit corrupt and inept. The country is in an economic mess at the moment, but not from the people who do the right thing in their daily lives and work hard, but from the inefficiencies and corruption of the people in power. But they are stuck with them for another 2 years I think. Another problem here is the influx of illegal Moroccan immigrants who apparently arrive here and are given most things they ask for. In L’Estartit there is a big community but they have caused an increase in petty crime and vandalism which of course creates resentment in the local community. Of course it is the usual politicians’ and do gooders that allow them in and give them what they want but don’t have to live in the areas where the problems occur (they are not genuine refugees from war torn countries but just want a better life). Another problem of late but not as much of a visual one is the Chinese, who are apparently coming here with the money to buy up businesses that are struggling with the state of the economy cheaply and then flaunt the work permits to get illegal workers in.

It will be interesting to travel around Spain to see if these problems occur elsewhere in the country. Needless to say what we have seen of Spain so far(which is a small portion) is beautiful and the people lovely. 

Market day in L'Estartit

Sun sets over L'Estartit