Catalans (
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes,
Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a
Romance ethnic group native to
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
, who speak
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
.
The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
, an
autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the
Roussillon historical region in southern France, today the
Pyrénées Orientales
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
department, also called
Northern Catalonia and ''
Pays Catalan'' in French.
Some authors also extend the word "Catalans" to include all people from
areas in which Catalan is spoken, namely those from
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
,
Valencia, the
Balearic islands,
eastern Aragon,
Roussillon, and the city of
Alghero in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
.
The Catalan government regularly surveys its population regarding its "sentiment of belonging". As of July 2019, the results point out that 46.7% of the Catalans and other people living in Catalonia would like independence from Spain, 1.3% less than the year before.
Historical background
In 1500 BCE the area that is now known primarily as Catalonia was, along with the rest of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
, inhabited by
Proto-Celtic
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celt ...
Urnfield people who brought with them the rite of burning the dead. Much of the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
mountains was inhabited at the time by peoples related to modern
Basques, and today many town names in the western Catalan Pyrenees can be linked to Basque etymologies. These groups came under the rule of various invading groups starting with the
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...
that founded
Empúries
Empúries ( ca, Empúries ) was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. Empúries is also known by its Spanish name, Ampurias ( es, Ampurias ). The city Ἐμπόριον ( el, Ἐμπόριον, Emporion, meaning "tr ...
and the
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...
ns and
Carthaginians
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
, who set up colonies along the coast, including
Barcino (present-day Barcelona). Following the
Punic Wars, the Romans replaced the Carthaginians as the dominant power in the Iberian eastern coast, including parts of Catalonia, by 206 BCE.
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
established
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
as the official language and imparted a distinctly
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
culture upon the local population, which merged with Roman colonists from the
Italian peninsula. An early precursor to the Catalan language began to develop from a local form of popular
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
before and during the collapse of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
. Various
Germanic tribes arrived following nearly six centuries of Roman rule, which had completely transformed the area into the Roman
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
of
Tarraconensis. The German
Visigoths established themselves in the fifth century, making their first capital in the Iberian peninsula Barcelona, and they later would move to Toledo. This continued until 718 when
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
s took control of the region in order to pass through the Pyrenees into French territory. With the help of the Franks, a land border was created commonly known nowadays as Old Catalonia (which would consist of the counties
County of Barcelona
The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...
,
Ausona,
County of Pallars The County of Pallars or Pallás ( ca, Comtat de Pallars, ; la, Comitatus Pallariensis) was a ''de facto'' independent petty state, nominally within the Carolingian Empire and then West Francia during the ninth and tenth centuries, perhaps one of t ...
,
County of Rosselló,
County of Empúries
The County of Empúries ( ca, Comtat d'Empúries, ), also known as the County of Ampurias ( es, Condado de Ampurias), was a medieval county centred on the town of Empúries and enclosing the Catalan region of Peralada. It corresponds to the hi ...
,
County of Cerdanya The County of Cerdanya ( ca, Comtat de Cerdanya, ; la, Comitatus Ceritaniae; es, Condado de Cerdaña, french: Comté de Cerdagne) was one of the Catalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by the Franks in the ''Marca Hispanica' ...
and
County of Urgell
The County of Urgell ( ca, Comtat d'Urgell, ; la, Comitatus Urgellensis) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya.
History
The county of Urgell was carved by the Franks out of a former secti ...
) which faced Muslim raids but resisted any kind of settlement from them. "New Catalonia" and its Native peoples were fully in control of the Arab invaders for around a century. The
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
on the other side of the Pyrenees held back the main Muslim raiding army which had penetrated virtually unchallenged as far as central France at the
Battle of Tours in 732. Frankish
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...
was then extended over much of present-day Catalonia. Larger wars with the Muslims began in the
March of Barcelona which led to the beginnings of the
Reconquista
The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...
by Catalan forces over most of Catalonia by the year 801. As the border between Muslim and Frankish realms stabilized, Barcelona would become an important center for
Christian forces in the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
.
In 1137, the County of Barcelona entered a
dynastic union with the
kingdom of Aragon to form what modern historians call the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...
in the so-called
Reconquista
The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...
. This allowed the reclamation of Muslim-dominated lands, eventually conquering the kingdoms of
Valencia and
Majorca (the
Balearic Islands). From the 14th century, the territory of the
Catalan counties started to be called the
Principality of Catalonia. In the last quarter of the 15th century, the marriage of
Isabella I of Castile and
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia fro ...
led to the dynastic union of the Crown of Aragón with the
Crown of Castille, in which each of the constitutive territories kept its own laws, power structures, borders and monetary systems.
Regional unrest led to conflicts such as the
Revolt of the Germanies
The Revolt of the Brotherhoods ( ca, Revolta de les Germanies, es, Rebelión de las Germanías) was a revolt by artisan guilds ('' Germanies'') against the government of King Charles V in the Kingdom of Valencia, part of the Crown of Aragon. ...
in Valencia and Majorca, and the 1640 revolt in Catalonia known as the
Reapers' War. This latter conflict embroiled Spain in a larger war with France as many Catalan nobles allied themselves with
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...
. The war continued until 1659 and ended with the
Peace of the Pyrenees, which effectively partitioned Catalonia as the northern strip of the March came under French rule, while the rest remained under Spanish
hegemony. The Catalan government took sides with the
Habsburg pretender against the
Bourbon one during the
War of the Spanish Succession that started in 1705 and ended in 1714. The Catalan failure to defend the continuation of Habsburg rule in Spain culminated in the surrender of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 which came to be commemorated as
Catalonia's National Day.
During the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
, much of Catalonia was seized by French forces by 1808, as France ruled the entire country of Spain briefly until
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's surrender to Allied Armies. In France, strong assimilationist policies integrated many Catalans into French society, while in Spain a Catalan identity was increasingly suppressed in favor of a Spanish national identity. The Catalans regained autonomy during the
Spanish Second Republic from 1932 until
Francisco Franco's nationalist forces retook Catalonia by 1939. It was not until 1975 and the death of Franco that the Catalans as well as other
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ...
began to regain their right to cultural expression, which was restarted by the
Spanish Constitution of 1978
The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was ...
. Since this period, a balance between a sense of local identity versus the broader Spanish one has emerged as the dominant
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
force in Catalonia. The former tends to advocate for even greater autonomy and independence; the latter tends to argue for maintaining either a status quo or removal of autonomy and cultural identity, depending on the leanings of the current government. As a result, there tends to be much fluctuation depending on regional and national politics during a given election cycle. Given the stronger centralist tendencies in France, however, French Catalans display a much less dynamic sense of uniqueness, having been integrated more consistently into the unitary French national identity.
Geography
The vast majority of Catalans reside in the autonomous community of Catalonia, in the northeast part of Spain. At least 100,000 Catalan speakers live in the ''Pays Catalan'' in France. An indeterminate number of Catalans emigrated to the Americas during the
Spanish colonial period
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
** Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
** Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, C ...
and to France in the years following the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
.
Culture and society
Described by author
Walter Starkie
Walter Fitzwilliam Starkie CMG, CBE, Litt.D (9 August 1894 – 2 November 1976) was an Irish scholar, Hispanist, writer and musician. His reputation is principally based on his popular travel writing: ''Raggle-Taggle'' (1933), ''Spanish Raggle ...
in ''The Road to Santiago'' as a subtle people, he sums up their national character with a local term ''
seny
''Seny'' (; from Proto-Germanic *sinnaz) is a form of ancestral Catalan wisdom or sensibleness. It involves well-pondered perception of situations, level-headedness, awareness, integrity, and right action. More specifically, a ''National Geog ...
'' meaning "common sense" or a pragmatic attitude toward life. The counterpart of Catalan "seny" is "rauxa" or madness, epitomized by "crazy", eccentric and creative Catalan artists like
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, ''sui generis'' style. Most are located in Bar ...
,
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
,
Joan Miró or
Antoni Tàpies. The ''masia'' or ''mas'' is a defining characteristic of the Catalan countryside and includes a large house, land, cattle, and an extended family, but this tradition is in decline as the nuclear family has largely replaced the extended family, as in the rest of western Europe. Catalans in Spain are officially recognised as a "
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of t ...
" and enjoy a high degree of political autonomy,
which has led to reinforcement of a Catalan identity.
Language
The
Catalan language
Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as '' Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...
is a
Romance language
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
. It is the language closest to
Occitan, and it also shares many features with other Romance languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese,
Aragonese, and Italian. There are a number of linguistic varieties that are considered
dialects of Catalan, among them, the
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
group with the most speakers,
Central Catalan
Central Catalan ( ca, català central) is an Eastern Catalan dialect spoken in the whole province of Barcelona, the eastern half of the province of Tarragona and most of the province of Girona, except for its northern part, where a transition t ...
.
The total number of Catalan speakers is over 9.8 million (2011), with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them speak Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan
monoglots exist; basically, virtually all of the Catalan speakers in Spain are
bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with a sizable population of Spanish-only speakers of immigrant origin (typically born outside Catalonia or with both parents born outside Catalonia) existing in the major Catalan urban areas as well. In
Roussillon, only a minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French being the majority language for the inhabitants after a continued process of
language shift
Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are percei ...
. According to a 2019 survey by the Catalan government, 31.5% of the inhabitants of Catalonia have Catalan as first language at home whereas 52.7% have Spanish, 2.8% both Catalan and Spanish and 10.8% other languages.
The inhabitants of the
Aran valley count
Aranese–an
Occitan dialect–rather than Catalan as their own language. These Catalans are also bilingual in Spanish.
In September 2005, the
.cat
.cat (pronounced in Catalan: ''punt cat'' ) is a sponsored top-level domain intended to be used to highlight the Catalan language. Its policy has been developed by ICANN anFundació puntCAT It was approved in September 2005.
History
Before . ...
TLD, the first
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
language-based top-level domain, was approved for all web pages intending to serve the needs of the Catalan
linguistic and cultural community on the Internet. This community is made up of those who use the Catalan language for their online communication or promote the different aspects of Catalan culture online.
Traditional clothes
The traditional dress (now practically only used in
folkloric celebrations) included the ''
barretina
A barretina (; plural: ''barretines'', diminutive of ''barret'' "cap") is a traditional hat that was frequently worn by men in parts of the Christian cultures of the Mediterranean Sea such as Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Isla ...
'' (a sort of woollen, long cap usually red or purple) and the ''faixa'' (a sort of wide belt) among men, and ''ret'' (a fine net bag to contain hair) among women. The traditional footwear was the ''espardenya'' or
espadrille.
Cuisine
Traditional diet
The Catalan diet is part of the
Mediterranean diet and includes the use of
olive oil. Catalan people like to eat veal (''vedella'') and lamb (''xai'').
There are three main daily meals:
* In the morning: a very light breakfast, consisting of fruit or fruit juice, milk, coffee, or ''
pa amb tomàquet
''Pa amb tomàquet'' () ("Bread with tomato"), is a traditional food of Catalan, Aragonese and Balearic cuisine . ''Pa amb tomàquet'' is considered a staple of Catalan cuisine and identity. While considered a signature toast dish in the Catalan ...
'' "bread with tomato". Catalans tend to divide their breakfast into two parts: one early in the morning before going to work or study (first breakfast), and the other one between 10:00 and 12:00 (second breakfast)
* In the afternoon (roughly from 13:00 to 14:30): the main meal of the day, usually comprising three dishes. The first consists of pasta or vegetables, the second of meat or fish, and the third of fruit or yogurt
* In the evening (roughly from 20:00 to 22:30): more food than in the morning, but less than at lunch; very often only a single main dish and fruit; it is common to drink moderate quantities of wine.
In Catalan gastronomy, ''embotits'' (a wide variety of Catalan sausages and cold meats) are very important; these are pork sausages such as ''
botifarra'' or ''
fuet
Fuet (, lit. "whip") is a Catalan thin, dry-cured, sausage of pork meat in a pork gut. The most famous is made in the ''comarca'' (county) of Osona and is also known as ''Vic fuet'' (''fuet de Vic'', after the city of Vic, capital of Osona). ...
''. In the past, bread figured heavily in the Catalan diet; now it is used mainly in the morning (second breakfast, especially among young students and some workers) and supplements the noon meal, at home and in restaurants. Bread is still popular among Catalans; some Catalan fast-food restaurants don't serve hamburgers, but offer a wide variety of sandwiches.
In the past, the poor ate
soup every day and
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
on Thursday and Sunday.
The discipline of abstinence, not eating
meat during
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...
, once was very strong, but today it is only practiced in the rural areas. Spicy food is rare in the Catalan diet but there are quite garlicky sauces such as ''
allioli
Allioli may refer to:
* Allioli, the Valencian variant of the garlic sauce Aioli
Aioli, allioli or aïoli ( or ; Provençal oc, alhòli or ''aiòli'' ; ca, allioli ; es, alioli ) is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and ol ...
'' or ''
romesco''.
Traditional dishes
One type of Catalan dish is ''
escudella'', a soup which contains chick peas, potatoes, and vegetables such as green cabbage, celery, carrots, turnips, and meats such as ''botifarra'' (a Catalan sausage), pork feet, salted ham, chicken, and veal. In Northern Catalonia, it is sometimes called ''ollada''.
Other Catalan dishes include ''
calçots'' (a type of
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
s that are similar in shape to
leeks, often grilled and eaten with a
romesco sauce
Romesco () is a tomato-based sauce that originated from Valls, province of Tarragona, in Catalonia. The fishermen in this area made this sauce to be eaten with fish. It is typically made from any mixture of roasted tomatoes and garlic, toasted a ...
) and ''
escalivada''.
Music
Catalan music has one of the oldest documented musical traditions in Europe.
Religion
The traditional religion in Catalonia is
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. However, in the course of recent
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, Catalonia has undergone several waves of secularization.
The first wave of
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses ...
happened during the eighteenth century as a result of the
enlightenment influence to the
bourgeoisie. The second one happened during the nineteenth century, that had a huge impact on the
lower and
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
, but was interrupted by the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...
(1936–1939).
The end of the
Francoist regime
Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...
led to a loss of power by the Catholic Church and to another wave of secularization that extends since the 1980s. During the 1990s most of the population of Catalonia was non-practising Catholic. Nowadays 52.4% of Catalans declare themselves Catholic, practising or not, 30.2% of Catalans are
agnostic or
atheist, and there is also a considerable share of other religions, often connected to recent immigration: 7.3%
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, 2.5%
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
, 1.3%
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, and 1.2%
Orthodox Christians. According to the most recent study sponsored by the
government of Catalonia, as of 2016, 61.9% of the Catalans identify as
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...
, up from 56.5% in 2014.
[ p. 30]
Quick data from the 2014 barometer of Catalonia
. At the same time, 16.0% of the population identify as
atheists, 11.9% as
agnostics, 4.8% as
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, 1.3% as
Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, and a further 2.4% as being of other religions.
[ p. 30]
Quick data from the 2016 barometer of Catalonia
.
Social conditions
Catalonia is one of the richest and most developed regions in
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...
.
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
is among the most industrialized metropolises. A regional capital, it is a magnet for domestic and foreign migrants.
Celebrations
Fire is the element used in most important traditional festivals, which are derived from pagan roots. These celebrations have a high acceptance of fire between the Catalans, like the Flame of Canigó to the
Bonfires of Saint John
The Bonfires of Saint John ( ca, Fogueres de Sant Joan, es, link=no, Hogueras de San Juan, gl, Fogueiras de San Xoán, ast, Fogueres de San Xuán, pt, Fogueiras de São João) are a traditional and popular festival celebrated around the world ...
.
An important and well-known celebration is
La Diada de Sant Jordi, held on 23 April, in which men give women roses, and women give men a book.
Historical memory is the second axis of celebrations in Catalonia, where the Catalan people reunite with their date of birth as a people.
Among the religious celebrations, there are
St. George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sa ...
and the celebrations of
Saint Vincent Martyr and
Saint Anthony Abbot
Anthony the Great ( grc-gre, Ἀντώνιος ''Antṓnios''; ar, القديس أنطونيوس الكبير; la, Antonius; ; c. 12 January 251 – 17 January 356), was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is d ...
. The maximum expressions of this element are the
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
processions and performances of
Passion Plays. Some festivals have a complicated relationship with religion, such as
Carnival and the
''Dances of Death'', or specific aspects of
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
such as the
Tió de Nadal or the ''
caganer'' in
Nativity scenes.
Other key elements of a Catalan celebration are: food, central to every party and especially to the pig slaughter and harvest festivals; contests such as the ''
castell
A ''castell'' () is a human tower built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia, the Balearic islands and the Valencian Community.
At these festivals, several ''colles castelleres'' (teams that build towers) attempt to build and dismantle a ...
s'' (human towers), choice of major and festive floats; music, songs and bands; processions; dances; and animals, especially bulls and representations of mythological creatures. The
Patum
The Patum de Berga (), or simply La Patum, is a popular and traditional festival that is celebrated each year in the Catalan city of Berga ( Barcelona) during Corpus Christi. It consists of a series of "dances" (in Catalan, ''balls'') by towns ...
of Berga has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Symbolism
Because of their intertwining history, many of the traditional symbols of Catalonia coincide with Aragon, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The oldest known Catalan symbol is the coat of arms of the King of Aragon, or ''bars of Aragon'', one of Europe's oldest heraldic emblems; in modern times, Catalan nationalists have made it the main symbol of Catalan identity and it is even associated with the Catalan language.
As for anthems, "The Reapers" (''
Els Segadors'') is the official anthem of Catalonia and is also used in the other lands of the Principality; the
Balanguera represents the people from the Balearic Islands and, in the case of Valencia, the official "Anthem of the Exhibition" (''
Himne de l'Exposició
The ''Himne de l'Exposició''Full name: ''Himne de l'Exposició Regional de 1909''. (, "Anthem of the Exposition") or ''Himne de València'' ("Anthem of Valencia") is the official anthem of the Valencian Community, Spain. The song was composed b ...
'') alongside
Muixeranga as symbols of the country.
See also
*
List of Catalans
*
History of Catalonia
Catalonia was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic era. Like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was occupied by the Iberians and several Greek colonies were established on the coast before the Roma ...
*
Catalan myths and legends
*
Valencian people
*
Aragonese people
The Aragonese ( Aragonese and es, aragoneses, ca, aragonesos) are the Romance people self-identified with the historical region of Aragon, in inland northeastern Spain. Their Aragonese language, which might have been spoken in the whole of the ...
*
Andorran people
This is a demography of the population of Andorra, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Andorrans, who are ethnically Cata ...
*
Catalan Americans
Catalan Americans ( ca, Català americà) are Americans of Catalan descent. The group is formed by Catalan-born naturalized citizens or residents, their descendants and, to a lesser extent, citizens or residents of Catalan descent who still a ...
References
Sources
*Balcells, Albert et al. ''Catalan Nationalism : Past and Present'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1995).
*
*
Collier, Basil. ''Catalan France'' (J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd., 1939).
*Conversi, Daniele. ''The Basques, the Catalans and Spain: Alternative Routes to Nationalist Mobilization'' (University of Nevada Press, 1997). .
*Guibernau, Montserrat. ''Catalan Nationalism: Francoism, Transition and Democracy'' (Routledge, 2004).
*Hargreaves, John. ''Freedom for Catalonia?: Catalan Nationalism, Spanish Identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games'' (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
*Simonis, Damien. ''Lonely Planet Catalunya & the Costa Brava'' (Lonely Planet Publications, 2003).
*Starkie, Walter. ''The Road to Santiago'' (John Murray, 2003).
*''Michelin THE GREEN GUIDE France'' (Michelin Travel Publications, 2000).
External links
US Library of Congress Country Studies: The Catalans World Culture Encyclopedia
Ethnologue for Catalan languageLletra. Catalan Literature OnlineCatalan IdentityMuseum of the History of CataloniaCatalanism 1946 book by Oxford Professor Dr.
Josep Trueta
Josep Trueta i Raspall (27 October 1897 – 19 January 1977) was a Catalan surgeon and researcher.
Biography
As a Catalan nationalist, he fled into exile to England after the Spanish Civil War, during which he had been the chief of trauma serv ...
Catalan Festivals and Traditions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catalan People
Catalonia
Society of Andorra
Romance peoples
Ethnic groups divided by international borders
Ethnic groups in France
Ethnic groups in Spain
Ethnic groups in Italy