L'Esquirol (), known as Santa Maria de Corcó until 4 June 2014, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the ''comarca'' of

Osona Osona () is a comarca situated in Catalonia, Northeast Spain. Its capital is Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan county of Osona. The name Osona comes from ''Ausetans'', a group 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 nort ...

, Spain.

Etymology

The name l'Esquirol (literally "the squirrel") comes from a former local inn Hostal de l'Esquirol which was recorded in the 17th century, but is thought to be ultimately from the old Catalan "es querol", meaning "the little rock". "Esquirol" is used as a pejorative term for strikebreakers in Catalan and Spanish,esquirol
in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. equivalent to " scab" in English. Legend has it that this meaning originated in the 19th century, when striking workers of a textile factory in the town of

Manlleu Manlleu () is municipality in the comarca of Osona, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. Manlleu is located in a large plain, La Plana de Vic, at around 460 metres above sea level on average. The highest point is Puig Agut chu ...

were replaced by textile workers from the town of Esquirol. The Manlleu workers called the strikebreakers "esquirols" as an insult.

History

The village dates to the 15th century when it formed along the path from Vic to Olot. The settlement started around an inn called the ''Hostal de l'Esquirol'' on a homestead named ''Parai''. The village was popularly known as ''L'Esquirol''. The other name of the village, ''Santa Maria de Corcó'', was added in 1743 when the Corcó parish relocated to Esquirol, and became the official name of the municipality in

Francoist Spain 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, Spai ...

. On 4 June 2014 the name was officially changed back to ''L'Esquirol''.

Villages

* Cantonigròs * Sant Julià de Cabrera * Sant Martí Sescorts

References

* Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). ''Guia de Catalunya'', Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. (Spanish). (Catalan).

External links

Pàgina web de l'Ajuntament

Government data pages
Municipalities in Osona {{Barcelona-geo-stub