, ) known as Santa Maria de Corcó until 4 June 2014, is a

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

in the ''comarca'' of

Osona Osona () is a comarques of Catalonia, comarca situated in the Central Catalonia, central region of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Vic, Spain, Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan co ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, 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 A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the org ...

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 ch ...

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 Vic, vic or VIC may refer to: People and fictional characters * Vic (name), a list of people, fictional characters and mascots with the given name * V.I.C. (rapper) (born 1987), stage name of an American rapper Places * Vic, Spain, a town and ...

Olot Olot (; ) is the capital city of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipali ...

. 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 (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. 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 Strikebreakers {{Barcelona-geo-stub