SPAIN, CATALONIA AND ANOIA By Carmen Parada and Ilènia Llamas Erasmus Creativity Club Sec d’INS Vallbona d’Anoia

SPAIN  Spain is a country located in Southern Europe. It is between Portugal, Andorra and France and its capital city is Madrid. Spain has 46,524,943 inhabitants.  The official language is Spanish, but other languages such as Catalan, Basque, Aranese and Galician are co-official. Spain uses the euro.  Some of the most important figures in Spain are Miguel de Cervantes, Pablo Picasso, and Diego Velázquez.  The typical food is paella, Spanish omelette, “gazpacho”, etc.

Spanish omelette GazpachoPaella Pablo Picasso Miguel de CervantesDiego Velázquez

SPAIN  The most visited places are La Alhambra in Granada, the city of Arts and Science in Valencia, the Mosque in Cordoba, “Puerta del Sol” square in Madrid, among others.  The typical dances in Spain are “Sevillanas”, “Jota”, etc.

City of Arts and Science, ValenciaLa Puerta del Sol, Madrid The Mosque in Cordoba La Alhambra in Granada Jota dance Sevillanas

CATALONIACATALONIACATALONIACATALONIA  Catalonia is a little and nice province of Spain located between Aragon, Valencia, Andorra, France and the Mediterranean sea. There are 7,504,008 inhabitants.  The capital city is Barcelona which is very popular, because it has a lot of monuments, a nice beach, and one of best football teams in the world, F.C.Barcelona. It is also considered to be one of the most touristic cities in the world.  The patron saint of Catalonia is “La Moreneta” located in the Montserrat mountains. The official language is Catalan.  Seat is an important leading industry located in Martorell.

Montserrat Barcelona F.C.Barcelona Seat La Moreneta

CATALONIACATALONIACATALONIACATALONIA  The typical food is “el pa amb tomàquet” (tomato spread on bread), “la crema catalana” (Crème brûlée), “els calçots” (spring onions), etc.  Some of the most important people in Catalonia are Montserrat Caballé, Ferran Adrià, Antoni Gaudí, and Salvador Dalí.

Pa amb tomàquetCalçots Crema catalana Antoni Gaudí Salvador Dalí Montserrat Caballé

CATALONIACATALONIACATALONIACATALONIA  In Catalonia the typical festivals of the different towns include dances such as “sardanes” and “balls de bastons“.  There are also strange dancing creatures such as “Cap grossos”, “gegants”, and “diables”.  Catalan people like gathering together and building human towers and figures such as “castellers” and “falcons” do.

SardanesBall de bastons Castellers Gegants i Capgrossos Falcons Diables

ANOIA  Anoia is a county located in Catalonia. It has 117,114 residents.  The capital town is Igualada which is popular for its factories of leather and textiles. It is also important for the Europe Balloon Festival, which is a festival held in July and is the largest balloon concentration in Spain and southern Europe.  Anoia is important for its cava, wine and vineyard landscapes.  An important person for the young in Anoia is Toni Bou, a trial pilot from Piera.

Toni BouIgualada Vineyard Europa Balloon Festival