The date commemorates a defeat rather than a grand victory: 11 September 1714 was when Catalans in Barcelona fell to monarchist troops after a 14-month siege during the Spanish Succession War. I'm no great expert on this part of Spanish history, so when I find out more about what all this means, I'll let you know.
At the official ceremony in Barcelona, Artur Mas, the president of the Catalan government (the Generalitat), caused controversy by refusing to speak in Castilian at all. He said: "The Catalan national transition is being carried out." This is against a background of debates about the role of Castilian in schools, see more in El Pais.
In our village, Catalan flags were draped out of balconies and a wreath was laid at the main monument. After that, the fun began with a 'gran paella popular' prepared for lunch under the shade of the trees at the Ermita. Most of the villagers were sitting at long trestle tables which they laid with salads, bread and drinks. Enormous portions of paella were speedily doled out at about 3pm. It was delicious, full of mussels, prawns and rabbit (even the odd rabbit's head) and generally agreed to be better than Miravet's cherry festival paella.
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| Paella for the whole village |
After lunch, men at several tables prepared Calmant, a drink that's unique to our village. In a silver bowl a mixture of rum, sugar and coffee are set alight and ladled higher and higher as the sugar dissolves. It's not very nice, in my opinion, and certainly doesn't help you sleep.
The afternoon was finished with the local band playing the Catalan national anthem, Els Segadors, before the evening's entertainments - bingo, skittles, sack races and games for the children - began.
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