Catalonia Today - Decembre edition

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Depressing timesA 25-page review of the year looks back at themajor domestic and international events of 2011

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December 2011 • CATALONIA TODAY • 3

DECEMBER 2011 - Nº 0348

25-49 REVIEW OF THE YEAR

2011, the year of living dangerouslyIn our 25-page review, we provide an extensive and thought-provoking look at 2011 both at homeand abroad, from the tsunami that savaged Japan to the ousting of the Socialist government inMadrid by the Partido Popular, from Eta laying down its arms to the death of Osama Bin Laden

OPINIONFrom the editor ................................................................5Matthew Tree:Year’s end..............................................................................7Letters to the editor ......................................................8Martin Kirby: Hugs.............................................................9Joseph Wilson:Winners and losers .......................................................13David Bueno i Torrens:Seven billion and counting.........................................50Antoni Veciana:Heaven and hell .............................................................50Short story by Tony Tysoe:Epiphany in the plaça ...................................................51Neil Stokes:Kings for a day ................................................................62

MY KIND OF PLACEGranollers,Chris Ridge................................................10

MY SPACECarles Lama & Sofia Cabruja.................................14

OUT AND ABOUTThe rules of diplomacy,by Nicole Miller ..............................................................22

ECCLUBFriendship at the centre of the tales.................20ECClubbers share their thoughts........................20Make the most of your card!.................................21

FEATURESPhotography Competition:Markets ................................................................................16Review of the year ........................................................25

BOOKSTravellers in Catalan lands:Verbal voyages ................................................................52

THE NETRiding the waves ...........................................................54From San Felipeto Xàtiva again................................................................55

THE EYECrystal clear ......................................................................56

ENTERTAINMENTCrossed words,quiz ladder,sudokus, etc......................................................................58

Visit us: www.cataloniatoday.catContact us: [email protected] to us: podcast.cataloniatoday.catFollow us: @cataloniatoday (Twitter)

52-53 BOOKS

Poverty and poetryA 19th century account of the poor andthe literature of the Països Catalans

16-19 PHOTO COMPETITION

Rise in the marketThis month’s photo contest, whichhad the subject of 'Markets',received the usual great responsewith Adrià Ortiz’s shot 'Smallmarket in Laos' (pictured) takingtop prize.The subject for the nextcompetition will be 'Parks'

22-24 OUT AND ABOUT

Saddled with a diplomatNicole has a ride and a conversation withthe British Consulate General in Barcelona

CONTENTS

4 • CATALONIATODAY • December 2011

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Taking Advice On Your UK Pensions OptionsBy David Franks, Chief Executive,

Blevins Franks

If you are a British expatriate, whenyou retire the three main options foryour pension funds are:

1) You can buy an annuity2) You can start income drawdown3) You can move into a QROPS

(Qualifying Recognised OverseasPension Scheme)

You need to research, take advice on,and understand each option, weighingup the pros and cons, before you canestablish which is the most appropriateoption for you.

UK pensions and pension transfersare heavily regulated in the UK by theUK Financial Services Authority (FSA).Only advisory f irms which areauthorised and regulated by the FSAare able to give advice on pensionstransfers. So although you are nolonger UK resident, your pensionsadviser still needs to be FSA authorised

and regulated to give advice on all threepensions options listed above.

QROPS can offer considerablebenefits to expatriates in Spain, suchas:

• Your fund and the income receivedcan be in Euros.

• No UK tax on any benefits receivedand no UK PAYE applicable.

• No tax is payable on income or gainswithin the fund (other than withholdingtaxes on certain investments).

• The taxation of withdrawals from aQROPS is usually more beneficial thanif you keep your current pension – andin Spain tax can be reduced to very lowlevels.

• The benefit of the fund can pass toyour heirs and is protected frominheritance tax.

• If you have been non-UK resident forfive complete and consecutive UK tax

years when you die, QROPS escapethe 55% death charges which apply toUK pension funds if you were indrawdown or aged over 75 when youdie.

• A QROPS is also not l iable toSpanish succession tax.

• You can have a flexible investmentplan.

To find out more about QROPS andwhether they would be suitable for you,contact a firm like Blevins Franks whichis authorised and regulated by the FSA.

Blevins Franks Financial ManagementLimited is authorised and regulated bythe UK Financial Services Authority forthe conduct of investment and pensionbusiness.

To keep in touch with the latestdevelopments in the offshore world,check out the latest news on ourwebsite www.blevinsfranks.com


OPINION

t’s Christmas time and, as we did lastyear, we have decided to dedicate our

December issue to recalling the mainevents that were in the news during thepast 12 months. We hope you enjoy it andthat it serves as a timely reminder and a sti-mulus for reflection on what happened ina very turbulent year, a year of tsunamis,both meteorological and financial.

Keep in mind that next month, as usual,we will offer our readers and subscribers avery complete digest dedicated to an im-portant aspect of Catalonia. In 2010, wefocused on the must-know people in Cata-

I lonia. In 2011, the issue was dedicated tocompanies, institutions and NGO’s. In2012, the January issue will be about theunmissable Catalan wines and food pro-ducts that have helped fuel the boom inCatalan cuisine.

I can’t finish my last editorial column ofthe year without a word about the most ex-citing project we face since our first issuewas published, six years ago. We willforever remember 2011 as the year whenCatalonia Today and Abacus joined forcesto create the ECClub, the English CultureClub, which has become such a big suc-

cess. As I write, there are more than 500enthusiastic members and more than 40reading groups meeting regularly and en-joying the pleasure of books around Cata-lonia and Valencia.

We continue to work hard to find newoffers to the ECClubbers, so they can makethe most of their membership card. Thatincludes cultural events, such as plays inEnglish, conferences and guided visits, andeven a trip to England, to visit the sceneswhere the action of one of the books to beread next year takes place. Stay tuned formore details in our February issue!

FROM THE EDITORGERMÀ CAPDEVILA [email protected]

Merry Christmas and an exciting New year!

Published by CATALONIA TODAY SL. Carrer de les Tàpies, 2, Barcelona 08001 Tel. +34 93 227 66 20 / www.cataloniatoday.cat / [email protected]: +34 972 186438 [email protected] Subscriptions: +34 902 456 000 [email protected] Letters to the editor: [email protected] Managing Editor: Germà Capdevila. Chief Editor: Miquel Berga.Advertising Manager: M.Àngels Ribas. Staff and Contributors: Neil Stokes, Marcela Topor, Barbara Leonard, Matthew Tree, Martin Kirby, Joe Wilson, Terry Parris, Tony Tysoe, Nicole Millar, Pere Gifra, Joe Hogan (text editor). Design: Jordi Molins - Florentí Morante.Deposit Nº GI-322-2004 Printed by Rotimprès. Catalonia Today SL has a co-operation agreement with Grup El Punt on the use of content.


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OPINION

n the last four months I have spent moretime that I would have wished sitting inLondon’s St Thomas’ Hospital and Barce-

lona’s Hospital Sant Pau (the former becausemy mother is not at all well, and the second,for my own health). In both I have had oodlesof opportunities to watch the nurses, doctorsand orderlies going about their respectivebusinesses and upon seeing their professional-ism in the face of often exasperating situ-ations and their patience in the face of evenmore exasperating patients, I found myself fil-ling up with unadulterated admiration forthem all. Both St Thomas’ and Sant Pau – likeall other public hospitals - are wincing fromthe financial pinch put on them, in this case,by the governments of Britain and Catalonia.In St Thomas’, the nurses are being shuntedfrom ward to ward in an impossible attemptto make up for an omnipresent staff shortage;and Sant Pau, whose funding couldn’t havebeen more slashed if they’d put a Hollywoodpirate on the job, has now been draped by its

I staff in so many furious protest banners itlooks like a scrubbed version of the PlaçaCatalunya when the Indignant Ones were stillpermitted to roost there. In short, how can itbe that the hospitals, of all institutions, aregetting it in the neck? If governments need toreduce public spending, let them start by retir-ing all those glum functionaries whose onlyreal function seems to be telling us they can’thelp us because we haven’t brought the rightdocuments; let there be cutbacks on officialvehicles, police accessories, tourist offices,roadworks... Let culture itself be cut, if needsbe, if only those responsible would keep theirscissor-laden hands off the hospitals, those ir-replaceable places that usher most of us intothis life and usher most of us out of it, oncetheir admirable doctors and nurses can do nomore for our health. So go on, you miserly,shilly-shallying hams who apparently repre-sent us in Westminster and the Plaça SantJaume, get into the Christmas spirit for once,and surprise us pleasantly. Just this once.

Emergency ward 13

LONG-TERM RESIDENTMATTHEW TREE www.matthewtree.cat

I foundmyself fil-ling up withunadulte-rated ad-miration forthem all.BothSt Thomas’and SantPau – like allother publichospitals


Daylight SavingTime (DST)

t the end of October wehad to change the clock

because of DTS. I don´t like it. Ithink we shouldn´t do thischange as it alters our internalclock and makes some peoplefeel ill or have sleeping prob-lems amongst other problems.I know the main reason is tosave energy, and some say wesave a lot, but recently I heardon the radio that each housewould save eleven Euros ontheir electricity bill. And I wassurprised because the amountis so small that I don´t thinkit’s worth it even nowadayswith the economic crisis. Offi-cials never explain in detailhow daylight saving works sopeople make up theories. Myone is I belive it only savessome money for the Gover-ment jobs and banks, as mostcivil servants and bank workersusually work from 8am to3pm, during daylight, so theydon´t need to use so muchelectricity as it´s never darkwhen they work. And that’swhy Goverments support it.Anyway, officials never seem totake into account the health andwork problems affected by thechange, and I think they should.I read recently that Russia andUkraine has stopped DST this

Ayear, as a result of health issues,well I hope this spreads to othercountries.ADAM MACIÀManlleu.

Top destination’ve read that Girona andCosta Brava are in the top ten

of destinations for 2012 accord-ing to Frommer’s American ma-gazine and in the top 20 desti-nations for 2012 according toNational Geographic.

That’s a very good piece ofnews! We should be glad to haveand to live in a top ten desti-nation which indicates that welive in a good region. This is easyto understand if we think aboutour cuisine, our culture, thebeautiful Costa Brava beaches,Girona city, Dalí Museum, Ban-yoles lake, Garrotxa, the Botan-ical gardens, the Empúries ruins,ski stations and so on.

This must contribute to in-crease the number of tourists.Therefore, they will spend moremoney in our shops, restaurants,hotels, apartments... and it willbe very good for our economy.

I would like to give my thanksto the people and companieswho have contributed to put Gi-rona region at the top of theworld. Thanks for the good job!RAQUEL XARGAY I TORRENTMata (Porqueres).

I

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [email protected] Today reserves the right to edit readers’ letters.

ow that the dust has settled after the general elections onNovember 20, as a candidate for one of the smaller

parties not represented in the previous parliament, I would likeyour readers to be aware of some of the issues that should con-cern us all in a democracy.

In order to stand for election, any party that had not pre-viously held a seat, had to collect signatures: 0.01% of the elec-toral roll in each location. This was something we had alreadydone for the previous European elections, but we were made todo again. Where I stood for election in Girona as the candidatefor PACMA, we collected more than three times the numberrequired, but I have to say it was a daunting task even for thoseof us dedicated to the cause, but busy too with the claims ofwork and families.

Standing for election while being ignored by virtually all themedia, with very limited resources (do you know how much asingle banner costs?) and struggling against an electoral systemunfairly weighted in favour of the existing big players is an ex-hausting process and many small parties have simply thrownin the towel. These links help illustrate the issue further:

http://ves.cat/aZprhttp://ves.cat/aZps

DEBORAH PARRIS I LITTLER Manlleu.

N

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Democracy at work?

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OPINION


t is a metre to the kettle that’s coming tothe boil behind me, a kilometre to the vil-lage, 100 kilometres to Barcelona, 1300

kilometres to my fading Dad, 385,000km tothe moon, 149,597,871km to Jupiter that is sobright in the night sky right now, and17,391,000,000km to the space probe VoyagerII that is now leaving our little solar system.Who knows how far it is to another planetwith intelligent life.

Which, given the thumping relevance ofmy father’s situation, brings the whole ques-tion of the circle of life, the universe andeverything into pin-sharp focus.

Distance; a measure between two points; anincalculable feeling that can make heart andmind pound back and forth along the boun-daries of reason.

I have been tracking Jupiter for weeks.Three of its moons have been visible with theaid of binoculars. The night sky here in thePriorat mountains (where we, as in every ruralcomarca, are spared the gross urban addictionto blinding electric light) is hugely relevant,numbingly complex, bewitching beautifuland no help in the matter of life. Or maybe itis.

And before anyone nods sagely and says, ahha, a man in need of faith, please don’t. Thatis not my point. All that matters on that sub-ject in relation to this article is that my father

I has it and is comforted.Regardless of creed or continent I just

wonder how many of the 7 billion inhabit-ants of this tiny planet look at Jupiter and theMilky Way at some point during their journeyand strive to see themselves, the human con-dition and our global obsessions in the con-text of an (as yet) unfathomable universe.

You haven’t? You don’t think you ever will?You think I’m mad?

Maybe it is the consequence of dwelling soremotely, where I float in space every clearnight that I go to check on the horses beforebedtime; of approaching a milestone of loss.

Yes, I am feeling that distance from myfather. I go to him tomorrow and will, nodoubt, walk the cliff-top coastal meadows ofmy English childhood. There, among theechoes, I will grapple with life choices, notleast the hugely negative consequence of dis-tancing myself, my partner and his grand-children for all but spasmodic days during thelast 11 years. Non-native Catalan residentswith families far away will understand.

Whatever emotions flood, I will not be ableto resist standing and searching the planetsand stars. Strangely, it is a great comfort.

PS Can we turn out some lights please? Itmight save a few Euros if all that matters iseconomics, and it may help people come toterms with the dark.

Hugs

HEADING FOR THE HILLSMARTIN KIRBY [email protected]

I will notbe able toresiststandingandsearchingthe planetsand stars.Strangely, itis a greatcomfort.

NA

SA


Granollershy did you choose Granollers?—When I hit the English teaching trail I landed in Barce-

lona but I found my first job, which lasted ten years, in Gra-nollers. After 18 months I was bored with commuting so I de-cided to move here.How long have you lived there?—13 years now, nearly a quarter of my life!What do you think is the best thing about living there? —It’s not a spectacular place with famous monuments, but withthe pedestrianisation of the centre it’s become more people andespecially shopper-friendly. Most of my friends live here and its

W half an hour from Barcelona, the sea and good walking country.What would you most like to change?—My first reaction was to say the sultry August weather but moreseriously, given the times we live in, I’d like to fill the empty flatswith people who need one, find jobs for the unemployed andstop the attacks on the local health service..When you are away, what do you miss most?—When I’m sitting in my sister’s living-room in North Waleslooking at her drizzle-soaked, mist-enshrouded garden, the earlymorning sun on my balcony. As a frequent Christmas visitorhere, she misses that too.

CHRIS RIDGEChris has been in Catalonia since 1996. He translates andteaches English and in his free time organises a languageexchange.

MY KIND OF PLACE


1. Can you recommend a place to have lunch?The Fonda de Europa or the cheaper Cala Sila nextdoor serve traditional Catalan food. Also check outAnònims, El Mirallet and Àgora Gourmet.2. Where would you have a special dinner for two?El Trabuc or La Taverna d’En Grivé.3.When is the best time of year to plan a visit?Try the festa major at the end of August. The wholecity divides into Blues and Whites, for a competitivebut friendly few days of lively celebrations. I’m a Blue.4.What is the best kept secret about Granollers?Sadly it was bombed in the Civil War in May 1938.

Some suggestions

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What do you take with you as a present from your new homewhen you go back to your own country?— I used to take wine and ham but nothing like that now as customscan mess you about.What is public transport like?— In the city there are regular bus services while there are also goodbus and rail links with Barcelona and the main towns round about.There is a direct train service to Barcelona airport.Where are the best places for visitors to stay?—I have never stayed in any myself but the classic choice has to bethe Fonda de Europa, slap bang in the centre.


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pain, a country identified with the colorred, has been bled dry by a never-endingeconomic crisis and has turned a worrisome

blue. The Nov. 20 general election left the conser-vative Partido Popular in total control of thecountry. The once proud Partido Socialista ObreroEspañol has been left clinging to just two final bas-tions – Barcelona and Seville – while the PP andfellow parties of the Right have conquered all else.

The big winnersPresident-elect Mariano Rajoy is, of course, the un-disputed winner by KO. Congratulations to him.After twice being outfoxed by Zapatero, Rajoyproved that if anything he is persist-ent. It is arguable that a corpse in acheap suit could have beaten thePSOE this time since the PSOE effec-tively beat itself. But even so, creditwhere credit is due. Rajoy againshowed the same steady hand thathelped him to his greatest politicalvictory of all when not so long ago hesurvived a coup attempt from withinhis own party. Look at him now: ontop of the Iberian world. Even his es-tranged mentor Jose María Aznarcame back to PP party headquartersfor the first time in eight years to con-gratulate him. It’s almost enough tomake a grown man groan.

Meanwhile, here in Catalonia, Convergència iUnió could not be giddier. Catalonia faces majorthreats to the integrity of its social services net-work and its economy. But instead of panic, themood among CiU supporters, and by that I meanLa Vanguardia, is one of relief since at long last thereal Catalans are back in charge. CiU has wastedno time in demonstrating how much the right-leaning nationalist party feels bolstered by finallybeating the Socialists in a general election. CatalanPresident Artur Mas waited a full two days to an-nounce another round of civil servant wage cutsand utility price hikes. I understand that stepshave to be taken to straightened up Catalonia’s fi-nancial books, but Mas, couldn’t you have waiteda least a week before bringing the pain?

The little winnersThe four million voters who fled from the PSOEdid not all find refuge in the ranks of the PP. Infact, one of the most interesting outcomes of thiselection was the uptick that various minorityparties saw. The biggest of the little winners wasthe far left Izquierda Unida, which soared to 11

S seats from just two in 2008. It looks like more thana few of the indignats told their buddies they weregoing out to grab some Xibecas but instead secretlyslipped off to take part in the capitalist charadeknown as "participatory democracy." Those naïvefools.

The losersIt goes without saying that loser No. 1 is outgoingpresident José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. We canadd to it PSOE candidate Alfredo Rubalcaba andpretender to the throne Carme Chacón. Rubalcabahad the chance to position himself as the Socialiststrongman if he could have just beaten expec-

tations by having a dignified showing at the polls.Instead, he got his hat handed to him. The samegoes for Chacón. The Minister of Defense was sup-posed to hold back the barbarian hoards at thewalls of Catalonia. She failed as well. So with all ofits major figures mortally wounded, the juicyquestion is who will rise from Socialists ranks totake up the fallen banner? Watch out for old guardfunny man José Bono. He’s my long bet.

Uplifting final noteBesides having reached the end of the agonizing

demise of the Socialist party, the upside to this isthat after three years of water-downed deal mak-ing in Madrid there is now a government that hasfree reign to actually do something, anything nomatter how terrible it may be. I know that the PPhas never been a friend to Catalonia, but Spainneeds a strong government to try and stave off the'market', which has turned its blood-stained fangsthis way. Let’s just hope the beast can finally be sa-tiated on Italy’s prone and bloated body. If not,then yes, the man who looks like a nice uncle witha dyed beard will be our only hope. God bless you,Mariano. And may God help us all.

Winners and losers

RANDOM TANGENTSJOSEPH WILSON [email protected]

Thegeneralelectionleft theconser-vativePartidoPopularin totalcontrolof thecountry.

OPINION


arles Lama and Sofia Cabruja are a paragon of ar-tistic talent in the world of classical music and one

of Europe’s most renowned piano duos.Acclaimed by both the public and critics alike as twomusicians with an extraordinary capacity to move anaudience to tears, the duo also exhibits a spectacularsynchronisation and a very rare mutual understanding.Carles and Sofia have gained critical acclaim for theirbrilliant technique, passion, unparalleled quality ofsound and infinite elegance.Their have always been committed to helping with so-cial needs. In 2001, her Royal Highness Margarita deBourbon presented them with an honorary distinctionfrom UNICEF, in recognition of their humanitarian ef-forts. The couple manages to fit their family life in withthe 50 concerts they give around the world each year.They are teachers at the Conservatori de Música de Gi-rona and we met them in their studio.1. Piano2. A score that Carles is working on at present.3. The number plate of the car they had during theirtime as students in the US.4. A photo of Carles with Alicia de Larrocha at Carne-gie Hall in October 1992, a pianist they both admire.The gremlins in front of the the photo simbolise Carles(the 'bad' gremlin) and Larroche (the 'good' gremiln).In February this year Carles and Sofia gave a concert atCarnegie Hall.5. A statue of Akhenaton. The couple love Egypt,where they bought the statue and say that if you takehold of the statue’s head you are forced to place yourhand in the correct position for the piano.6. Houses in Bergen. This year marked the hundredthanniversary of the death of Edvard Grieg, and thecouple interpreted the Norwegian Dances written bythe great composer in the place where he created thepiece; a glass auditorium overlooking the fiord.7. Barbie. When they created the studio, they alwayssaid it was like Barbie’s house and when they celebratedit’s opening their friends gave them a Barbie doll whichstill holds pride of place.8. A photo of their daughters, Nora and Míriam, mak-ing biscuits some Christmases ago.9. Book by Eckhart Tolle, "Un nuevo mundo, ahora"which they recommend reading.10. A transformable toy: good for nimble fingers.11. A recycled paper bag they picked up while shop-ping in Cambodia some years ago they have kept as asymbol of recycling.

www.carlesandsofia.com

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Carles Lama& SofiaCabrujaM.ÀNGELS [email protected]

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This month it was a pleasure to seethe colourful photos of differentmarkets you sent us from all overthe world.The next topic, to be published inFebruary, is PARKS, indispensableelements in the landscape of anycity. We look forward to receivingyour pictures of these 'lungs' of thecity you live in or one you maybevisited. Please send us your bestphotos by January 15 [email protected] anddon’t forget to tell us where youlive, where the photo was takenand if there is a story behind it.

PhotographyCompetitionMarkets

he photo was taken in August 2004 dur-ing a holiday in Laos, after two days of

cruising the Mekong River. The shot capturesto perfection the authenticity of daily life in thesmall market. It ’s as if time has stopped andnothing else matters than this simple, bucoliclife in the village surrounded by mountains.

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The winning photo:Small market in LaosAdrià OrtizBarcelona


Teresa Tarrida Renau(Quart) Girona marketCatherine Gleeson (Barcelona) Girona

Marta Porras Masó (Girona)Gambia market

Marc Corcoy Dachs (Girona) Animal market in Serengeti, Gambia


Jane Beardmore (Leek, UK) Boqueria

Yvette Whalley(L’Estartit) Torroella

Julia Rice (Banyoles)Banyoles market

Dorothea Biehler (Barcelona)Olives in Valencia


Friendships at the centreof the talesBoth of the latest novels share themes offriendship and suffering against abackground of war

ECCLUB BOOKSTHE NEXT BOOKS UP FOR DISCUSSION

People in my four year oldGirona reading groups carry aheavy responsibility: theyvoted for the books thateveryone else is readingaround Catalonia in theECClub. Their choicesincluded the first of a trilogy,Once, by Morris Gleitzman(the others entitled, Then andNow) and the book with thelongest title of the year: TheGuernsey Literary and PotatoPeel Society by Mary AnnShaffer and Annie Barrows.The background to both isWWII, but they could not bemore different. Friendship isat the heart of each novel intwo very distant locations.In the first, intermediateECClub members will meetFelix, an imaginative youngman whose story is bothmoving and funny in turn.Some readers may share acertain understanding of theway his story telling abilities

grant him, and those aroundhim, an all too brief respitefrom the unspeakable horrorssurrounding them.Advanced ECClubbersmeanwhile are off to the littleknown Bailiwick of Guernsey.This island is a British Crowndependency in the EnglishChannel and together withJersey, Alderney, Sark andHerm was under Germanoccupation during the war.The story is told through aseries of letters revealingevents on the island and theirlasting effects on some of thecharacters. Juliet Ashton,novelist is looking for her nextsubject. She finds it in a letterfrom a man she’s never met,who lives on Guernsey. He’sfound her name writteninside a book by CharlesLamb.This novel reading can be arather addictive and lifeenhancing experience.

BARBARA LEONARD

THE ENGLISH CULTURE CLUB ...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ECClubbers sharetheir thoughts

irst introductions over andwith a couple of novels under

their belts, the groups are begin-ning to get into their stride.

Mercedes López from the ad-vanced group in Vic told me:"When you love reading, a bigpart of your enjoyment is to shareyour opinions with others, a bitlike when you go to the cinemawith friends and the chat after thefilm forms part of the whole ex-perience. To find the EEClub wasfantastic, in my opinion the idea

Fis amazing, not only for the op-portunity of reading in English, ifnot for the nice atmospherearound a table with people whohave the same interests in liter-ature like you. The experience isvery enriching."

The popular author Maeve Bin-chy was under the spotlight ac-ross Catalonia this month withone of her most popular books,The Lilac Bus. A single weekend isexamined from the point of viewof several different, but interre-lated characters who all travel

Some members of the ECClub reading group in Vic

ECClub


Make the most of your card!One ECClubber is travelling to Italy tocelebrate the club’s 500 member mark.What’s next?

ECCLUB BENEFITSSPECIAL OFFER TO THE MEMBERS

Josep Maria Cendra,from Mataró, is thewinner of the draw tocelebrate the ECClubnow having more than500 members. Thanksto Ryanair andArthotel & Park Hotel,

Josep will visit themarvellous city ofLecce, Italy, and writea 300 word storyabout the trip thatwill be published inthe February issue ofCatalonia Today.

Impressionists: Frenchmasters of the Clarkcollection, from Sterlingand Francine Clark ArtInstitute, MassachusettsFree for ECClubbers.December 16 at 19:30h

Temporada AltaTheatre Festival. Freetickets available forEnglish language plays.ECClubbers must sendemail to [email protected]

Diaghilev’s Ballet RussesOrganised by Victoria &Albert Museum inLondon, pays homageto Serge Diaghilev.Free for ECClubbers.December 16 at 18:30h

CATALONIA TODAY AND ABACUS...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The ECClub reading groups are beginning todevelop their own characters and we aredelighted to hear from members who want toshare their views and experienceshome from Dublin to their villageon the Lilac Bus. It reminded meof that classic advert for theGuardian:http://ves.cat/aYhn

As you watch it, your opinionof events changes.

Intermediate readers havebeen reading Boy, by Roald Dahl,an autobiographical trip throughthis famous author’s early years atboarding school.

Núria Cisa in Tarragona re-flected on her experiences so far:"I joined because I like readingand I like talking about books. I

need to practice my English inorder to not lose it completely, so,the next step had to be to join theECClub.

I have only read the two firstchapters of Boy, but up to now Ihave found it quite easy and themost surprising thing is thathaven’t needed the dictionaryyet! Boy is a funny and entertain-ing book."

Don’t forget, you can haveyour say too by joining our Face-book chats at http://www.face-book.com/#!/groups/cat2day/


n a sunny day in September AndrewGwatkin, the British Consulate General in

Barcelona, came up to my neck of the woodsfor a bike ride and lunch.

However as Archie our son had only just ar-rived (2 weeks old at the time) my husbandtook Andrew out for the ride instead and Ijoined them for the much more relaxing lunchbit! David and Andrew did a lovely two- hourloop from our house and then I metthem at our favourite local restaurantCan Boix. Andrew featured in Catalo-nia Today last year so I knew a little ofwhat he did but it was a fascinatinglunch finding out more.

Since coming to live and work inBarcelona in 2009, Andrew has fallen in lovewith Catalonia and like me enjoys exploring thecountryside and everything else it has to offer.He hadn’t ever been up to where we live (northGirona) and the loop David chose to take himon through Banyoles, Esponella and Gallinersbefore finishing for lunch in Vilamari, showedoff the Pla d’Estany region perfectly.

Andrew is based in Barcelona and the BritishConsulate General is part of the global networkoperated by the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice which reports to the British Embassy inMadrid. Over lunch he explained in more detailwhat the Consulate General has to offer Britishcitizens in Spain and it has to be said that Davidand I were totally clueless to how much wasavailable to us.

Within the Consulate General there are twoprincipal functions: Consular Services, whichprovide consular assistance to British Nationalsoverseas and UK Trade and Investment, helpingUK businesses trade in overseas markets andhelping overseas businesses set-up in the UK.

Consular ServicesThe consular services are what BritishNationals living or travelling in Spain willfind most useful, for example, this is whatthe Barcelona Consulate General dealt with

O in 2010: Hospitalisations (64), Arrests (51),Deaths (79), Missing Persons (nine), SexualAssault (eight), Deportation (nine), Adviceand Self Help (162), Mental Health (five). Ascan be seen this is a diverse cross-section ofoccurences!

Around 12 million UK residents visitedSpain in 2010 (versus 2.1 million Spanish

residents who visited the UK in 2009),some 23.6% of total visitors to thecountry, making the UK the largest con-tributor to the Spanish tourism industrywith euro 6.4 billion. The first half of2011 saw an increase of around 25%against the previous year, due largely

to a switch from North African destinations.The most common reason the ConsulateGeneral is contacted is for the issuing ofEmergency Travel Documents (ETDs) to anyBritish National who has immediate travelplans but has either lost their passport orhad it stolen. On average they issue between1,000 to 1,200 ETDs each year.

Although Barcelona in general is a won-derful city to visit and serious crime rates arelow compared to other European cities of asimilar size, regrettably pick-pocketing andstreet theft is very common. This is some-thing the Consulate General has been focus-ing on in their contacts with local author-ities and police. It is encouraging to see thatrecently progress has been made by a coordi-nated police presence to reduce crime ratesin the Metro for example. Still, this remainsan issue of considerable concern and causesa great deal of inconvenience and distress tothose who fall victim to this type of robbery.

The Consulate General is also able toundertake a limited number of notarialduties, in particular providing documents toBritish Nationals they need in order to dealwith the Spanish system, marriage declar-ations, civil status certificates and the likeand in fact many of these services are pro-vided are available free of charge.

RIDE AND LUNCH WITH THE BRITISH CONSULATE

The rules ofdiplomacy

Nicole Millar http://out.cataloniatoday.cat

OUT & ABOUT


owever the EmergencyTravel Documents and the

notarial services do have fees.These are set by Parliament andthe stated aim is that the world-wide network of consulates isself sustaining. In that way a UKtax payer who does not leave theUK and therefore never requiresa passport, is not paying for anyoverseas consular services. In-stead those who travel (a smallamount of the passport fee goestowards paying for the consularnetwork) and who require ser-vices such as an ETD when over-seas are therefore paying for the

H service directly. There are 5 staffin the Consulate General fullydedicated to consular work plusa part-time member of the teamin Andorra.

UK Trade andInvestmentThe other part of the team in theConsulate General is the UKTrade and Investment teamwhich has 7 people in it. UKTI isthe government organisationthat helps UK-based companiessucceed in the global economy.They also help overseas enter-prises to locate and invest in the

UK. UKTI employs 1,300 staff in99 countries.

These experts live and work inthe countries in which a com-pany wants to do business withand can provide impartial, auth-oritative advice.

Some interesting economyfacts about the links betweenSpain and the UK are as follows:

The UK’s seventh largest ex-port market is Spain, with ex-ports worth £9.61 billion (euro10.5 billion) in 2010

The UK was the world’s largestforeign investor in Spain from2000 to 2009. UK exports to

Spain are more than to Chinaand India combined.

Around 700 UK companiesare investing in Spain, includingBP, Barclays, BA, Diageo, Easyjetand Vodafone.

It was definitely one of themore fascinating lunches we’vehad, and I’m very pleased to beable to help Andrew educatepeople on what the British Con-sulate General has to offer.Above all it was reassuring toknow that although we nowconsider Catalonia home we al-ways have a connection withthe country of our birth.

Coral Ferguson & Nicole Millar http://out.catloniatoday.catRide and Lunch with the British Consulate

8695

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January

2 3 4


1

1. Flooding of biblical proportions affects around 200,000 peopleand covers an area larger than France or Germany in Queensland,Australia. The estimated loss to Australia’s GDP is calculated atabout A$30 billion (21.8 billion euros). / U.S. Naval ResearchLaboratory2. A glitch on the Apple iPhone causes its alarm clock to stopworking on the first two days of the New Year. Owners complain itmade them late for work. / Archive3. A smoking ban in all public places is introduced across Spainafter a previous partial ban proved controversial. The sight ofsmokers standing outside on the pavement has now become acommon feature of Spanish cities./ Archive4. The Planck space telescope identifies the largest structures evercaptured by humanity in the Universe: clusters of galaxiesgravitationally bound to each other, tens of millions of light yearswide. / NASA5. Ramon Aleu speaks in Catalan for the first time in Spain’s upperchamber of parliament in a step, interpreted by some, as a sign ofprogress towards recognising the linguistic diversity in Spain: in all,some 16 million people speak a regional language as well asSpanish. / EP-A

Three quarters of the Australian state ofQueensland is declared a disaster zonefollowing floods while the linguistic stakesare hiked in the Spanish parliament andsmoking is banned in all public places

Catalonia Today’s special issue for January 2011 featured im-portant Catalan organisations and companies in the five sectorsof business, education, culture, sport and NGOs

Flood watersengulf thestate ofQueensland

Digest 2011

5


1

February

2 3 4


1. While on a tour of Singapore, celebrity chef Santi Santamaríadies of a heart attack. In 1994, Santamaría was the first Catalanchef to receive three Michelin stars for his Can Fabes restaurant.Santamaría championed a modern interpretation of traditionalCatalan cuisine and publicly opposed the 'molecular gastronomy'of some other celebrated chefs. / Miquel Anglarill2. Morocco follows Egypt and Tunisia in the wave of unrestsweeping the Arab world that has become known as the ArabSpring. In the same month, conflict broke out in neighbouringLibya, when western-backed rebels began the long and bloodyprocess of sweeping Muammar Gaddafi from power. / EP-A3. Some 26 years of continuous broadcasting by Catalan televisionnetwork TV3 came to an end in Valencia when the regionalgovernment pulled the plug in February. The situation remainsunresolved despite progress on a reciprocity proposal. / EFE4. The King’s Speech wins the Oscar for Best Film and its star ColinFirth (pictured) for Best Actor. The film is a dramatisation ofBritain’s King George VI’s overcoming his stammer on the eve ofwar. / ARCHIVE5. An X-class solar flare, the most powerful type, erupts on Feb 14,with the potential to disrupt electrical power grids. / ARCHIVE

The world mourns the passing of one ofthe great ambassadors of Catalancuisine, while protests spread across theArab world and the Oscars give us yetanother reason to love Colin Firth

Probably the most mysterious organ of the body and the mostfascinating. We looked at modern techniques that allow us toget one step closer to understanding how our brain works

Chef SantiSantamaríadies inSingapore

Examining the body’s computer

5


1

March

2 3 4


1. On March 11, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coastof Japan produces a 10m tsunami that crashes onto thenortheastern coast, killing an estimated 25,000 people and leavingthousands more missing and homeless. The event causes anexplosion at the nearby Fukishima nuclear power plant, reopeningthe debate about the safety of nuclear installations. / EP-A2. A former British Airways software engineer is jailed for 30 yearsfor plotting to blow up a plane. Rajib Karim, 31, from Newcastle,used his job to access information for an al-Qaeda preacher basedin Yemen to target BA flights in the US. / Archive3. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announces a 'measured exit'from nuclear power over the next 10 years in response to theevents in Japan. France, which gets 80% of its energy from nuclearplants, later openly criticises the German decision. / EP-A4. Double Oscar winning actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor dies onMarch 23 after suffering long-term heart problems. / EP-A5. Biochemist, doctor, writer, and scientist, Alberto Granado, dieson March 5. As Che Guevara’s motorcycling companion in their1952 tour of Latin America, Granado later wrote Traveling withChe Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary, which served as areference for the 2004 film, The Motorcycle Diaries. / Archive

As Japan attempts to recover from thenatural disaster that threatens nuclearmeltdown at the Fukushima plant, inresponse, Germany decides to phase outits nuclear infrastructure

In the March issue we focus on the struggle to achieve equalrights in education for women in Catalonia and bring the sub-ject up to date in an interview with the then education minister.

Tsunamithreatensnucleardisaster

Education for all

5


1

April

2 3 4


1. The restaurant run by the three Roca brothers Joan, Josep andJordi, is voted the world’s second best by the prestigious S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants, published by Britishmagazine Restaurant. El Celler de Can Roca jumps two positionsfrom last year. / ARCHIVE2. On April 3, Spain’s socialist prime minister, José Luis RodríguezZapatero, ends months of speculation by announcing he will notstand for a third term of office in the general elections expected inNovember./ EFE3. Barcelona celebrates an unofficial referendum for independenceon April 10. Nine out of 10 voters who participate back a separatestate, including key politicians and Catalonia’s current president,Artur Mas./ ROBERT RAMOS4. Syria endures its bloodiest day yet in the wake of the ArabSpring protests on April 22, when at least 72 people protesting theagainst the regime are killed by the country’s security forces. USPresident Barack Obama calls for a halt to the "outrageous"violence./ ARCHIVE5. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, marries CatherineMiddleton on April 29 at Westminster Abbey in London, in awedding ceremony that has a global TV audience of millions. /EFE

Girona-based restaurant El Celler de CanRoca features in prestigious magazine’stop-ten list while Spanish PM announceshe is stepping down at the GeneralElections expected in November

To celebrate one of the year’s most popular festivals, St. Jordi’sDay, this issue includes eight pages dedicated to books and fol-lows Perpignan’s USAP rugby team playing a historic match inthe Catalan capital in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup

Excellenceof Catalancuisinerewarded

Of rugby and roses

5


1

May2 3 4


1. There is cause for celebration in May when FC Barcelona wins itsfourth European Cup after beating Manchester United in theChampions League Final in Wembley on May 28. Earlier in themonth, Barça retained their La Liga champions status aftersecuring the third consecutive title. / EL92. On May 1, the news breaks that US forces have shot Osama BinLaden dead in the Pakistani compound the terrorist mastermindwas using as a hideout. The White House (pictured) refuses torelease any images or video of the shooting and the Saudi wasgiven a secret burial out at sea. / ARCHIVE3. A more lamented death is that of Seve Ballesteros on May 7. TheSpanish golfer, who had become a sporting legend in his ownlifetime, dies of the brain tumour diagnosed in 2008. / EL94.The media cannot resist a scandal and they are duly excited bythe arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund,Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Arrested on May 14 and accused ofattempted rape, the US authorities later drop the charges. / EP-A5.Natural disasters are normally limited to far-flung places, but onMay 11 it is the Murcian town of Lorca that suffers an earthquake.The disaster causes widespread damage; nine deaths areconfirmed with many more injured or displaced. / ARCHIVE

An eventful month, May not only sees FCBarcelona extend their winning streakbut the US finally gets Bin Laden and afuture French presidential candidate isarrested for attempted rape in New York

Unemployment may be reaching historic levels but there alsoappears to be a shortage of qualified engineers. In the Mayissue, we investigate this apparent paradox

Barça win atWembleyand keepLa Liga title

Engineers wanted

5


1

June

2 3 4


1. While the Greek government struggles to avoid bankruptcy byapproving a new package of drastic austerity measures forced on itby Europe, the streets of Athens are filled with rioters throwingmolotov cocktails and clashing with police. / EP-A2. Violent incidents on June 15 in Barcelona see protesters try toblock access to the Catalan parliament as well as attacking MPs.President Artur Mas and other deputies are forced to usehelicopters to get to the parliament./ ANDREU PUIG3.Jorge Semprún, the Spanish writer, intellectual and politicianwho spent most of his life in exile in France after the Spanish CivilWar and later became culture minister under Felipe González, diesat his home in Paris aged 87. / JUANMA RAMOS4. On June 12, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of thecentre-right Justice and Development party (AKP) easily wins hiscountry’s general election with 50% of the vote, securing a thirdterm in office. / EP-A5. The fallout from the E.coli crisis is sharply felt by agriculturalproducers across Europe who are forced to watch as vegetablesales fall after Germany mistakenly identifies Spanish cucumbers asthe source of an outbreak of the deadly bacterium. / EP-A

June sees markets paralysed by the Greekfinancial crisis and the EU frets overrecovery while protestors block access tothe Catalan parliament and farmers are hitby the fallout from the E.coli scandal

Catalonia Today presents its latest initiative, the English CultureClub, which offers our readers the chance to become membersof an exclusive club dedicated to celebrating cultural events inEnglish all over Catalonia

Worseningdebt crisisthreatensEurope

English Culture Club is born

5


1

2 3 4


July

1. Barcelona invests a new mayor on July 2 in the shape of CiU’sXavier Trias. The former Generalitat minister first became acandidate for the top job in the Catalan capital in 2003. Eight yearslater, Trias ousts the socialists, who had been in power in Barcelonafor 32 years. / QUIM PUIG2.The News International phone hacking scandal causes businessmogul Rupert Murdoch to close down his News of the Worldnewspaper after journalists were accused of hacking into the voicemails of a murder victim and fallen soldiers. / EFE3.English singer-songwriter, Amy Winehouse, joins the pantheonof pop legends whose lifestyles led to a premature demise whenher dead body is found in her London home on July 23. Theaward-winning global idol was 27 years old. / REUTERS4.July sees the end of an era in space exploration when the Nasashuttle programme comes to an end with the final flight of theAtlantis Space Shuttle, which launches for the last time on July 8and successfully lands again on July 21. / ARCHIVE5.Two terrorist attacks in Norway on July 22 shock the world whenAnders Behring Breivik, disguised as a policeman, kills 68 peopleon the island of Utoya, following an explosion outside the primeminister’s office in Oslo that kills eight. / ARCHIVE

Convergència i Unió finally get a man inBarcelona’s top job, while the Murdochempire is tainted by scandal; singer AmyWinehouse is found dead and the Nasashuttle programme comes to an end

In July, we gear up for the summer with a bumper issue dedi-cated to one of life’s simplest but most satisfying holiday pleas-ures: curling up with a good book

Trias ends32 yearsof socialistgovernment

Reading between the lines

5


1

August

2 3 4


1. Cloudy conditions do not seem to discourage tourists fromchoosing Catalonia as a holiday destination this summer, as hoteland apartment occupancy match that of the previous year, despitethe ongoing economic crisis. / LLUÍS CRUSET2. On June 6, rioting and looting breaks out in the North Londondistrict of Tottenham after a local man is fatally shot by policeearlier in the week. Police officers are taken to hospital as rioters setpatrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire. Thedisturbances soon extend to other UK cities. / REUTERS3. Berlin marks the 50th anniversary of the building of the BerlinWall, construction of which began on August 13, 1961. A symbolof the Cold War, the barrier divided Germay into East and Westuntil December 1989. / THOMAS PETER/ REUTERS4. Heribert Barrera, the historic leader of the nationalist partyEsquerra Republicana de Catalunya and first president of theCatalan parliament following the transition dies in Barcelona aged94. / MELCION FRANCESC5. On August 22, rebels reach the heart of the Libyan capital,Tripoli, and celebrate taking control of the city after days offighting. With Muammar Gaddafi’s whereabouts of still unknown,the US announces the end of the Colonel’s regime./ REUTERS

A poor start to the summer weatherfails to discourage tourists to Catalonia,while the UK reacts in shock to city riotsand Berlin commemorates 50 years sincethe building of its infamous wall

A thirst-quenching, summer-long bumper issue of interviews,reviews, reports, columns and stories, including a14-page com-plete guide to all the summer festivals of music, dance, theatre,poetry and circus taking place around the Països Catalans.

Tourismresistsbadweather

Refreshing reads

5


1

September

2 3 4


1. Barcelona is the first city in Spain to ban bullfighting inlegislation that comes into effect in 2012. However, at the end ofSeptember, what is likely to be the last ever bullfight in the Catalancapital takes place to a sold-out crowd. / EP-A2. The US commemorates the 10th anniversary of the 9/11terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania,which changed American society and politics and drew thesuperpower into two punishing foreign wars. / ARCHIVE3.On September 27, Agustí Villaronga’s film Pa Negre is chosen torepresent Spain in the forthcoming Oscar awards in Hollywood inthe Best Foreign Language Film category. The final candidates forthe award will be decided at the end of January, with the Oscarceremony due to take place on February 26. / EP-A4. With the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a standstill,Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, applies to the UnitedNations for full membership. The bold attempt to circumventIsraeli intransigence will be vetoed by Israel’s US ally. / EP-A5. After riots in Greece and the UK and the indignats taking oversquares in Spain, the US joins the global protest movement whenactivists launch the Occupy Wall Street protest outside the USfinancial centre on September 17. / ARCHIVE

While the last ever bullfight takes place inBarcelona, the Catalan film Pa Negre ischosen to represent Spain in theOscars, and the US commemorates the10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

Soon before chef, Ferran Adrià, pulled down the blinds on hiscelebrated El Bullí restaurant, we got the chance to pick thebrains of the kitchen mastermind

Cataloniabidsfarewell tobullfighting

No more El Bulli

5


1

October

2 3 4


1. On October 20, three hooded members of the Basqueseparatist group, Eta, release a video announcing a definitive endto the armed struggle against the Spanish and French states. Themove follows a declaration "not to carry out offensive armedactions" made a year earlier. / EP-A2. Libya’s National Transition Council troops shoot dead theformer Lybian dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was found hidingin a drain in his native town of Sirte. / EP-A3. Liberian peace activist, Leymah Gbowee, and her compatriot,Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, jointly win the 2011 NobelPeace Prize, along with the Yemeni women’s rights and democracyactivist, Tawakkul Karman (pictured). / EP-A4. On October 15, The International Committee of MediterraneanGames confirms that Tarragona has been chosen host the 2017edition of the games. The Catalan provincial capital beat four othercities to the prize: Alexandria (Egypt), Tripoli (Libya), Rijeka(Croatia) and Mersin (Turkey). / EP-A5. Former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, announces on October6 that she will not be running for president in 2012. / Archive

Basque separatist group puts down itsguns after 50 years of violence that hascost the lives of more than 850 people,while Tarragona is chosen to host the2017 Mediterranean Games

We revisited the life and work of caricaturist Andreu Dameson inCatalonia and from exile in Argentina, and commemorated thecellist Pau Casals’ landmark speech at the UN in 1971

Eta bringsarmedstruggle toan end

Exiled creativity

5


1

November2 3 4


1. On November 20, Mariano Rajoy (pictured) leads the PopularParty to a crushing defeat of the socialists in the whole of Spainexcept Catalonia and the Basque Country, where nationalistsparties win the election. / EP-A2. Israel replies to the acceptance of Palestine as a member ofUNESCO by announcing the building of new settlements in theoccupied territories. / EP-A3. Member states in the Eurozone are forced to hold their breathfor several days when Greek Prime Minister, Yorgos Papandréu,calls for (and then steps back from) a referendum to approve orreject the financial rescue package offered to the beleagueredcountry by the EU. / EU4. Cacaolat, the iconic Catalan brand of chocolate milk shakes, issaved from foreclosure after another emblematic Catalan firm,thebeer producer Damm and the Cobega Coca-Cola bottlers buy thecompany out. / EP-A5. Forced by huge debt and financial turmoil, not to mention astring of personal scandals, the Italian Prime Minister, SilvioBerlusconi, finally resigns. Technocrat Mario Monti takes his placein an effort to calm the markets and bring Italy back from the brinkof financial ruin. / EP-A

After two terms of Socialist rule in Madrid,the Spanish people change theirallegiance back to the right and electthird-time-lucky Mariano Rajoy to thehead of the central government

November’s issue focuses on the new visitor centre at a Penedès1930’s airfield and the exhibition of previously unseen imagesby some of the Civil War’s best photo-journalists

Spain turnsright for aresponse tothe crisis

Pictures of War

5


1

December

2 3 4


1. Cava bottles are being delivered to the five continents.Established markets, such as Germany or the US, continue to grow,and a raft of new orders to other countries are increasing. In thephoto, a bottle of cava ready to be sent to Japan. / ROBERT RAMOS2. In 2011, a new pantheon of celebrities have been immortalisedas caganers, or crappers, including Barça defender, Gerard Piqué,and, naturally, his girlfriend, pop singer Shakira. / EP-A3. Traditional seasonal logs, or tios, which metaphorically 'excrete'gifts for children, are the annual prelude to the Kings Day onJanuary 6. With the increasing popularity of holiday figures fromother cultures, such as Father Christmas, Catalan Christmases arebecomeing ever more congested. / ANDREU PUIG4. While organised religion remains in decline,Pessebres vivents, orlive Nativity plays, have become an increasingly popular traditionaround the country and now often involve whole towns. / MANELLLADÓ5. Another Catalan tradition that is increasingly growing andconquering new markets abroad are torrons. Now an UE protectedgeographical product, no Catalan table is complete without aselection of the nougat treats at Christmas and into the New Year. /EVA POMARES

Time toopen thecava andtorronsCatalonia’s famous sparkling winecontinues to conquer the world eversince a Spanish boycott forced cavaproducers to explore new markets, and itis now joined by torrons and caganers

5


ccording to the UN, on October 312011, the number of people onplanet Earth reached the astonish-

ing figure of seven billion. Following thatannouncement, much was said about thethreat of over-population, not least the fu-ture implications of unchecked growthand its consequences. An example is theclaim that within 40 years, if populationgrowth is not brought under control, theglobal production of meat and cereals willhave to increase by 50% in order to feedthe world. However, there was also talk ofthe immediate implications, with a focuson the rise in life expectancy and improve-ments in health, as well as the associationbetween high birthrates and poverty.

Yet, there was no discussion of how theintrinsic biology of human beings hasbrought us to this juncture. If we want tocheck population growth, this aspect mustbe recognised. All species have their ownpatterns of behaviour that stimulate indi-viduals to procreate. These differences canbe divided into two basic groups of species.

The first are those that progressively in-crease the number of individuals until theyreach a stable threshold, conditioned bytheir environment and the resources at

A their disposal. Those in the other group aremore opportunistic, maintaining popu-lation numbers at a low level until, due tosome favourable environmental change,they begin to proliferate quickly and un-controllably – as happens, with plagues –until the scarcity of resources reduces theirnumbers again. Human population growthin the previous century seems to have fol-lowed the opportunistic species model.

Why do we seemingly behave like evol-utionary opportunists? The answer issimple: our mental capacity, the product ofthe innate functioning of our brains, is abiological adaptation that has allowed usto overcome the threshold of stability de-termined by the environment, somethingthat allows us to inhabit most places onEarth, thanks to cultural, scientific andtechnical solutions. It is the biologicaladaptation one would expect from oppor-tunists.

The solution to this unchecked opportu-nism, however, is complex. On the onehand, nature offers us innate mechanismsto control birthrates, which undoubtedlywe can – and do – incorporate into our cul-ture. A work published some weeks ago inthe academic journal, EMBO Reports,

clearly indicates that the increase in life ex-pectancy in the past 50 years has led,physiologically, to a reduction in fertility,because our bodies now dedicate moreenergy to the immune system than to thereproductive system. However, on theother hand, poverty and certain culturalattitudes rooted in many societies con-tinue to encourage a high birthrate, despitethe relative scarcity of resources.

It would be easy to end this article bysimply saying that, if we are opportuniststhanks to our mental capacity, we shoulduse our brains to find a way of controllingthe number of inhabitants before it is toolate and nature does it for us, in whatwould no doubt be a far more drasticmanner. However, our biology does notmake things simple for us. As a recent workpublished in the science magazine Naturehas shown, natural selection has also fa-voured the mental tendency to overesti-mate our capacity and expectations, alsoan innate behaviour that, according to theauthors of the report, can be seen in suchthings as the financial collapse or wars.Perhaps it is this why we tend to think thatit is only a matter of time until a solutionis found.

POINT OF VIEWDAVID BUENO I TORRENS Professor of Genetics and science writer

Seven billion and counting

eturning home in the evening, I see aman rummaging in a bin. I know him;

he came here as a builder. His head musthave been filled with rumours of how ourstreets are paved with gold. No doubt lifewas worse at home than here and he cameto help build flats that no one wants. Thisfamily man has since become invisible andI’d like to see those who say immigrantstake all the benefits rummaging in a bin.

R At the same time, I read an account ofthe killing of the poet Salvador Iborra inBarcelona. The perpetrators were of thesame nationality as that desperate familyman. For three months they had takenover a neighbouring flat to set up a base forselling heroin, while the authorities didnothing. One night, they stole a bicycleand, when Salvador stopped them to re-cover the bike, they stabbed him.

A paradise for delinquents and a hell forworkers: this is the miraculous result of theSpanish economy and the fruit of thebuilding boom. And now we have the heirsto those who once did such a good job,who say they will solve everything, butwithout explaining exactly how. Then,when things do not work out, they will dowhat everyone does: blame the Catalansand/or the immigrants, you can bet on it.

GALLERYANTONI VECIANA

Heaven and hell

VERBA DOCENT, EXEMPLA TRAHUNT GERMÀ CAPDEVILA [email protected]

"Mr. Rajoy: In this difficult time for Spain and Europe you have received a clear mandate from yourpeople to quickly approve and implement necessary reform measures" Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel

Europe and the Euro have no time to waste, so Frau Merkel has sent clear instructions to the winner of the Spanish general election only 24hours after the voting results were known

OPINION


hat’s it about then?""It’s about Barcelona," repliedthe Poet. He and his new

friend were sitting on the steps of SantaMaría del Pi, looking out onto the plaçaand taking in the famous weekend artmarket. Watery sunshine peeled the skinoff the November chill and made thescene more colourful to boot. The Poetnoticed how the artists standing guard bytheir pictures carefully avoided eye-con-tact with the people circulating slowlyamongst them. He came here every Sun-day, but had never seen anyone buy any-thing. Perhaps, he thought, the point ofthe market was not to buy and sell pic-tures, but something else, which hehadn’t grasped. Something to do with theway other people carried on in this unfa-thomable city.

"A poem about Barcelona?""Yes, Barcelona.""What about Barcelona?""Just Barcelona. The meaning of the

place I suppose. To me. It’s a poem that’svery …. lyrical." He’d been going to saypersonal, but thought better of it. Personalwould have been a step too far, at thisstage in this particular relationship.

"Lyrical eh?" said the other. He lookeddoubtful. He looked ill, too. He wassweating, his once-white linen suit wascrumpled, and there was a yellowishsheen to his face. If the Poet had been de-scribing him, he’d have said – after muchtrial and error – that he looked like a manwho’d been plucked one moment from ahammock strung across a rotting, malar-ial jetty far up-river in some tropical dys-topia, and dropped onto the solid stonestreets of Barcelona the next. Which in amanner of speaking, of course, he was.

The Poet was beginning to regret beingdrawn into this conversation. To be moreprecise, he was beginning to regret sayinghe was a poet. He never usually admitted

W to being one. There were lots of reasonsfor this: he doubted he was any good; hefound it difficult to cope with the ques-tions that inevitably followed; dressingup his calling in words seemed dishonestthe moment he heard himself sayingthem. But perhaps the main reason wasthat after ten years’ hard labour he stillhadn’t finished his first poem.

This didn’t bother him - much. That hewas a poet who wasn’t very productivehad become one of a store of accumu-lated facts about himself which he tookfor granted, like his age, and his reflec-tion in the mirror in the morning, andthe thin cloth of penury which cloakedhis daily existence. Like most people,he’d learnt the knack of rubbing alongwith the way things were. But the waythings were didn’t usually include mak-ing conversation on the steps of a Barce-lona church on a Sunday morning with acharacter straight out of a GrahamGreene novel. "Funny that," this char-acter was saying now. "I shouldn’t havethought lyrical was your forte."

"You might be right," said the Poet,gloomily. The problem was, he reflected,that he had no time for socialising, eventhough Barcelona had to be the easiestcity in the world to make friends in. Mostevenings and every weekend he was athis desk in his fourth-floor cold-waterpad in Gràcia, versifying as a girl he’d metat a party, and tried unsuccessfully to getinto bed, had described it. Out of thisfleeting event had been born a disturbingmemory, and a series of bizarre, recurringimages. Only quite recently, for example,he’d found himself day-dreaming about aJewish mother-figure in her apron stand-ing beside her sink and berating him withthe words: Versifying! Versifying! Youshould be getting out diversifying. His ownmother wasn’t Jewish. No such luck. Shewas Church of England, lapsed.

"How long did you say you’d been writ-ing it?"

"Nine years." He thought for a mo-ment. "No, nearer ten. It’ll be ten yearson New Year’s Day since I started it."

"Er … excuse me asking dear boy, butwhat kind of poem takes nearly ten yearsto write? No, don’t tell me. A friggingepic."

"It’s only forty five lines. In fiveverses."

"Right." The character straight out of aGraham Greene novel stared into themiddle distance for a moment, thenscratched his elbow, then said, "That isimpressively slow. Four-and-a-half-lines-a-year type slow."

"Well, not really," said the Poet. "Itdoesn’t include all the lines I’ve slungout. Or those I’ve slung out and broughtback. Or those I’ve ….. well, you knowwhat I mean."

"So it’s finished now, is it?""Oh, I wouldn’t say finished. No, not

finished exactly. Lots more slinging outto do yet."

"Listen, dear boy," said the GrahamGreene character. "Let me tell you some-thing straight. If you informed thesepeople" – he gestured expansively in thedirection of the plaça – "you’d spentnearly ten years writing a forty five linepoem about the meaning of Barcelona,they’d say you were barking. Never mindhow frigging lyrical it was."

"I’m driven," said the Poet. "I can’t giveup now."

"Turn it into a novel. Give yourselfmore scope."

"I’ve tried. I couldn’t handle a novel atthis stage of my literary development."

"Well then … a short story.""I could try that, I suppose," said the

Poet, after a short pause. "Yes, I coulddefinitely try that. Cheers ….. what didyou say your name was?"

SHORT STORYTONY TYSOE [email protected]

Epiphany in the plaça

"Citizens will have to make an effort in 2012, in terms of taxes, in order to sustain the public welfaresystem" Artur Mas, Catalan president.

A tough year is coming to an end, but it seems like next year will be at leas as difficult as this one. Fasten your seatbelts, because we are in fora bumpy flight.


Verbal voyagesA 19th century US Navy chaplain gives his impressions of the Països Catalans,the local people, their languages and the great works of Catalan literature

he languages of southernEurope, including those of

Spain, Portugal, Italy, andFrance, were derived from a mix-ture of the Latin of the ancientRomans, and the Teutonic,which was used by the northernnations, who overthrew theRoman empire. Much the largernumber of words are of Latin ori-gin, while the forms in whichthey are used are a compound ofthe two languages, being moresimple than the Latin, and morecomplex than the Teutonic.Some Arabic words were also in-troduced into the Portugueseand Spanish languages, whilethe Moors and the Saracens werein power in the peninsula.

The oldest of these southerndialects was the Provençal,which had its origin at the courtof the King of Arles, about the

T year 880, more than two cen-turies before the Castilian, orcommon Spanish, had a being.The Provençal was the languageof the Troubadours, those wan-dering bards, who at an early ageacquired, by their poetic efforts,such reputation and influence,that kings and princes of the hig-hest rank eagerly engaged inmaking verses, ambitious of thefame that they might thus ac-quire.

This Provençal, or language ofProvence, was essentially thesame with the present Catalandialect, which is spoken in Cata-lonia, Valencia, and the group ofislands to which Minorca be-longs; so that even now thenatives of the south of France,where the Provençal originated,and those in Spain who use theCatalan, are perfectly intelli-

gible to each other. Though Ihave seen but few books in thisdialect, still, from residing inMahon, and from having onboard ship servants who spokethe language, some knowledgeof it was forced upon me. Manyof its words more nearly res-emble French than Spanish,and, from their often havingone or two syllables less than thecorresponding Spanish words,the language has thus gained inbrevity and force, while it is, atthe same time, greatly deficientin the full and sonorous melodyof sounds, which is the peculiarglory of the Castilian tongue.

Of Catalan authors, AusiasMarch, of Valencia, who diedabout 1450, has been rankedwith Petrarch, as to harmonyand brilliancy of expression,and is said to have given the lan-

guage a high degree of polishand perfection, while at thesame time the spirit of exaltedpiety, which pervades hispoetry, has given to it a pecu-liarly tender and touching inter-est. John Martonell, on theother hand, excelled in a lightand graceful style of narration inprose, and gave to the language apliancy and ease it had notknown before. "Tirante theWhite", a romance of his, pub-lished in 1435, was one of thefirst books ever printed in Spain.It has been frequently translatedinto other languages, and theFrench version of it has beenwidely circulated. The reader ofDon Quixote may recollect thatthis romance was one of thebooks in the old knight’s library,and that the author speaks of itas—"A treasure of contentment,

Illustration of a middle age edition of Joanot Martorell’s "Tirant lo Blanc" /ARCHIVE

BOOKS


Born in Connecticut, ReverendCharles Rockwell (1806-1882)graduated from Yale Collegeand Andover Academy beforeserving as a chaplain for nearlythree years in the U.S. Navy. Hisbest known book, Sketches ofForeign Travel and Life at Sea,describes his seafaring adven-tures , as well as his many ex-cursions on shore at the variousports of call. His voyagesallowed him to travel exten-sively in Spain, Italy, Greece,various Mediterranean islandssuch as Majorca and Minorca,and then along the northerncoast of Africa and to Brazil. Aknowledgeable man interestedin foreign languages and cus-toms, throughout his narrativehe provides interesting descrip-tions of such things as theeruption of Mount Vesuvius orthe supremacy of Catholicismin southern Europe, which hedeeply laments. In late 1834,Rockwell spent four months inMahon, where American war-ships wintered, and he re-turned there on several otheroccasions. He also visited Barce-lona in 1835, finding the cityheavily militarized and literallychoking within its walls. Rock-well’s somewhat idyllic descrip-tion of the Minorcans as happyislanders at times contrasts withhis realistic portrait of their po-verty. He recalls that the yearbefore his arrival drought andfamine had compelled manyfamilies to survive on raw veg-etables and that "it was painfulto see the poor creatures intheir boats, rowing about theships of the squadron [...]eagerly fishing from the saltwater the fragments of sea-bread, and other articles offood which were thrown over-board". The selected passagedisplays Rockwell’s observ-ations on Catalan—erroneouslytermed a "dialect"—andstresses the linguistic abilities ofthe Mahonese, proving theusefulness, back then as well asnowadays, of the very notion oflanguage immersion.

CHARLESROCKWELL

a mine of delight; and, with re-gard to style, the best book in theworld."

Uncouth and vulgarIn Mahon, there have been

engrafted on the original Cata-lan, uncouth and vulgar scionsfrom most of the languages ofEurope, to say nothing of thetraces of the dialect of theMoors. The excellence of theharbour has in times past madeit a favorite place of resort for theships of war of most Europeannations, and there has also, attimes, been much commercethere. At the Lazaretto, at themouth of the harbour, which isone of the largest in Europe, ves-sels from all parts of Spain usedto be required to perform quar-antine, and thus have many ofthe people learned something of

the language of most commer-cial nations in the world.

Sailors are, too, in their way,excellent linguists, as all theirlives they are holding inter-course with foreigners, both inport and on ship-board, andhence they become quite skilfulin imparting to others a knowl-edge of their own tongue, as alsoin learning foreign languages.True, the vocabulary of termsand phrases which they acquireand impart, is by no means themost select, grammatical, andrefined, nor are the words mostused always to be found in dic-tionaries; still they are not want-ing in pith and point, and arewell understood by the partiesusing them. Though sailors’heads, when on shore, are com-monly not very clear and schol-arlike, still they have a reckless

and fear-nought feeling, whichfrees them from all that peculiarsensitiveness, as to making mis-takes, which is one of the grea-test obstacles in the way of learn-ing to speak a foreign tongue.Hence they readily stumble intosuch a knowledge of foreign lan-guages as answers their purpose,and leave behind them traces oftheir own peculiar dialect. Inthis way have English, Dutch,French, Italian, and other wordsbecome so blended with theCatalan, as used by the lowerclasses in Mahon, as to form asingularly odd and amusingcompound. Many of the higherclass can read and speak Casti-lian, which is by law the onlylanguage used in teachingchildren in schools, but thegreat mass of the people are al-most wholly ignorant of it.

A selection by Pere Gifra

From Charles Rockwell, Sketches of Foreign Travel and Life at Sea. 2 vols. (Boston, 1842), Vol. I, pp. 57-59.

The 15th century poet Ausiàs March /ARCHIVE


Riding the wavesNEW......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

ow have radio waveschanged our understand-

ing of the world and the cosmos?How do they condition and af-fect our lives almost every sec-ond of the day? The exhibition,'Camps invisibles. Geografies deles ones ràdio', at the Arts SantaMònica gallery in Barcelonauntil March 4, attempts to pro-vide answers to these questionswith a cultural take on this as-pect of technology that makesmodern communications poss-ible, how radio works and how ithas helped us to understand oursurroundings.

Made with the collaborationof scientist Josep Perelló, the ex-hibition is a daring and complexinitiative curated by José Luis deVicente and Honor Harger, thedirector of Lighthouse, a re-search centre into digital culturebased in Brighton in the UK.

According to De Vicente, theexhibition manages to bring to-gether three fundamental acti-

HMARTÍ CRESPO

The Arts Santa Mònica arts centre in Barcelona is hosting an exhibition that brings togetherculture and the science of radio waves: 'Camps invisibles. Geografies de les ones ràdio'

place at the end of the 19th cen-tury. The second part is called Laciutat hertziana (The hertziancity), which focuses on the im-portance to our current environ-ment of the signals emitted byelectronic machinery.

"Whether we are looking formobile coverage or whether wetry to connect to a public wi-finetwork, or whether we areusing GPS to find out where togo, the link that we have todaywith places is as conditioned byradio-electronic technologies asit is by brick and glass," say theorganisers.

The third section is called Lapolítica de les ones (Politics ofthe waves), and it tackles the de-bate about the financial, geo-graphical and legislative regu-lation of radio waves. However,there are those who defend radiowaves as an extension of thepublic sphere. The fourth part isLa cara oculta de l’espectre (Thehidden face of the spectre):"Beyond radio waves from the

vities: scientific dissemination,socio-cultural analysis and ar-tistic research: "Radio waves aretransformative forces in today’ssociety, and often we are notaware of just how much of a pre-

sence they have in our lives,which is almost universal. Thisexhibition also aims to representthe invisible; those waves thatcannot be seen or heard, butwhich together form a newgeography," says De Vicente,who adds: "We have approachedradio waves from different per-spectives: how radio waves haveplayed a role in our understand-ing of the cosmos, how wi-fi haschanged the way we interrelate,and military applications, manyof which are secret, are oftenbased on radio waves, and so on."

For her part, Harger says thatthis moment of transition we areexperiencing, from analogical todigital transmission, is the primetime to evaluate the 'spectre' ofradio waves and how they inter-vene in our daily lives.

The exhibition is organisedinto five sections. The first, En-voltats d’ones (Surrounded bywaves), reminds us that radiowaves are produced naturallyand that the first emissions took

The exhibitionartssantamonica.cat

Access to the website of the centreArts Santa Mònica.

www.semiconductor-

films.com

The website of the Semiconductorcollective with videos and illus-trations.

www.lalalab.org/observ-

atorio.htm

Website of the Observatorio ofClara Boj and Diego Diaz.

8695

36-1

0426

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THE NET


mass media or mobile tele-phones, there is a whole world ofmysterious military pro-grammes, clandestine facilitiesand secret satellites," as the orga-nisers say.

The final area, Fem ones (Let’s

make waves), is a programme ofworkshops dedicated to thesimple and economical buildingof radio appliances, and to par-ticipation in public wi-fi net-works, such as the Catalna,Guifi.net.

Everydayappliances thatcan be seen in theexhibition thataims to show howwe aresurrounded byradio waves. ALBERT SALAM

ne of the main municipalities inthe Països Catalans that suffered

most in the War of the Spanish Succes-sion [www.guerradesuccessio.cat] wasXàtiva [www.xativa.es], because it ex-perienced two ferocious sieges by Bour-bon troops until its ultimate surrenderon June 12, 1707. Soon after, the citywas set alight and the local residents,known at the time as Socarrats, were de-ported to La Mancha. However, theBourbon victory not only saw the cityrazed, but also a change of name in 1707to San Felipe (or Nueva Colonia de SanFelipe). It was not until 1811, during thefirst Cadiz Cortes, that the Xativian de-puty, Joaquim Llorenç Villanueva, man-aged to recover the original name of thetown.

Two hundred years after the restitu-tion of the name, the association, Amicsde la Costera [amicscostera.blog.cat] andthe local authorities are celebrating theevent [ximocorts.blogspot.com]. ForXimo Corts [www.ximocorts.cat], presi-dent of Amics de la Costera, "commem-orating the historical event clearlyshows the city’s will to survive. At a his-toric moment, the transition from the18th to the 19th century, a group of il-lustrious people receptive to new liberalideas attempted to recover the city fromthe obscurity of the previous century, sothat the recovery of the name had greatsymbolic significance."

O

From San Felipeto Xàtiva again

FACTS AND SITESMARTÍ [email protected]

8695

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WHAT CATALANS WANTCould Catalonia become Europe’s next state?

Toni Strubellwith photographs by Lluís Brunet

Printed, Kindle, and iPad/iPhone Edition

Available from Amazon, Apple ibookstore, and

www.cataloniapress.com


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Answer the questions, then re-arrange the letterscorresponding to your answers to fill in the name of anaward winning director of animated films.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

FIND THE NAME GAME

BOX 1: A grosscontains120 (T)114 (S)144 (N)

BOX 2: Catalanfor brakeFre (I)Frec (K)Fregall (E)

BOX 3: Appaloosais a breed ofDog (H)Horse (K)Goat (G)

BOX 4: Colours ofthe Peruvian flagBlue and red (P)Red and green (A)Red and white (C)

BOX 5: Actor JohnMalkovich wasborn in1957 (K)1955 (D)1953 (J)

BOX 6: Tofu ismade from: Mushrooms (W)Soy beans (R)Milk (Ñ)

BOX 7:A malegoose: Stallion (F)Buck (I)Gander (A)

BOX 8: 247x 769=189,943 (P)278,123 (C)976,453 (D)

Text: Even if the situation is bad, it will not last forever.

Can you find the well-known English saying? The words are in the correct order, just take care toavoid the red herrings!.

FIND THE PROVERB

athe

night

HoweverAlthough

long

dawnendwill

breakfit

explode

theweekendholidays


ENTERTAINMENT

Can you make two common five-letter words from thenine letters given, using each letter only once? You can–but only if one letter features in both words in thesquares on the right. There’s at least one way to do it,and you must have the right letter at the crossover– butwhich one is it?

CROSSED WORDS

TARGET TIMES:

Average:15mins

Good:10 mins

Excellent:5mins

L L L E P P S A M

Can you find a word using all of the nine letters? If you can,email it to us with your name and where you live. Thequickest will be printed in the clues and solutions sectionnext month. [email protected]

How many words of four letters or more can youmake from this Nonagram? Each word must usethe central letter, and each letter may be used onlyonce. At least one word using all nine letters canbe found.

NONAGRAM

T O O

R P R

U S F

Guidelines:

Good: 10

Very good: 13

Excellent: 19


1. To cause a sound or action to match precisely with another. 2. Ex-pression meaning to be alert and efficient or effective. 3, Synonym forangry. 4. Warm alcoholic drink, often containing fruit, popular atChristmas. 5. To undertake a process in sequence. 6. Insect of theorder Lepidoptera. 7. 1942 animated Disney film 8. Any of severalparts into which a debt or other sum payable is divided for payment at

Here is a general knowledge test. Correct answers reveal something you’ll see in December.

successive fixed times. 9. Film starring George Clooney. 11. Novel byCharles Dikens set in London and Paris. 12. Instrumental ensemble.13. Popular saying regarding the timing of task completion. 14. Ger-man composer and pianist. 15. City in Greater London and home toHouses of Parliament.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

QUIZ LADDER

Choose the answer that best copies the pattern.

1. PIG is to GRUNT as HORSE is to:BARK QUACK HISS NEIGH

2. APPLE is to TREE as RASPBERRY is to:BUSH VINE PATCH ROOT

3. NEEDLE is to SEW as PIN is to:PATCH PIN HOLD PUT

4. PIP is to APPLE as STONE is to:PEAR STRAWBERRY PEACH RASPBERRY

5. HAT is to HEAD as SCARF is to:FOOT HAND ANKLE NECK

FIND THE LINK

Use this space to do your working out.

JOT SPOT


ENTERTAINMENT

reindeer, cards,

tree, presents,

Boxing Day, turkey,

snow, Santa Claus,

bauble, tinsel,

decorations,

mince pies, holly,

Can you find these Christmaswords? R E I N D E E R A H B T C D B

E F G Y E S X N D O R I U T O

G L P R C R I B M L V N P Q X

L Z R H O L G H E L W S G C I

I O E T R C A C B Y D E C A N

T A S S A Q R K M T U L R N G

T U E V T N L C I W B F A D D

E B N B I P A X N V A B C L A

R I T C O S N R C T U R K E Y

L N S H N O D E E S B J E S X

T M B Y S N O W P J L K R Y C

R M U L L E D W I N E L S Z A

E Z I N P R E S E N T S P A R

E Q A C A R O L S I H N W M D

K J O F G S A N T A C L A U S

·····························

glitter, carols,

crib, crackers,

mulled wine,

garland, candles

WORD POOL

Can you spot the mistake?

Thanks to Àngels Rafart, Manlleu for this gem! Sendyour find to: [email protected]

THE MISTAKE

Here are eight words that go together in pairs. Can youmatch them appropriately using each one only once.

1...................................................................................................................................................................................................................

2..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

3..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

4..................................................................................................................................................................................................................

MATCHING PAIRS

lost money

stable

pocket currency

speed property

camera

SOLUTIONS and CLUES

WORD POOLAnswers can be foundvertically and hor-izontally. There are nodiagonal answers. Someletters may be shared.FIND THE PROVERBHowever long the night,the dawn will break.FIND THE NAMEGAMENovember’s person wasSimon Pegg.

This month’s clue:The creator of plasticineheroes Wallace and Gro-mit

QUIZ LADDERSynchroniseOn the ballIrateMulled wineStep by stepButterflyBambiInstalmentOcean’s ElevenA Tale of Two CitiesOrchestraBetter late than neverBeethovenWestminsterSolution:Christmas trees

THE MISTAKEPlease don’t allowchildren to touch.Thank youCROSSED WORDSNovember:Trots , horseThis month’s clues:Down:Not bigAcross: FruitNONAGRAMSend in your longestword.November:EXHAUSTEDCongratulations toMaria-Rosa Clúa, fromBarcelona who was first

with the correct answer.FIND THE LINKNEIGH, BUSH, PIN,PEACH, NECK

MATCHING PAIRSspeed camerapocket moneystable currencylost propertyCOLLOQUIALCOMMENTS1b2d3c4c5b6c

7a8d9b10c

GET IN TOUCHPlease feel free to con-tact us with your ideascomments and sugges-tions.We are always pleased tohear from our readers:[email protected]


Here is a quiz to see whether you picked up the meaning of some of the more colloquial phrases in Neil’s article inthis month’s magazine.

COLLOQUIAL COMMENTS

1. The article examinesa) Adolescenceb) An atheist’s dilemmas at Christmasc) The price of making costumesd) Ethnic diversity in Catalonia

2. Christmas is a minefield for the atheista) Of no interest whatsoever to atheistsb) Something atheists avoid at all costsc) Something atheists find objectionabled) A subject atheists find is beset by problems

3. Neil’s problems area) Completely his wife’s faultb) Completely his own faultc) Partly his wife’s faultd) Nobody is to blame

4. ...I took a stand...a) Took up a conciliatory positionb) Decided to run awayc) Remained true to his principlesd) Became aggressive

5. ...ushered into the storeroom...a) Locked up in the storeroomb) Shown the way into the storeroomc) Told to stand quietly in the storeroomd) Prevented from entering the storeroom

6. Neil’s daughtera) Was never interested in the kingsb) Didn’t know anything about the kingsc) Believed the kings were reald) Thought Santa Claus brought presents

7.Hindsighta) Understanding something afterwardsb) Predicting the futurec) Making the right decisions alwaysd) Never making the right decisions

8. The experience has made Neila) Become religiousb) More angry about Christmasc) Feel much olderd) Determined to be honest

9. Neila) Never thinks about religion at allb) Thinks actions should match beliefsc) Is totally against Christmas traditionsd) Doesn’t celebrate Christmas at home

10. Neil livesa) In Franceb) in Barcelonac) Near Barcelonad) Isolated from his family

Neil Stokes


o, the big question this holiday seasonremains: was baby Jesus visited by kingsor by wizards? And that leads on to the

question, whether royalty or just wise men orboth, were there only three of them? At thispoint, my six-year old daughter would like toask whether they are real or just dressed up?Christmas time is a minefield for the atheist,especially if you have kids who you feelshould be raised without the burden of re-ligion and superstition. I had never realisedbefore just how much Christian tradition per-vades our society and I had never imagined itwould be so difficult to avoid in this science-driven, technological world of ours.

To give you some examples, in the past fewweeks, my adherence to a sceptical, hu-manistic interpretation of the world has beenchallenged, and most of it is my wife’s fault.First of all, she signs the kids up to a weeklyworkshop making nativity scenes for a displayorganised by the town hall. Apart from won-dering how local officials might justify spon-soring a purely Christian activity when themunicipality also contains atheists, Muslimsand, almost certainly, a few Satanists, it putme in an awkward position. This is becausemy wife works most weekends, so that it fallsto me to take the kids to the workshop. Foronce, I took a stand and refused to do it. Asyou might expect, my principled stance re-ceived little consideration and I was paintedas 'being difficult' when I felt I deserved somerecognition for my unwillingness to act hypo-critically.

Then, my principles were further put to thetest. I’m not entirely sure what it entailsexactly, but next week a large group of localpeople will dress up as 1st century Jews and goto Barcelona to sell stuff. I was asked to pickup the costumes from the Casal de Cultura onmy way home, which I did uncomplainingly.The problem was that I was on my way homewith the kids and when we were ushered intothe storeroom where the costumes are kept,what did we find but the whole three kings’wardrobe hanging up in plain view? Mydaughter looked, saw, looked up at me quizzi-cally and so I gave her an apologetic look backand nodded slowly. I naturally felt bad, butnot because I had inadvertently contributedto the collapse of one my daughter’s mostcherished dreams, but because I had got hermixed up in all of this in the first place. Hind-sight is a wonderful thing, of course, but Inow realise something that I have always

S known but conveniently ignored: if you haveprinciples of any sort, best to stick to them;the wish to avoid 'being difficult' is a short-sighted trap.

So, what about the Pastorets? What aboutPalm Sunday? And, more urgently, whatabout when the three kings come calling? Itsomehow seems absurd not to go along withit and participation is easily justified with a'where’s the harm' attitude. But sticking to

what you believe to be right is one of the te-nets of religion and so it seems a bit paradoxi-cal to ignore this most fundamental of relig-ious attitudes in order to merely accommo-date it.

From now on I’m going to act just like agood Christian is supposed to and be honest:that the three kings were originally magi(from which we get the word 'magic') in theZoroastrian tradition and were only convertedinto kings later in Christian tradition, thatthey only appear in one of the four gospels ofthe New Testament, which suggests they hadlittle importance in the early Christianchurch, that the Bible does not say how manyof them there were and that we only presumethere were three because three gifts were men-tioned and that – this may come as a shock tosome of you – the kings don’t really exist andthey are just the neighbours dressed up.

LOST FOR WORDSNEIL STOKES [email protected]

Kings for a day

Next week alarge groupof localpeople willdress up as1st centuryJews and goto Barce-lona to sellstuff

One of the three kings waves to the public in Mataró. / QUIM PUIG

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