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75-699: Rafael Farga i Pellicer (12 August 1844 – 12 August 1890) was a Catalan anarcho-syndicalist who led the establishment of the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA (FRE-AIT). As a print worker , he became involved in the Barcelona workers' movement following the Glorious Revolution of 1868, when he was first introduced to anarchism by the Italian anarchist Giuseppe Fanelli . He then set about organising
150-643: A Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia , who speak Catalan . The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia , a nationality and autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the Roussillon historical region in southern France, today the Pyrénées Orientales department, also called Northern Catalonia and Pays Catalan in French. Some authors also extend
225-625: A printer , and who began writing for the societies' newspaper La Federación . Farga had been influenced by the work of Francesc Pi i Margall , who had been the principle theorist of federalism in Spain. By this time, the Italian anarchist Giuseppe Fanelli was travelling to Spain in order to establish a Spanish section of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA). In the Catalan capital, Fanelli met Josep Lluís Pellicer , who organised
300-525: A Catalan identity was increasingly suppressed in favor of a Spanish national identity. The Catalans regained autonomy during the Spanish Second Republic from 1932 until Francisco Franco 's nationalist forces occupied Catalonia by 1939. It was not until 1975 and the death of Franco that the Catalans as well as other Spaniards began to regain their right to cultural expression, which was restarted by
375-535: A World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Because of their intertwining history, many of the traditional symbols of Catalonia coincide with Aragon, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The oldest known Catalan symbol is the coat of arms of the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, or bars of Aragon , one of Europe's oldest heraldic emblems; in modern times, Catalan nationalists have made it the main symbol of Catalan identity and it
450-512: A book. Historical memory is the second axis of celebrations in Catalonia, where the Catalan people reunite with their date of birth as a people. Among the religious celebrations, there are St. George's Day and the celebrations of Saint Vincent Martyr and Saint Anthony Abbot . The maximum expressions of this element are the Easter processions and performances of Passion Plays . Some festivals have
525-719: A complicated relationship with religion, such as Carnival and the Dances of Death , or specific aspects of Christmas such as the Tió de Nadal or the caganer in Nativity scenes . Other key elements of a Catalan celebration are: food, central to every party and especially to the pig slaughter and harvest festivals; contests such as the castells (human towers), choice of major and festive floats; music, songs and bands; processions; dances; and animals, especially bulls and representations of mythological creatures. The Patum of Berga has been declared
600-744: A doubt that in Italy, the International and our beloved Alliance have acquired a great development ...". Furthermore, Bakunin was also convinced that the supporters of the General Council were active in a secret party: the Communist League , founded in 1847 - although it had been dissolved in 1852. On July 24, 1872, shortly after the Marxists of the Spanish Regional Federation were expelled from
675-511: A final and real solution on the basis of international or universal solidarity of the workers of all countries, the Alliance rejects any policy based on self-styled patriotism and on rivalry between nations. In a letter he wrote to the Spanish Alliance member Tomás González Morago when the Alliance was formally dissolved, Bakunin explained the organization's strategy: [The International] has
750-419: A kind of revolutionary general staff, we have formed our secret Alliance within the International itself [...] The public International is excellent [...] to agitate, to revolutionize the masses, but which alone is incapable to organize popular power [...] and that is why a secret organization is necessary. [...] The last London conference has pronounced anathema against any secret society that wants to form within
825-434: A local term seny meaning "common sense" or a pragmatic attitude toward life. The counterpart of Catalan "seny" is "rauxa" or madness, epitomized by "crazy", eccentric and creative Catalan artists like Antoni Gaudí , Salvador Dalí , Joan Miró or Antoni Tàpies . The masia or mas is a defining characteristic of the Catalan countryside and includes a large house, land, cattle, and an extended family, but this tradition
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#1733086104235900-570: A meeting with a number of his fellow federal republicans. One of the attendees was his nephew Rafael Farga i Pellicer, who was quickly won over to Fanelli's anarchist principles . Together they set about organising a Catalan branch of the International, with Josep Lluís Pellicer as its president and Rafael Farga as its secretary. The internationalist nucleus soon came to include the physician Gaspar Sentiñon [ ca ] , medical student José García Viñas and engineering student Trinidad Soriano. In May 1869, Farga's nucleus constituted itself as
975-518: A number of linguistic varieties that are considered dialects of Catalan , among them, the dialect group with the most speakers, Central Catalan . The total number of Catalan speakers is over 9.8 million (2011), with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them speak Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan monoglots exist; basically, virtually all of
1050-403: A resolution that included the anarchist theses, insisting that "the destruction of all political power is the first duty of the proletariat" and that "all allegedly provisional and revolutionary political power [... ] cannot be more than a hoax." It was also agreed that the regional federations would interact with each other outside the General Council, thereby de facto separating themselves from
1125-616: A secret group in Barcelona around April 1870 which they called the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, endowed with a program and regulations that were the same as those of the Geneva Alliance. According to the historian Josep Termes : "surely, this Alliance was born in order to achieve - through this coherent and secret group - that the Barcelona Workers' Congress , which would be held two months later, would come out decisively for collectivist anarchism and apoliticism , putting an end to
1200-571: A secret society not only alien to it, but hostile." The Federal Council did not give the names, claiming that it was only accountable to the FRE Congresses. In addition, the Barcelona Alliance group assured that its Alliance should not "be confused with the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, a public section of Geneva, which had members in several countries, since the Alliance that we founded in Spain did not have anything in common with that one but
1275-573: A series of studies of political figures and movements of the 19th century. In the wake of the Glorious Revolution of 1868, workers' societies in Barcelona began organising around the Federal Democratic Republican Party , with the 1868 Barcelona Workers' Congress declaring its support for federal republicanism and cooperative economics . The declarations were openly supported by Rafael Farga i Pellicer, who at that time worked as
1350-588: Is among the most industrialized metropolises. A regional capital, it is a magnet for domestic and foreign migrants. Fire is the element used in most important traditional festivals, which are derived from pagan roots. These celebrations have a high acceptance of fire between the Catalans, like the Flame of Canigó to the Bonfires of Saint John . An important and well-known celebration is La Diada de Sant Jordi , held on 23 April, in which men give women roses, and women give men
1425-683: Is even associated with the Catalan language. As for anthems, "The Reapers" ( Els Segadors ) is the official national anthem of Catalonia and is also used in the other lands of the Principality; the Balanguera represents the people from the Balearic Islands and, in the case of Valencia, the official "Anthem of the Exhibition" ( Himne de l'Exposició ) alongside Muixeranga as symbols of the country. International Alliance of Socialist Democracy The International Alliance of Socialist Democracy
1500-506: Is in decline as the nuclear family has largely replaced the extended family, as in the rest of western Europe. Catalonia in Spain is officially recognised as a " nationality " and enjoy a high degree of political autonomy, which has led to reinforcement of a Catalan identity. The Catalan language is a Romance language . It is the language closest to Occitan , and it also shares many features with other Romance languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, Aragonese , and Italian . There are
1575-455: Is part of the Mediterranean diet and includes the use of olive oil . Catalan people like to eat veal ( vedella ) and lamb ( xai ). There are three main daily meals: In Catalan gastronomy, embotits (a wide variety of Catalan sausages and cold meats) are very important; these are pork sausages such as botifarra or fuet . In the past, bread figured heavily in the Catalan diet; now it
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#17330861042351650-545: Is sometimes called ollada . Other Catalan dishes include calçots (a type of onions that are similar in shape to leeks , often grilled and eaten with a romesco sauce ) and escalivada . Catalan music has one of the oldest documented musical traditions in Europe. The traditional religion in Catalonia is Roman Catholicism . However, in the course of recent history , Catalonia has undergone several waves of secularization. The first wave of secularization happened during
1725-445: Is used mainly in the morning (second breakfast, especially among young students and some workers) and supplements the noon meal, at home and in restaurants. Bread is still popular among Catalans; some Catalan fast-food restaurants don't serve hamburgers, but offer a wide variety of sandwiches. In the past, the poor ate soup every day and rice on Thursday and Sunday. The discipline of abstinence, not eating meat during Lent , once
1800-425: The barretina (a sort of woollen, long cap usually red or purple) and the faixa (a sort of wide belt) among men, and ret (a fine net bag to contain hair) among women. The traditional footwear was the espardenya or espadrille . Other items of clothing typical of Catalan female folk costume include the 'pubilla' dress; the 'catalana' also known as the 'payesa' and the 'gandalla' as headwear. The Catalan diet
1875-492: The .cat TLD, the first Internet language-based top-level domain, was approved for all web pages intending to serve the needs of the Catalan linguistic and cultural community on the Internet. This community is made up of those who use the Catalan language for their online communication or promote the different aspects of Catalan culture online. The traditional dress (now practically only used in folkloric celebrations) included
1950-837: The 1881 Barcelona Workers' Congress , the FRE-AIT was officially dissolved and replaced by the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE), which took on a staunchly anarcho-syndicalist position. Farga and other veterans of the FRE ensured some continuity between the two organisations. The new organisation's Federal Commission, led by Farga, was composed entirely of syndicalists, including Farga's cousin Antoni Pellicer , as well as Francesc Tomàs , Josep Llunas and Eudald Canivell [ ca ] . By 1883, Farga had largely lost interest in
2025-611: The Córdoba Congress in order to reorganize the FRE-AIT along anarchist lines, establishing a more decentralised federation. Within the Anti-Authoritarian International, Farga became associated with the syndicalist wing , which advocated for the general strike as a means to bring about a social revolution that would result in anarchy. The FRE-AIT subsequently went through a number of years of political repression, after which it became necessary to reorganise. At
2100-515: The Marxists and the anarchists. Although Farga and Sentiñon aligned themselves with Bakunin's anti-political and decentralist program, they were cautious about applying it in Catalonia, where socialism had not yet fully developed and where they wished to "avoid future divisions" over these issues. They joined Bakunin's International Alliance of Socialist Democracy before returning to Spain, where they endeavoured to establish an official Spanish section of
2175-491: The Spanish Constitution of 1978 . Since this period, a balance between a sense of Catalan national identity versus the broader Spanish one has emerged as the dominant political force in Catalonia. The former tends to advocate for even greater autonomy, national recognition and, part of it, independence; the latter tends to argue for maintaining either a status quo or removal of autonomy and cultural identity, depending on
2250-541: The state and the church , to the rapturous applause of the attending delegates. He declared that the FRE-AIT's aim to be "to end the rule of the capital, of the state and of the Church by constructing on their ruins Anarchy — the free federation of free associations of workers ." With its center in Barcelona, the FRE-AIT quickly extended its influence throughout the country, gaining particular proinence in Andalusia . Following
2325-411: The 1980s. During the 1990s most of the population of Catalonia was non-practising Catholic. Nowadays 52.4% of Catalans declare themselves Catholic, practising or not, 30.2% of Catalans are agnostic or atheist , and there is also a considerable share of other religions, often connected to recent immigration: 7.3% Muslim , 2.5% Evangelical , 1.3% Buddhism , and 1.2% Orthodox Christians . According to
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2400-468: The Catalan workers' movement along anarchist lines, emphasising decentralisation and federalism , eventually affiliating the FRE-AIT with Mikhail Bakunin 's Anti-Authoritarian International . He then came to uphold the precepts of anarcho-syndicalism, overseeing the establishment of the FRE-AIT's successor, the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (FTRE). Later in life, he lost interest in syndicalist organising and turned to journalism , penning
2475-400: The Catalan speakers in Spain are bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with a sizable population of Spanish-only speakers of immigrant origin (typically born outside Catalonia or with both parents born outside Catalonia) existing in the major Catalan urban areas as well. In Roussillon , only a minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French being the majority language for
2550-598: The Crown, as well as urban and feudal internal conflicts led to the Catalan Civil War in 1462. In the last quarter of the 15th century, the marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon led to the dynastic union of the Crown of Aragon with the Crown of Castille , in which each of the constitutive realm kept its own laws, policies, power structures, borders and monetary systems. Continuous unrest led to conflicts on
2625-590: The Geneva Alliance decided to dissolve the previous month against opinion Bakunin himself, who was absent when the decision was made. Neither the Jura Federation nor representatives from Germany or Italy attended the London conference, held between 17 and 23 September. Anselmo Lorenzo attended as delegate of the Spanish Regional Federation. There, a resolution was approved that supported the Marxist "politicist" thesis of
2700-567: The Geneva Federation. The Alliance requested membership in the IWA, but the General Council replied that its statutes did not allow it as it was an international organization; thus, the Alliance agreed to be formally dissolved in April 1869, passing its members from Geneva to join the Jura Federation. The rest of the Alliance groups did the same, although the Spanish Regional Federation headed by Rafael Farga Pellicer and Gaspar Sentiñón founded
2775-549: The IWA. Thus arose the Anarchist St. Imier International , with which the anarchist split from the International Workingmen's Association was consummated. The Alliance program, written by Bakunin, read as follows: [The Alliance] wants above all political, economic, and social equalization of classes and individuals of both sexes, commencing with abolition of the right of inheritance, so that in future enjoyment be equal to each persons's production, and so that, in conformity with
2850-492: The International. Farga's nucleus went on to participate in the 1870 Barcelona Workers' Congress , which resulted in the establishment of the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA (FRE-AIT). The Congress was opened by Farga, who declared: Comrade delegates: those of you who gather here to affirm the great work of the International Workingmen's Association, which contains within itself the complete emancipation of
2925-446: The activities of the FTRE. He instead began working on a series of literary works, including studies of Giuseppe Garibaldi and classical liberalism , while also working as editor of the journal La Asociación . Catalans Catalans ( Catalan , French and Occitan : catalans ; Spanish : catalanes ; Italian : catalani ; Sardinian : cadelanos or catalanos ) are
3000-601: The area into the Roman province of Tarraconensis . The German Visigoths established themselves in the fifth century, making their first capital in the Iberian peninsula Barcelona, and they later would move to Toledo. This continued until 718 when Muslim Arabs took control of the region in order to pass through the Pyrenees into French territory. With the help of the Franks, a land border
3075-742: The autonomous community of Catalonia, in the northeast part of Spain. At least 100,000 Catalan speakers live in the Pays Catalan in France. An indeterminate number of Catalans emigrated to the Americas during the Spanish colonial period and to France in the years following the Spanish Civil War . Described by author Walter Starkie in The Road to Santiago as a subtle people, he sums up their national character with
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3150-607: The collaboration of the Jura Federation — created in November 1871 and directed by James Guillaume and Adhémar Schwitzguébel - in which he succeeded in advancing his " apolitical " theses, contrary to participation in elections and in "bourgeois" institutions. Supporters of political intervention, following the theses approved at the proposal of Karl Marx at the Congresses of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), formed
3225-551: The conformity of ideas." Between September 2 and 7, 1872, the Hague Congress was held in which the final break between Marxists and Anarchists took place. Most of the delegates supported the Marxist theses approved in previous congresses, such as those relating to "the constitution of the proletariat into a political party " and the connection between the economic struggle and the political struggle. And, in addition, they agreed to
3300-524: The convocation of a new Congress was requested. The Belgian Federation supported the proposal to draft new statutes of the IWA, in which the powers of the General Council would be curtailed. Following the example of the Geneva Alliance, the Spanish Alliance decided to formally dissolve itself days before the Zaragoza Congress of the FRE-AIT was held in April 1872. However, as Josep Termes has pointed out,
3375-547: The decision taken at the last workers' congress in Brussels, the land, instruments of labor, like all other capital, on becoming collective property of the entire society, shall be used only by the workers, that is, by agricultural and individual associations. [...] Being the foe of all despotism, not recognizing any political form other than republican and rejecting completely any reactionary alliance, it also rejects any political action which does not have as its immediate and direct aim
3450-527: The eighteenth century as a result of the enlightenment influence to the bourgeoisie . The second one happened during the nineteenth century, that had a huge impact on the lower and middle class , but was interrupted by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The end of the Francoist regime led to a loss of power by the Catholic Church and to another wave of secularization that extends since
3525-551: The expulsion of Mikhail Bakunin and of his Swiss ally James Guillaume for not having dissolved the Alliance. The delegates in favor of the " anti-authoritarian " positions signed a manifesto showing their disagreement with the expulsion and decided to meet in Saint-Imier , to hold a separate congress in which the expulsion of Bakunin and Guillaume was annulled, did not recognize the General Council appointed in The Hague and approved
3600-484: The expulsion of the anti-authoritarians from the International by the Marxist delegates to the Hague Congress , the Spanish delegates that were due to attend the congress instead went to Switzerland . At the subsequent St. Imier Congress , Farga and his fellow delegate Tomás González Morago decided to formally affiliate the FRE-AIT with Bakunin's Anti-Authoritarian International . On Christmas Day of 1872, they convened
3675-555: The group continued to function as such even though the bureaucratic organization had disappeared, "since it was impossible for ideological and personal ties to stop influencing its conduct. In practice, there was no difference between the actions of the Bakuninist group after the dissolution or before it." The Marxists were convinced that the International Alliance continued to exist, and the evidence they believed to be found in
3750-524: The imposition of absolutism and the abolition of Catalan political institutions and public law, thus ending the status of Catalonia as a separate state within a personal union. During the Napoleonic Wars , much of Catalonia was seized by French forces by 1808, as France ruled the entire country of Spain briefly until Napoleon 's surrender to Allied Armies. In France, strong assimilationist policies integrated many Catalans into French society, while in Spain
3825-403: The influence of the international within the city's workers' societies. The strategy was successful, with internationalists being elected to prominent positions within the workers' societies, which subsequently became affiliated officially with the IWA. In September 1869, Farga and Sentiñon were delegated to attend the IWA's Basel Congress , where they first became aware of the divisions between
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#17330861042353900-511: The inhabitants after a continued process of language shift . According to a 2019 survey by the Catalan government, 31.5% of the inhabitants of Catalonia have Catalan as first language at home whereas 52.7% have Spanish, 2.8% both Catalan and Spanish and 10.8% other languages. The inhabitants of the Aran valley count Aranese –an Occitan dialect–rather than Catalan as their own language. These Catalans are also bilingual in Spanish. In September 2005,
3975-562: The kingdoms of Valencia and Majorca (the Balearic Islands ). From the 13th century onwards, the territory of the County of Barcelona and the other Catalan counties progressively began to be identified as a single political entity and, from the mid-14th century, that polity began to be known as the Principality of Catalonia . The crisis of the late Middle Ages , the loss of hegemony within
4050-415: The leanings of the current government. As a result, there tends to be much fluctuation depending on regional and national politics during a given election cycle. Given the stronger centralist tendencies in France, however, French Catalans display a much less dynamic sense of uniqueness, having been integrated more consistently into the unitary French national identity. The vast majority of Catalans reside in
4125-399: The mission of bringing together the working masses, millions of workers [...]; the other, the Alliance, has the mission of giving these masses a truly revolutionary leadership [...] Furthermore, as we know that the organization of popular power cannot be done by theoretical propaganda alone, but rather demands the alliance and organization of the characters and revolutionary wills constituted in
4200-478: The most recent study sponsored by the government of Catalonia , as of 2016, 61.9% of the Catalans identify as Christians , up from 56.5% in 2014. At the same time, 16.0% of the population identify as atheists , 11.9% as agnostics , 4.8% as Muslims , 1.3% as Buddhists , and a further 2.4% as being of other religions. Catalonia is one of the richest and most developed regions in Southern Europe . Barcelona
4275-527: The need for a workers' party to be constituted in each country. Likewise, the decision to dissolve the Alliance was ratified. The response of the anarchists led by the Jura Federation was to hold a congress on November 12 in Sonvilier in which it was agreed to reject what was approved by the London Conference and to send a circular to all regional federations - the so-called Sonvilier Circular - in which
4350-461: The official Barcelona section of the IWA, adding socialism to its federal republican platform. Before long, Farga and Sentiñon were engaged in active correspondence with the International's leading figure Mikhail Bakunin . In a letter to Bakunin, Farga elaborated the nucleus' strategy to defend socialism in La Federación and advocate for it at future workers' congresses, with the aim of increasing
4425-418: The official language and imparted a distinctly Roman culture upon the local population, which merged with Roman colonists from the Italian peninsula . An early precursor to the Catalan language began to develop from a local form of popular Latin before and during the collapse of the Roman Empire . Various Germanic tribes arrived following nearly six centuries of Roman rule, which had completely transformed
4500-404: The organization, Friedrich Engels wrote on behalf of the General Council to the FRE Council asking for their names, activities and positions held by the members of the Alliance, adding that, if the Spanish Council did not respond, the General Council would denounce its members "for violating the spirit and the letter of the General Statutes and traitors to the International [...] for the benefit of
4575-403: The other side of the Pyrenees held back the main Muslim raiding army which had penetrated virtually unchallenged as far as central France at the Battle of Tours in 732. Frankish suzerainty was then extended over much of present-day Catalonia. Larger wars with the Muslims began in the March of Barcelona which led to the beginnings of the Reconquista by Catalan forces over most of Catalonia by
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#17330861042354650-404: The predominance of the societal , cooperative and politicist currents". After the Barcelona Congress, Alliance groups were formed in other locations, especially when the Spanish Government began to take measures against the International because of the " panic " caused by the Paris Commune . To avoid being condemned at the IWA Conference that was to be held in London in mid-September 1871,
4725-438: The proletariat and the absolute extirpation of all injustices which have ruled and still rule over the face of the earth; those of you who come to fraternize with the millions of workers, white slaves and black slaves, under the red banner which covers us; dear brothers, in the name of the workers of Barcelona, peace and greetings! As the congress continued, Farga continued to make explicitly anarchist speeches against capitalism ,
4800-428: The rest remained under Spanish Crown. The Catalan government took sides with the Habsburg pretender against the Bourbon one during the War of the Spanish Succession that started in 1705 and ended in 1714. The Catalan failure to defend the continuation of Habsburg rule in Spain culminated in the surrender of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 which came to be commemorated as Catalonia's National Day . The surrender led to
4875-409: The role of an international organisation. The Alliance dissolved shortly afterwards and the former members instead joined their respective national sections of the IWA. In 1867, Mikhail Bakunin settled in Geneva and there he founded the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, in which other Russian exiles as well as Polish , French , Italian and other exiles were integrated. The Alliance counted on
4950-401: The rule of various invading groups starting with the Greeks that founded Empúries and the Phoenicians and Carthaginians , who set up colonies along the coast, including Barcino (present-day Barcelona). Following the Punic Wars , the Romans replaced the Carthaginians as the dominant power in the Iberian eastern coast, including parts of Catalonia, by 206 BCE. Rome established Latin as
5025-474: The states of the Crown of Aragon, such as the Revolt of the Germanies in Valencia and Majorca, and the 1640 revolt in Catalonia known as the Reapers' War . This latter conflict embroiled Spain in a larger war with France as the Catalan institutions allied themselves with Louis XIII . The war continued until 1659 and ended with the Peace of the Pyrenees , which effectively partitioned the Principality of Catalonia as its northern strip came under French rule, while
5100-408: The triumph of the workers' cause against capital. [...] It recognizes that all the existing political and authoritarian states, more and more reducing their activities to simple administrative functions of public service in their respective countries, will have to dissolve into a universal union of free associations, like the agricultural and industrial ones. [...] Since the Social question can only have
5175-476: The word "Catalans" to include all people from areas in which Catalan is spoken , namely those from Andorra , Valencia , the Balearic Islands , eastern Aragon , Roussillon , and the city of Alghero in Sardinia . The Catalan government regularly surveys its population regarding its "sentiment of belonging". As of July 2019, the results point out that 46.7% of the Catalans and other people living in Catalonia would like independence from Spain, 1.3% less than
5250-411: The writings and conduct of Bakunin himself, who had not resigned himself to the dissolution of the organization. In fact, Bakunin was convinced that it had not disappeared and wrote so in some letters that would later be used by the General Council as "evidence" against him during the IWA's Hague Congress . On April 5, 1872, he wrote to the Spanish Alliance member Francisco Mora Méndez : "You know without
5325-427: The year 801. As the border between Muslim and Frankish realms stabilized, Barcelona would become an important center for Christian forces in the Iberian Peninsula . In 1137, the County of Barcelona entered a dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon to form what modern historians call the Crown of Aragon in the so-called Reconquista . This allowed the reclamation of Muslim-dominated lands, eventually conquering
5400-559: The year before. In 1500 BCE the area that is now known primarily as Catalonia was, along with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula , inhabited by Proto-Celtic Urnfield people who brought with them the rite of burning the dead. Much of the Pyrenees mountains was inhabited at the time by peoples related to modern Basques , and today many town names in the western Catalan Pyrenees can be linked to Basque etymologies. These groups came under
5475-411: Was an organisation founded by Mikhail Bakunin along with 79 other members on October 28, 1868, as an organisation within the International Workingmen's Association (IWA). The establishment of the Alliance as a section of the IWA was not accepted by the general council of the IWA because, according to the IWA statutes, international organisations were not allowed to join, since the IWA already fulfilled
5550-403: Was created commonly known nowadays as Old Catalonia (which would consist of the counties County of Barcelona , Ausona , County of Pallars , County of Rosselló , County of Empúries , County of Cerdanya and County of Urgell ) which faced Muslim raids but resisted any kind of settlement from them. The southern New Catalonia was under Arab/Muslim rule for about 4-5 centuries. The Franks on
5625-450: Was very strong, but today it is only practiced in the rural areas. Spicy food is rare in the Catalan diet but there are quite garlicky sauces such as allioli or romesco . One type of Catalan dish is escudella , a soup which contains chick peas, potatoes, and vegetables such as green cabbage, celery, carrots, turnips, and meats such as botifarra (a Catalan sausage), pork feet, salted ham, chicken, and veal. In Northern Catalonia, it
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