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10 Things You May Not Know About Barcelona

10 things you may not know ABOUT BARCELONA by Liz Castro antaviana September 11th September VIA CATALANA CAP A LA INDEPENDENCIA 211 aembleacat * CATALUNYA, NOU ESTAT D'EUROPA On September 11, 2013 1.6 million September 11th has been a national holiday on and off since the Catalan defeat on On September 11, 2012 1.5 million Catalans joined hands from one end of Catalonia to the other September 11, 1714 at the hands of the Spanish and French. -over 400 kilometers!- marched for independence from Spain in the Catalan capital. to raise awareness of their cause Beyond Gaudí Antoni Gaudí was an architectural genius, but he wasn't the only one. Catalonia, and particularly Barcelona, has a couple of hundred spectacular modernist buildings in Barcelona NOT designed by Antoni Gaudí. Walk around the Eixample and marvel at stained glass bay windows and sgrafitto galore. If you must have Gaudí, don't forget Casa Vicens, Casa Calvet, Colònia Güell, as well as the admittedly gorgeous but crowded Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, Park GüelI, and Casa Milà. You don't have to stand in line. Catalan language Andorra They don't speak with a lisp in Barcelona. It's Bar-sa-lona, not Bar-tha-lona. That's because Catalan, the thousand-year-old language Barcelona spoken by 11 million people Valencia Mallorca in and around Barcelona has no 'th' sound. Eivissa You'll see street signs, business signs, newspapers and television all in Catalan, and if you listen, about half of the population of the capital city speak Catalan on a daily basis (many more do outside Barcelona). Most everyone also knows Spanish. Alghero (Italy) Catalan Countries 4 Catalans You already know a lot of Catalans* Pep Guardiola Montserrat Caballé Ricky Rubio Joan Miró . Ferran Adrià Pau Gasol Josep Carreras Salvador Dalí Pau Casals *A long time ago, Catalans typically wore a red knit cap called barretina. They don't so much anymore. 5 Catalan Government Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. The Catalan Parliament, established in 1283, is one of the oldest in Europe. President Artur Mas is the 129th president of the Generalitat, or Catalan Government. Most of the Catalan Government budget currently goes to education, healthcare, and security. Frontispiece of a 1495 edition of the Catalan Constitution. Parliament of Catalonia Frontis of a 1495 edition of Seal of the the Catalan constitutions. Generalitat de Catalunya 6 Taxes Catalonia is overtaxed and underfunded. With 16% of population, it pays 19.4% of Spain's taxes and receive only 14.2% of the spending. 19.4% 14.2% This translates to a fiscal imbalance of some 8.5% of Catalan GDP, twice as much as the highest allowed in Germany. Not only that, Catalonia is a net producer to the EU. 7 Speed Rail Connection There is no direct high speed rail connection from Barcelona to Europe yet. Although Spain has more high speed rail tracks than any other country in Europe (and more per capita than any other country in the world), its extreme radiality has favored connections from provincial capitals to Madrid instead of the economic port city powerhouses of Valencia and Barcelona to Europe. They've promised a direct connection this year, but until then, you still have to change trains in Figueres. Madrid School All Catalan schools from kindergarten to highschool give classes in Catalan except for Spanish language classes, which are given in Spanish. Because of wide exposure to Spanish in other areas (tv, movies, and many Spanish speakers), that turns out to be enough. In this way, Catalan kids learn both Catalan and Spanish. Indeed, Catalan kids do better on Spanish tests than many monolingual Spanish kids, as reported by statewide testing. Catalan immersion enjoys widespread support across the political spectrum, and keeps kids from being segregated by origin. Homegrown Traditions CASA DE LA VILA Flamenco dancing and bullfighting are not from Catalonia. Catalans have inspiring and fascinating homegrown traditions-castellers, dracs, sardanes, drummers, trabucaires, falcons-and festivals: Sant Joan, Sant Jordi, la Mercè. 10 Companies Catalonia is a country of entrepreneurs, and accounts for 21.6% of "innovation" and 23.6% of Spanish industrial GDP. There are 11 networks of business angels. 99.8% of the businesses are small and medium-sized. Catalan companies export more to Europe than to Spain. Foreign investment in Catalonia rose 37% in 2012, and exports from Catalan companies rose 6.32% in 2012 to a total of 58.3 billion euros. 16.32% 137% Exports Foreign investment 2012 2012 58.3 billion € *10 things you may not know ABOUT BARCELONA y Qlizcastro O www.elizabethcastro.com @canantaviana O www.antaviana.cat 8

10 Things You May Not Know About Barcelona

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things you may not know about Barcelona by Liz Castro, Septembre 11th, Beyoun Gaudi, Catalan language, Catalans, Barcelona the capital of Catalonia, Taxes,School....

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