La Batalla de l’Ebre als fogons
RESTAURANT MIRAVALL, BATEA “[…] que mengin llenties, com nosaltres. Em surten per les orelles. Putes llenties”. Aquestes paraules em van recordar a mon iaio que, pel que m’han explicat, va avorrir les llenties durat la Guerra Civil després de passar pel front d’Aragó. La frase és un fragment del conte La comuna de París de […]
Botànic, un periple gastronòmic del mediterrani al Japó
RESTAURANT BOTÀNIC, TORTOSA. Si fóssim a Barcelona diríem allò de ‘volta al món i torna al Born’. A Tortosa no tenim una frase feta equiparable, però l’expressió va bé per definir la trajectòria del xef lleidatà Carles Barberà, que fa vint-cinc anys va obrir el restaurant Julivert —un històric a la capital del Baix Ebre— en l’atzucac […]
Southern Stars, the hiker’s constellation
The hiking route ‘Southern Stars’ [called ‘Estels del sud’ in Catalan] crosses the Natural Park of ‘Els Ports’, located in a mountain range right at the meeting point between the regions of Catalonia, Valencia and Aragon. Over five days, the route passes through the picturesque villages of Paüls, Arnes and Beseït. This is a great […]
Bannockburn, Scotland 1314
In Catalonia, the commemoration of that defeat will have a strong political signification. After that battle, Catalan institutions were abolished, Catalan language banned during public activities and people had to accept the authority of Phillip V de Bourbon, the new king of Spain. It is obvious, that it is not by chance that the Catalan […]
The Silent Revolution in London Kurdish Film Festival
The cinema, as a cultural format, is a tool to explain reality to the world. Cinema, for the Kurdish People —divided, oppressed and ignored— is one of the best instruments to show their situation outside their territory, to unify the nation and keep the Diaspora together. This is one of the ideas underlined in the […]
Catalonia, a date and a question
If the Catalan referendum is to be credible, the Government must fix both a date and a question: “When you have a question and a date, the process seems much more serious”. Two weeks ago the Catalan media quoted the words of Agnus MacNeil, MP for the Scottish National Party in the British parliament. MacNeil, […]
The Catalan Way
In Catalonia the people dictate the political agenda in the run up towards the prospective vote on independence. And this is one of the main differences between the Catalan political strategy and that of Scotland. This was made apparent one year ago: on 11th of September, National Day of Catalonia, one and half million people […]
Renaissance Festival. Count down!
Article in www.terresmagazine.com // Soon, the aromas of basil, coriander, cinnamon and mint, of breaded cheese, of marinades and cod with honey will impregnate the environment again in the restaurants of Tortosa. It is nearly to begin the Renaissance Festival and these days the smell betrays the cooks who have already boiled the pot. And […]
The silent revolution of Kurds in Syria
I imagined we would find façades with sigs of shrapnel, burned houses, shops with closed shutters, supermarkets with empty shelves and streets without people, full of debris and abandoned tanks. This is the image the media usually gives of Syrian cities in conflict, but not all the towns in the area look like this. In […]
In Fes, Riad Tafilalet
“Balak, balak!”, the carriers shouted aggressively, when they wanted to pass between the people in the streets of the medina of Fes. Because in this part of the city you can not get around by car, carts and donkeys are the only alternative to transport wares (animal skins, vegetables, flasks of perfume, bottles of cokes, […]