by Javier Barraycoa Martínez · ALMUB|#ALMUZARA · tapa blanda · ISBN 9788417229931
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Did you know that Catalonia was one of the most bullfighting regions and where the oldest testimonies of bullfights in Spain are collected? Or that one of the daughters of El Cid married a Count of Barcelona? ... And that Catalan soldiers fought for the Spanish Empire from Patagonia to Alaska? The stories of the peoples are full of topics, false legends and oversights. The Principality of Catalonia could not be less. Far from being a people locked in on itself, it participated in the construction of Spain with equal or more enthusiasm than the rest of its compatriots. The Catalans, together with the King of Aragon, participated in the contest of Navas de Tolosa, just as the best naval officers who participated in the Battle of Lepanto came from their lands, without forgetting that there were many volunteers in the successive campaigns in Africa. Barcelona was the first capital of Visigothic Spain and all of Catalonia that collaborated in the adventure of the New World with viceroys, soldiers and missionaries, just as it contributed ministers and presidents to the First Republic of the last century. Among the stereotypes that we have created about this Community is, for example, that of being the inventors of «pan con tomate», when in reality it was put in fashion by the Murcians who emigrated to Barcelona to build the Metro or be the parents of the «escudella», which is nothing more than a variant of the stews of any province, introduced by the Sephardic Jews and to which pork was added so as not to be accused of false converts. Likewise, the sardana was never a popular dance in Catalonia except in some towns on the Costa Brava; the famous «castells» come from the «moixigangas» -constructions of figures with human bodies- that were celebrated 300 years before in Valencia, and the copulative conjunction «i» between surnames was a Castilian attribute that was copied by fashion. The Catalans appear throughout our history in the most diverse places and situations: In Barcelona the conquest of Granada was celebrated with more enthusiasm than in any other part of Spain, they housed the booty of the Battle of Lepanto, they flocked to the call of General Prim to the War of Africa to the cry of «Visca Espanya!» ... and, to the stupor of many meringue fans, they founded Real Madrid. These and many other curiosities are what we find in these rigorous and entertaining pages. This book reveals curiosities and little-known facts about the history of Catalonia, showing how this region has actively participated in the construction of Spain throughout the centuries.
