If your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you.
Even those who have visited the regional capital Barcelona may not know what distinguishes Spain’s second most populous region from the rest of the country.
When I moved from Madrid to Catalonia in 2016 with my then partner and our 18-month-old son, I was not prepared. Madrid was becoming more and more expensive for us foreigners in Spain and we were thinking about having a second baby. We liked the greenery and clean air of Girona as much as the lower rent we found at the time for a two-bedroom apartment.
We moved two months later, but it took me a while to realise that we hadn’t just left Madrid. In many ways, we had left Spain.
1. The main language in Catalonia is Catalan
Although Spanish is the most widely spoken language and almost everyone is bilingual, Catalan is the main language outside Barcelona.
Some Catalan words are the same or very similar to Spanish. For example, “hola” is still “hola” while “adiós” is “adéu” (ad-ay-oo). However, other words you would never guess. For example, strawberry is “fresa” in Spanish but “maduixa” (mad-oo-sha) in Catalan.
When you live here, you are expected to speak Catalan, although many foreigners don’t. As a single mother of two boys, my children only have two hours of Spanish lessons per week at school, and all communication with parents at school is in Catalan by default. I regularly have hybrid conversations with other parents where I speak Spanish and they respond in Catalan. Luckily, I can follow most of the conversation, but when I get stuck, they usually switch to English rather than Spanish.
For many Catalans, language is not only a means of communication, but also a political and emotional representation of their cultural identity. Catalan independence has been a heated issue since the 2017 independence referendum, which Spain declared illegal. Instead of ignoring it, police used violence to stop people from voting.
No wonder the parents of my children’s friends are so interested in what this language stands for. The school my children attend in Girona was a polling station and television footage of the violence outside the polling station gates was widely broadcast.
Catalan paella is different from that in the rest of the country. Nicola Prentis
2. The paella looks different
Although I’m not a seafood fan, I love paella because I can just taste the shrimp and mussels. Until I came to Catalonia and discovered that the yellow rice with seafood, vegetables and chicken or rabbit is Valencia style. Catalan paella is dark brown, contains much more seafood and never contains vegetables.
There is also the Catalan version of paella, made with short pasta (fideua) and served with aioli (garlic mayonnaise), or the spectacular octopus dish (arroz negro). My children call it Halloween rice because it turns their teeth, tongues and everything else black.
Catalonia is the home of Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine. Nicola Prentis
3. You want to expand your wine cellar with Catalan wines
Many people think of Rioja when they think of Spanish wine. While I can drink wines from La Rioja in Catalonia, the waiter is much friendlier when I ask for Catalan wines. An award-winning local sommelier once told me that Rioja is only famous because it was the favorite wine of Franco, the Spanish dictator who ruled from 1938 to 1975.
Whether that’s the real reason or not, local produce is king. So when you’re in Barcelona, we recommend wine from Penedès, Priorat in Tarragona and L’Empordà in Girona. And of course, Catalonia is also the home of Cava – the Spanish sparkling wine similar to champagne.
Young and old come together to dance Sardana. Nicola Prentis
4. There are many traditions that are unique to Catalonia
After moving, I was surprised to see that everything was closed on September 11, Catalonia’s national holiday. In the post-9/11 world, the date can seem jarring, but it has been celebrated since 1886.
As a family, we have adopted local traditions such as the Christmas present-pooing log dance, Caga Tió, but I have given up any notions of flamenco. People here love the Sardana – a dance so quiet that at first I thought they were just warming up as they slowly moved in a large circle, taking turns to tap their feet. But the beauty of it is that everyone, young and old, joins in.
Human towers, another Catalan tradition, are much more exciting to watch and deserve to be included on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. But I’m glad that, unlike some of their classmates, my two boys have not yet asked to join the neighborhood “colla” group that climbs to the top on the shoulders of several lines of people.
5. Catalans tell the time differently
One thing I still struggle with is the Catalan system of telling time. It is expressed in fractions, but differently than in Spanish. So 5:15 is “un quart de cinc” (a quarter of five); 5:30 is “dos quarts de cinc”. Even when you see it written down, you have to try to remember if the quarters are before or after the hour. My brain just can’t do the math, even though I understand the words.
