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Map of Catalonia
Ancient Catalonia

There are just three weeks left before our annual Palette of Colors fundraising gala (buy tickets here). This year’s theme is “A Taste of Barcelona”. Let’s get into the spirit of the evening before you “take off” at the Lyon Air Museum on June 10th.

With three weeks to go, we thought we’d bring you 3 things that you should know about Barcelona and Catalan culture!

#1) Buenos días or Bon día?

Did you know that Catalan, spoken widely in the region around Barcelona, is not Spanish? Many believe it was derived from Spanish, but it’s actually vulgar Latin, spoken by the Romans who colonized the area. Catalan is actually closer to French in some vocabulary.

Catalonia was autonomous within the ancient kingdom of Aragon. When Aragon united with Castile, Castilian (Spanish) became the official language. Barcelona fell to Spanish troops in 1714. Further restrictions were placed on Catalan. The language was further repressed during the dictatorial years of General Marco, and was banned as recently as 1975.

It is spoken by 9 million people in Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Isles, Andorra and the town of Alghero in Sardinia. These areas were influenced as the Moors retreated from conquered areas.

 

Catalan phrases

 

At Art & Creativity for Healing, we reach hundreds yearly with the language of color on canvas. Show your love of our healing art language at the gala on June 10th!

#2) 5 secret sauces make the food great

Catalonia as a region has a reputation for producing some of Spain’s most excellent cuisine although the Basques might just dispute that! The region is geographically diverse and enjoys a variety of fresh, high-quality seafood, meat, poultry, game, fruit and vegetables.

The essence and secret of all good Catalan food lies in its sauces for fish and meat.

There are five main types of sauces:

  • sofregit which is fried onion, tomato and garlic
  • samfaina which uses the sofregit as a base plus red pepper and aubergine or courgette\
  • picada which is based on ground almonds, garlic, parsley, pine or hazel nuts, and breadcrumbs
  • allioli which is crushed garlic with olive oil with egg yolk added to make it into a garlic tasting mayonnaise
  • romesco which is an almond, tomato, olive oil, garlic and vinegar sauce which can also be used as a salad dressing.

(source: http://www.lifeincatalonia.com/food/)

 

 

Let’s see what Darren Moll at Alex Peyton Events is cooking up for us at this year’s Taste of Barcelona gala. He has promised an exquisite culinary tour of the region, and won’t disappoint! We hope to see you there with an appetite!

Alex Peyton Events

#3) The best beach in the world is fake!

Barceloneta Beach According to Discovery Channel, Barceloneta beach is the best urban beach in the world and the third best beach in the world.

But did you know, there were no beaches in Barcelona until 1992? The waterfront was full of local industries up until the city decided to host the Olympic Games. Remember those?

Thanks to this, there are now several beaches lining the waterfront. Barcelona’s beaches were listed as among the top ten beach cities in the world, according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel.

Barcelona has seven beaches with a 3 mile coastline. Around this area, there are great bars, restaurants and hotels. With its Mediterranean climate of mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers, Barcelona is an ideal place for a beach vacation.

Now Sagrada Familia at night you that you know, see Barcelona yourself!

That’s right, a 6 day/7 night deluxe Barcelona trip is one of the many items up for bid at our live auction. We’ll be sending out a list of more auction items soon!

Join us at the gala!

With all this Mediterranean excitement, what are you waiting for? Get your tickets to the June 10th gala now. Limited single seats are still available!

 

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