Saint George - dragon + roses + books = Saint George's Day!

Today is Saint George's Day in several parts of Spain (Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia), as well as in England and Portugal. (Saint George also has commemorative days in other countries and cities, including the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and the city of Moscow, but those observations are at different times of the year.)
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Here in Barcelona el Día de San Jorge (Spanish) / la Diada de Sant Jordi (Catalan) is a sort of Valentines-like celebration involving roses and books. Apparently roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, and it is believed that it was in the 15th century that the local tradition began of giving a rose your loved one on this date. A slightly newer tradition is that of giving a book along with the rose. Apparently in 1923 a Barcelona book publisher got the idea to combine the commemoration of the death of Saint George with that of two writers who also died on April 23rd -- Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare.
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Nowadays the book and rose are accompanied by a little Catalan flag (la senyera) and a wheat stem. The rose represents passion; the wheat, fertility; the flag, the patron saint of Catalonia -- Saint George! And the book -- well, one could say it represents intellect, but perhaps commerce would be equally accurate. Since Barcelona is the publishing capital of both the Catalan and Spanish languages, it is promoted very heavily by all publishing houses, as well as bookstores, libraries, schools and such. Indeed, it is probably the biggest day for book sales in Catalonia.
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Stalls are set up all over the city to sell books and roses to passers by. Bookstores and libraries host special events, including book signings. This year's hottest seller will probably be "El Juego del Ángel" (The Angel's Game), local writer Carlos Ruíz Zafón's prequel to "La Sombra del Viento," (The Shadow of the Wind) which was published in time to coincide with the festivities. As a matter of fact, he is in town to personally autograph copies.

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Of course there's also a special food tradition -- the Saint George's Day cake, designed to represent the Catalonian Flag. (See photo above.)
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This year's observance has an interesting twist since many Brits are in town to attend the Manchester United vs Barça soccer Champions League semi final at Camp Nou stadium. Thousands of them have been walking around waving red and white flags on a day that honors Catalonia's and England's patron saint.
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As a matter of fact, the city government was a little worried about the possibility of inebriated fans running loose all over the city, so a "ManUn fan village" has been set up in the Olympic Port near my house. Thousands of visitors spent the afternoon drinking and singing beside the marina, while local police quietly patrolled the area. I didn't see too many bookstalls around there.
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Happy Saint George's Day, amig@s,
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Carloz

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P.S. If you haven't read "The Shadow of the Wind", I highly recommend it. It's a good story set in post-civil war Barcelona. The new book, "El Juego del Ángel" (The Angel's Game), is being translated by Lucia Graves, poet Robert Graves' daughter, for publication in spring 2009. This prequel takes place in 1920s and 30s Barcelona.

Click here to see a few photos I took on Saint George's Day. 

The Flag of Catalonia

The Catalonian flag is of simple design but with an interesting history. It is called the Senyera and is one of the oldest flags in Europe. Apparently representations of it dating back to 1159 have been found.
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According to a local legend, in the 9th century the ruler of Barcelona, Wilfred the Hairy (the Count of Barcelona), lay dying of wounds obtained in a battle to protect the city from moors, when someone drenched their fingers in his blood and dragged them across the Count’s golden shield. This color scheme became the basis for the flag.
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However, the flag’s color theme is shared by other local regions in the vicinity (Aragon, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia in Spain; Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur and Rousillon in France) and residents of those areas may have different tales to tell about the origins of the design.
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Copied from original http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/ posting by Carloz on 16 June, 2007

The Flag of the Kingdom of Spain

The flag of the Kingdom of Spain includes the national coat of arms on inside of the yellow band. Each of the four sections on the coat of arms represents one of the four kingdoms that were merged to form Spain at the end of the 15th century: Castile, represented by the castle; León, represented by the lion; Aragon, represented by the vertical red and yellow stripes; and Navarre, represented by the linked chains. Also, Granada is represented by the pomegranate fruit at the bottom of the coat of arms. The fleur-de-lys represents the ruling House of Borbón. The “plus ultra” slogan (meaning “further beyond” in Latin) represents Spanish discovery and colonization of the Americas. The coat of arms also includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which represent the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. Regarding the choice of the colors for the three bands, one popular theory is that it was based on the heraldic design of the Crown of Aragon. Another theory is that they were taken from the colors of the coats of arms of the original Spanish kingdoms.

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The flag can be a controversial subject in Spain. When I lived in Madrid, a large flag was flown in Plaza de Colon. It became quite “polemical” - a word my students are fond of using. While certainly many Spaniards respect the flag, others could not care less about it, while still others see it as a symbol of the dominance of the state — some even go so far as to say it is a painful reminder of the time of Franco.

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Here in Catalonia, many people people prefer the Catalonian flag. I definitely see more of the Catalonian flag than I do of the national one.

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Copied from original http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/ posting by Carloz on 16 June, 2007