FREE Your guide to the best of the Terres de l’Ebre Summer 2017 Rooted in history The ancient craft of olive oil production gets a new twist Plus • Blue flag beaches • Fantastic fiestas www.ebreconnect.cat • Top tips for city trips Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 1 Contents Cheers! Salut! 4 Essential contacts: Keep by the phone. 5 News: Blue flag beaches plus Summer’s here and it’s time for sun, sea and sand – and maybe some sangria too. cheaper calls for holidaymakers. You can find all of these in the Terres de l’Ebre and much more. The Terres de l’Ebre 7 Gastronomy: How local farmers are cover the most southerly point of Catalunya and reach from the tip of the Ebro Delta on the creating gourmet olive oils. Mediterranean, right up into the mountains, with the great river Ebro running through their 10 Politics: Catalans call independence centre. There are big towns, isolated villages, expansive beaches and hidden vote for October. coves. The local people are enormously proud of their land, their cuisine and 12 What’s on: Fireworks, medieval their heritage, and our aim is to give you an insight into the best of all of this. celebrations and beach parties Visit our website and social media channels too – we’ve got lots more – the best of this summer’s events. information online. The production of this magazine is only possible thanks 15 Days out: Our top tips for to the support of the local businesses who have trips to Tortosa, Reus and Tarragona. advertised with us. We think that they offer a 19 Outdoor markets: Where to buy food, great range of services, so do take a look and clothes, antiques and books. we hope you find something you like. 22 Fantastic fiestas: Snapshots of the celebrations all year round. Have a great summer! Julie, Sabrina and Jamie The Ebre Connect team Copyright: Ebre Connect 2017. Ebre Connect www.ebreconnect.cat may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publisher. @ebreconnect Editor: Julie Pybus [email protected] Depósito legal: T 1034-2016 2 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 3 CONTACTS NEWS Essential contacts Cheaper calls with Emergencies ‘roam like at home’ Call 112 for any emergency. Operators can speak English as well as Catalan, Spanish, French and German. If you have a Spanish iTunes or Google Play account, you can download the My112 app which will geolocate your call. Blue f lags f ly Medical advice If your Spanish or Catalan is reasonable, call 061 for non-urgent across Spain medical advice. There is also an app called 061 CatSalut (available On 15 June, the EU abolished globally) which will geolocate your call, offers a chat service and mobile phone roaming charges. information about your nearest medical centres and pharmacies. Holidaymakers will no longer face potentially huge bills for making calls, Emotional support sending texts and using the internet Contact the Samaritans in Spain via freephone 900 525 100, email outside the area of their mobile [email protected], website samaritansinspain.com. phone contract. Spain has more blue flag beaches than any other country, topping the list for 30 years Launching the initiative, the EU’s Wildlife and the environment running. Across Spain, a total of 579 beaches have been awarded the internationally leaders said: “The European Union is The Agents Rurals protect and care for the environment. They can recognised symbol of meeting strict environmental and safety requirements, including having about bringing people together and help with a variety of incidents including stranded marine animals, life guards on duty and first-rate water quality. Greece is in second place, and France third. In making their lives easier. The end of injured wild animals and removing snakes from homes and gardens. Catalunya there are 95 blue flag beaches including 11 in the Terres de l’Ebre. roaming charges is a true European Call them on 935 617 000. success story.” TERRES DE L’EBRE BLUE FLAG BEACHES However, people who use their L’Ametlla de Mar: Calafató, Sant Jordi d’Alfama, Cala Forn, Pixavaques, L’Alguer. phones more abroad than at home L’Ampolla: Cap Roig, Les Avellanes. may still be charged extra. Check There are more contacts and links Sant Carles de la Ràpita: Parc de Garbí, Les Delícies. your operator’s rules. online at ebreconnect.cat/useful-info Deltebre: Ruimar. Alcanar: Les Cases d’Alcanar-El Marjal. 4 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 5 GASTRONOMY Golden delicious Farmers in the Terres de l’Ebre are blending old techniques with new ideas to produce gourmet olive oils Have you ever tried chocolate and olive oil together? At Terra de Burgans, a lush green farm in a valley outside El Perelló, proprietor Maite Pallarès presents visitors with fingernail-sized cups made from dark, bitter chocolate filled with smooth, golden extra virgin olive oil. It tastes sweet, bitter – and breathtakingly good. The olive has been cultivated in Spain for thousands of years. Today, the silvery green trees are all over the country: in the south, delicate saplings are packed together in intensively-farmed irrigated rows, and across Catalunya ancient trees weather the wild winter winds on terraced family fincas. This year, Spain will produce half of the world’s olive oil. Global demand is growing, with new markets emerging in developing countries such as China and Russia. Juliette Cayol of the International Olive Council says that Spain has “great potential” 6 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 7 GASTRONOMY to produce even more olive oil. She adds press. “It’s difficult and hard work,” she says. that cultivation techniques, technology and “But if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t do it.” knowledge are constantly improving. What’s At L’Oli del Mar’s headquarters on the more, increasing numbers of consumers are edge of the town of El Perelló, company keen to buy organic and premium brands. founder Jordi Esparza tells us the science behind creating the best olive oil. His Passion for the product company harvests olives from farms all over In the Terres de l’Ebre, the traditional Baix Ebre – from the sea to the mountains. methods continue, but producers are also It’s all meticulously harvested and trying new approaches. Some are going exhaustively quality-controlled. The oil isn’t organic, and ambitious companies are bottled until a customer orders it. Until then, applying science to produce award-winning it’s carefully conserved in stainless steel high quality oils. tanks in a protected atmosphere. Pa amb tomaquet: Maite, for example, is a woman on a Tasting notes are available for each of L’Oli How to enjoy olive oil mission. She and her 87-year-old father grow del Mar’s single variety oils, some of which like a Catalan fruit and vegetables and they have 3,200 have won awards recently. And that bitter olive trees. This was at the last count – they taste that sometimes hits you at the back of Pa amb tomaquet (bread with are also taking on neglected neighbouring your throat is good – it’s the mark of a fresh tomato) is famous across land and bringing old trees back into oil full of health-giving polyphenols. “This is a Catalunya. Toast some rustic production. As they convert their farm to positive attribute,” Jordi emphasises. bread a little, gently rub a cut organic, Maite is combining her father’s Maite and Jordi are just two of the olive oil glove of garlic on the rough wisdom with innovative approaches. She’s enthusiasts of the Terres de l’Ebre. There are surface of the bread, then studied ley lines and the phases of the moon many more – from the elderly grandparents squidge on half a tomato. To along with the commercial prowess of Italian carefully tending their land as they have finish it off, sprinkle some salt olive oil producers. done for years, to the ambitious youngsters and add a generous drizzle of the Maite is immensely proud of her oil – the who are pursuing new opportunities. best Catalan olive oil. carefully designed bottle labels tell the Tradition combined with innovation may story of the land, she explains, and her next see olive oil remain a Mediterranean staple ambition is to install her very own olive for many more centuries to come. 8 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 9 POLITICS Catalans call independence vote Catalunya plans to hold a referendum on independence from Spain on Sunday 1 October. The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, announced the plan in June. He said: “It is the turn of Catalans to decide their future.” The Spanish government, however, has not given consent for the referendum to take place, arguing that it is unconstitutional. It has stated that all necessary mechanisms will be activated to prevent it happening. Manchester City football club coach, Pep Guardiola, has publicly supported the pro-independence campaign. At a march in Barcelona, he said: “Catalans today are the victims of a state that has launched a political persecution unbefitting a democracy in 21st century Europe. The only possible answer is to vote.” 10 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 Ebre Connect, Summer 2017 11 WHAT’S ON WHAT’S ON July Thursday 20 until Sunday 23 August September Festa del Renaixement, Tortosa This world-famous festival marks Tortosa’s Summer Monday 4 important position during the Renaissance Public holiday in Tortosa only when it was one of the main cities of the Kingdom of Aragon. The town is packed with highlights Monday 11 visitors enjoying medieval cuisine, street La Diada Nacional de Catalunya performances, theatre productions and A public holiday plus celebrations and Our favourite events during much more.