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This guide provides some practicalinformation about Spain, Catalonia and Tortosa, as well as some cultural updates , to make the stay of an EVS volunteer in Tortosa easier or to help you to decide whether to make your EVS here! You can also find some useful tips, notes and usefulweb addresses for more information about the Introduction region and the city. At the end of your EVS project, you'll be able to add a bit of your experience in it! If you want to add some notes, use this space, and if you think it could Youth In be useful to future volunteers, send us your notes! Action Spain Catalonia
Terres de l'Ebre Tortosa
Dictionary This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. 1 2 YOUTH IN ACTION Youth exchanges Youth Exchanges aim to gather young Erasmus, Socrates, Leonardo, Grundvig … sounds to you something else than old people from two or more countries, famous people? offering them the opportunity: m to discuss different topics, Youth In Action is another program of theEuropean Union , that aims to develop no m to have contact with other cultures formal educationand volunteering opportunities for youngsters. The program runs and other countries, around 5 actions open to youngsters between 13 and 30 years old and to youth m to learn more about themselves and workers. others, m to explore similarities and Of these actions, obre't'ebre offers 4 of them: European Volunteering Service, differences among their cultures... Youth Exchanges, Youth Initiatives and Youth training or seminars. The exchanges can be bi-, tri- or multi- Youth Exchange 2010: Green movements lateral (number of countries involved), for our blue planet, bonds' earth last from 6 to 21 days and involve the You can learn more about this program in the European Commission website: active participation of 16 to 60 young http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/programme/index_en.htm people, aged between 13 and 25 years old. European Volunteering Service (EVS) If you are reading this guide, you might already know what EVS is, but a short Youth iniciatives explanation is always useful. These are projects created and managed by a group of young people (at least 4 EVS is an opportunity given to young people between 16 and 30 years old to: young people from 15 to 30 years old) who m experience a good time in another country during a period of 2 weeks till one year; present a new idea to develop in their local m participate in solidarity activities environment, as an answer to their needs m learn new languages and interests. They are innovating and m get new friends creative projects of solidarity, with an mdiscover other cultures impact on their local community, in which m learn new things in a different way … young people participate actively as With accommodation, food, insurance, members, not only in their neighbourhood linguistic training paid for. or municipality, but in a wider society: the Umran from Turkey world. in EVS in Tortosa. 2009 EVS involves a Sending Organization (SO), Have a look at our website a Hosting Organization (HO), one or several volunteers, and sometimes a www.obretebre.org to know the different Coordinating Organization (CO). youth initiatives we supported! Youth Iniciative Teater of migration. 2009-2010 Obre't'ebre is an official sending, hosting and coordinating organization of EVS projects. The hosting projects coordinated by obre't'ebre are posted in www.obretebre.org 3 4 CULTURAL NOTES_ Spain Spanish culture (architecture, language, religion, ...) Is influenced by pre-Roman Let’s break a few myths cultures, mainly Celts and Iberians; but population_46,9 millions about Spain: also by the Roman and Arabic civilizations. currency_ Euro (166,3860 pesetas) Every community has got its own culture. m Spanish men are NOT Spanish feast days_ m January 1st : New Year all toreros and women do Spanish hours_ m January 6th : Kings Day NOT all dance flamenco! m th There is a basic schedule that people 40 days after Carnival m Spanish gastronomy is st should be aware if they don’t want to get m May 1 : Work Day NOT limited to tapas, th stuck desperately searching for open m August 15 : Saint August Day paella and sangria! st restaurants or stores. m November 1 : All Saints Day m A Spanish day is NOT th To review: m December 6 : Saint Immaculada Conception Day a minimum of work, A th 7 AM - 11 AM: Breakfast time m December 8 : Constitution Day long siesta and parties th 11 AM - 1:30 PM: Cafes and restaurants m December 25 : Christmas Day all night long! may be closed. 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM: Stores and businesses close and you better go to have lunch 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM: Too late, if you want to eat, go to some American style chain. You can't shop so you might as well go to a museum or just take a nap. 5:30 PM- 8:30 PM: You can shop or have a walk, but sorry, it is too early for dinner! 8:30 PM - ...: Stores start to close. Eat, drink and attend a cultural event. On Sundays and holidays everything may be closed. When planning trips to museums or visit administrative office, check the schedule; often they are closed on a certain day of the week.
GEOGRAPHY_ Spain is located in south-western Europe. Its mainland is bordered to the South and East by the Mediterranean Sea; to the North by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the Northwest and West by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal. The surface of Spain covers 85% of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal. Africa is less than 15 km South of the Strait of Gibraltar, which is British, by the way! A broad central plateau slopes to the South and East, crossed by a series of mountain Politics_ ranges and river valleys. Off Spain's East coast in the Mediterranean are the Balearic Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a parliamentary government under a Islands, the largest of which is Majorca. 97 km West of Morocco are the Canary constitutional monarchy, composed of 17 autonomous communities and two Islands. Its highest peaks are Teide (3,718 m), on the island of Tenerife; Mulhacén autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) with varying degrees of autonomy. (3,478 m), in Granada; and Aneto (3,404 m), in the Pyrenees. The coasts have very diverse outlines, as they belong to different climatic systems and are surrounded by 5 different seas and oceans. 6 Culture_ There is a variety of cultural elements depending on which autonomous comunity, but CATALONIA also on wich region. We will try to present a few of them:
For example,Castellers are one of the main manifestations of the North and Centre Population_7,504,881 inhabitants of Catalonia. The activity consists in constructing human towers by competing teams of colles castelleres. Capital_Barcelona (1.621.537 inhabitants) Thesardana is the most characteristic Catalan popular dance, other groups also geography and climate_ practiceBall de bastons. The jota (in process of beeing declared dance of national Catalonia is Spain’s most North-easterly autonomous region. Separated from France by interest in Catalonia) in the Southern part is sometimes accompanied by a group of the Pyrenees, it covers 32.000 sq km, with 580 km of Mediterranean coastline. It is musicians singing arondalla (improvised song). composed by 4 provinces: Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona. This area is characterised by a Mediterranean climate, with many hours of sunshine, Musically theHavaneres are also characteristic in the marine localities of the Costa mild and windy in winter, warm in summer and moderate temperature and rains in Brava especially during summer months when these songs are sung outdoors autumn and spring. Its lands present different kind of relief: from the coast to the accompanied by acremat (hot rum). As opposed to other parts of Spain, flamenco is not high mountains, there are many protected natural zones such as Natural park of popular here, but rather therumba catalana is a more prevalent dance style. Aigüestortes, Aiguamolls de l'Empordà, Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park, and of course the two naturals parks that surround Tortosa... In the greater celebrations other elements of the Catalan popular culture are usually present: the parades ofgegants (giants) and correfocs (devils and firecrackers, likein politics_ the covers’ photo). The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia is the fundamental Many villages of Catalonia, and especially in Terres de l'Ebre, organize the corre-bous organic law, second only to the during their annual celebrations of their patron saint. They run with cows in the streets Spanish Constitution from or they play with them in a bullring with obstacles. They say that they don’t want to kill which the Statute originates. or hurt the animals. It is different from the corridas, that will be banned in 2012! It establishes that Catalonia is organized politically through the Generalitat de Catalunya, In addition to the traditional local Catalan culture, there are other traditions from conformed by the Parliament, the Presidency of the other parts of Spain or the world, as a result of human migration. Generalitat, the Government or Executive Council and the other institutions created by Catalan feast days_ The Parliament. The Generalitat holds exclusive m June 24th : Saint Joan Day jurisdiction in culture, environment, m September 11th : National Catalonia Day communications, Transportation, commerce, public safety and local government, and m December 26th : Saint Esteve Day shares jurisdiction with the Spanish government in education, health and justice. Catalonia is divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona, which are subdivided into 41 comarques (roughly equivalent to counties), and further into local municipalities.
7 8 gastronomy_ Terres de l'Ebre gastronomy is very varied. Here are some of the typical plates that you can Picasso (1881, Joan Miró taste here! Jacint Antoni Gaudí Pau Casals Salvador Dalí painter, (1893,painter, Verdaguer (1852, (1876, cellist (1904, m Rice produced in Ebro Delta, from which the m draughtsman, sculptor, and cafe solo = espresso (1845, poet) architect) and composer) surrealist and sculptor) ceramicist ) painter) famous paella is prepared (but some people say it m comes from Valencia) and others variety of cafe amb llet/cafe con leche=coffee dishes based on rice like the rossejat with half milk and half coffee Some famous catalans m Sea products like red mullet, sardine, m tallat/cortado= coffee with just a born in or adopted by Isabel Coixet anchovy, octopus, shellfish, oysters, mussels Miquel Barceló (1960, bit of milk or cream film director) and a lot of types of fish. All prepared with Catalonia! (1957, painter, Ramon Margalef m sculptor, ceramist) typical sauces and vegetables like potatoes or Bombon=coffee with sweet (1919, Montserrat tomatoes biologist) condensed milk Caballé (1933, m Vicente Ferrer Duck with rice or other products operatic soprano) (1920, Catholic Antoni m Charcoal grilled or roast like thrush, humanitarian) Tàpies rabbit, partridge or wild boar (1923, painter) m Calçots with romesco sauce (spring onion) … Like in the drawing behind ;-) m Pork sausages such as the famous baldana, produced with blood and rice Pep Guardiola Pau Gasol Ferran Adrià Ignasi Blanch Sergi López Rafael Nadal m Bread with tomato (pa amb tomaquet) (1971, football (1980, (1962, (1963, (1965, (1986, m manager and basketball Esqueixat, prepared with stewed green vegetables, salted tuna, and wild chef) illustrator) actor) tennis player) player) player) mushrooms m Artichokes (carxofes), grilled or on different dishes like paella or with sauce m Pastisset (pastries filled with pumpkin jam) m Punyetes and coquetes Terres de l’ebre m Orange, mandarin, grape, sherry, …
Terres de l'Ebre (Ebro regions) is a rural Some nice things to see in Terres de l’Ebre: area, including the comarcas of Baix Ebre, m Natural Park of the Ports of Tortosa-Beceite Terra Alta, Montsià and Ribera d'Ebre and m Natural Park of Ebro Delta; is sometimes named “the fifth Province”, as m Green way that runs along the ancient Railroad, it has many public facilities dedicated to m Natural areas of the Sierra de Cardo and Benifallet caves, these region and is quite far from m Historical towns of Horta de Sant Joan (with its Picasso Museum), Miravet or Tarragona, it's provincial capital. One of Arnes, the main economic activity in the region is m Areas of the Battle of the Ebro, the Ebro river, agriculture, together with the public m Beaches of the Costa del Ebro (rocky, sandy, large or small beaches) service sector and industry. Thus it is m Levantine paintings of Perelló or Ulldecona, mainly a rural area.. m Iberian settlement of Castellet de Banyoles (Tivissa) or Alcanar m the Route of the Three Kings, etc.. 9 10 History_ Tortosa is one of the most important Tortosa historic city in Catalonia. A resume of its history will help you to Walking though a city is like reading a understand why: book, behind every corner there is m Ibers; There are many records somethingnewtodiscover. of these ancient time settlements as The best way to get to know Tortosa is to Greek-Roman sources speak about change the way of your job everyday. It “Ibers”, who, in the pre-Roman era is hard to get lost in Tortosa. When you used to live along the Ebro. The romans ask to people for your way, they always Converted the old Hibera of the will use the practical buildings like “Ilercavons” to the “Dertosa” colony. Theatre auditorium, the town hall, the m Andalusi; Situated in the most hospital, the train or bus station, a northern part of the “Al-andalus”, supermarket, the post Office or the one of the most active Taifa Kingdoms, Park…. the city becomes extremely important Both economically and culturally as soon as the Califat crisis breaks out, due to its strategic importance. m Christian conquest; From the time of the Christian conquest in 1148 of Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, whose policy of expansion led him towards the south, Tortosa enters a new area. With the “Carta de Poblament”, Tortosa immediately becomes one of the most significative centres of Catalonia. m 14th century; was a time of great expansion and enthusiastic construction among which, the Gothic Cathedral, the “Llotja” and walls are erected. It was also the time of the greatest wealth and territory possession for the Bishopric. Indeed, the Diocese owned land in Aragon as well as in the northern part of kingdom of Valencia. The character of the city was influenced by the different cultures such as moors, Christians and Jews, even after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 and later of the Moors in 1609. m 18th century; As the rest of Catalonia, Tortosa suffers greatly from the war of Geography_ succession. Along with the Borbon occupation, comes the reconstruction of the Tortosa is situated: m 69 km from Tarragona territory. th m m m 19 century; At war against the French, Tortosa is forced to give in when the 180 km from Barcelona 24 km from the beach th m 194 km from Valenciam 540 km from Madrid French troops under Marechal Suchet invade the city. The second half of the 19 century will enable it to rise again, thanks to the coming railway lines. Unfortunately Tortosa is the capital of Terres de l'Ebre, in the South of Catalonia. during the Civil War, Tortosa endures the devastating effects of all the bombing and There are approximately 35.143 tortosinos/tortosinas or also dertosenses (2009), artillery fire of the “Battle of the Ebre”, being for 6 long months, the main target. 25% of whom are immigrants from many continents. The defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) brought the General The city is divided in two by the Ebro river and is composed of several areas Francisco Franco to power, who suppressed any public activities associated with (Ferreries, Rastre, Santa Clara, Temple, ...). Catalan nationalism, folkloric and religious celebrations, … until his death in 1978. 11 12 culture, sport and more_ cultural events_ m TEATRE and CINEMA: The Auditori Felip Pedrell is the theatre of Tortosa. It The most important events in Tortosa are: also offers cinema sessions 2 or 3 times a week. You can watch popular films in a big m cinema, Ocine, is situated in Roquetes, accessible on foot (C/Severo Ochoa, 4). The Renaissance Festival, celebrated the 3rd weekend of July, is declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest. Get dressed in Renaissance clothes and th m LIBRARY: The Library (Biblioteca) Marcel·lí Domingo is situated in the old quarter prepare yourself to go back to the 16 century! of Tortosa (c/ de la Mercè, 6). You can borrow books, cds, dvd, magazines and also use www.festadelrenaixement.org/eng/index.asp the internet for free. You just need to ask for a member card and for the hours of m opening, because they have a long siesta. Www.biblioteca.tortosa.cat The Jazz Festival is made up of different combinations of jazz concerts, in many bars and squares of Tortosa. It is around the end of June and the beginning of July, m YOUTH INFORMATION CENTERS: You can ask for information about work, but check the Cultural Agenda. training, activities, culture, workshops and many more things, or use the Internet m free. More information in www.puntjove.tortosa.cat or in www.jovebaixebre.cat. Festival of the Verge de la Cinta: This is about Tortosa’s Patron, the Virgin of the Cinta, it starts the 1st Sunday of September. And along that week there is a big m SPORTS: Tortosa has facilities to do sports like, rowing, football, basketball, variety of cultural events and entertainment activities. volleyball, martial arts, gymnastic, swimming, dance, ... You can find some of them in: m Easter Week: You can see a famous procession, ancient traditions and holy www.tortosa.cat/webajt/esports/index.asp music. m TRANSPORT: As public transport service between villages of this rural area is sparse, most people use private transport. You can also try to find a 2nd hand bike! Visit the main bus company website (www.hife.es) and the Train company Tortosa is very alive compared to other cities. Many concerts, parties, spectacles, (www.renfe.es). art exhibitions are organized regularly. Every month a cultural agenda is published with all the things organized in Tortosa. You can consult it at m ART: Have a look at http://www.tortosa.cat/webajt/agenda/index.asp the Design and Art School!
A new website (www.surtdecasa.cat) tells you about everything that's happening in MASSOCIATIONS: Terres de l’Ebre everyday! There are plenty of cultural, social, Check the city council website for any other information about the city or for other sportive … links: www.tortosa.cat Associations in Tortosa! Feast days in tortosa_ Apart from Spanish and Catalan Feast days, there are two local feast days: one is the Cinta day, which is the Monday after the first Sunday of September each year. The other feast day is changing every year.
13 14 English_ Català_ Español_ Language Hello Hola Hola Good morning Bon dia Buenos días Good evening Bona tarda Buenas tardes Spanish is the official language, spoken everywhere in Spain. Catalan, Basque, Good night Bona nit Buenas noches Galician, Aranese (dialect of Occitan) are co-official languages in their specific Goodbye Adéu Adiós/Hasta luego regions. Asturian, Aragonese, Leonese, Extremaduran, Calo and Fala are unofficial. See you later Fins desprès Hasta la próxima Mr./Mrs. Senyor/Senyora Señor/Señora In Catalonia, everybody is able to speak Spanish, but many people prefer to speak What is your name? ¿ Come te llamas? Catalan, which is very similar to Valencian, spoken in Valencian Community. ¿Com te dius? My name is… Em dic… Me llamo… Catalan is not a Spanish dialect like many people think. Catalan is a Roman language How are you? Com estàs? ¿Cómo estás? (derived from Latin) and belongs to the same family as Castillan, French, Italian or Do you speak English? Parles Anglès? ¿Hablas Inglés? Romanian. It is today an official language of Catalan countries (Països catalans), I do not understand No ho entenc No lo entiendo which includes Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, the Yes Sí Sí Western strip of Aragon, Andorra and the southern part of France (eastern No No No Pyrenees). More than 10 million people understand Catalan and approximately 7,5 Thank you Gràcies Gracias million can speak it. That doesn't matter No passa res No pasa nada You are welcome De res De nada In Tortosa, people speaks a dialect of Catalan/Valencian, called tortosí. So if you Please Por favor want to integrate to the community, make friends and understand what people say, Si us plau/per favor QUESTION WORDS we advise you to learn it! But don’t worry, the locals will try to understand your PREGUNTES PREGUNTAS What concern, even if you do not speak their language perfectly! Què Qué Who Qui Quién Compared to other big cities, it's more difficult to learn Spanish in Tortosa, as the Which Quin Cuál Generalitat and the city council promote Catalan more than Spanish, in order to Where-When On-Quan Dónde-Cuando preserve the language, but it is possible to find free Catalan classes. Where to A on A dónde You can also learn catalan for free in www.parla.cat. How Com Cómo How much Quant Cuánto This little dictionary shows you some basics of the Spanish and With Amb Con Catalan language, so you will be understood during your EVS. Without Sense Sin You can also use online traductors, like FOOD MENJAR COMIDA Internostrum (http://www.internostrum.com/), which traduce Breakfast Esmorzar Desayuno/Almuerzo words between Spanish and Catalan, or the oficial traductor Lunch-Dinner Dinar-Sopar Comida-Cena of the Generalitat (http://traductor.gencat.cat/text.do), Bread Pa Pan Which allows you to traduce words or webpages in French, German, English, … from Bier Cervesa Cerveza Wine Vi Vino Sweet Dolç Dulce 15 Salt/salty Sal/Salat Sal/salado 16 English_ Català_ Español_ English_ Català_ Español_ Water Aigua Agua Eleven twelve Onze dotze Once doce Coffee Cafè Café twenty vint veinte Tea Te Té thirty trenta treinta Fish-Meat Peix-Carn Pescado-Carne forty quaranta cuarenta Vegetable Verdura Verdura fifty cinquanta cincuenta Fruit Fruita Fruta sixty seixanta sesenta Cheese Formatge Queso seventy setanta setenta Milk Llet Leche eighty ochenta Rice Arròs Arroz vuitanta Sugar Sucre Azúcar ninety noranta noventa Oil Oli Aceite hundred cent cien SHOPPING COMPRES COMPRAS thousand mil mil Money Diners Dinero half mig medio Change Canvi Cambio third terç tercio To pay Pagar Pagar fourth quart cuarto Price Preu Precio TIME TEMPS TIEMPO Expensive Car Caro day dia día Cheap Barat Barato yesterday ahir ayer Closed Tancat Cerrado today-tomorrow avui-demà hoy-mañana Open Obert Abierto early temprano Kilo(gram) Quilo(gram) Kilo(gramo) aviat HOUSE-STREET CASA-CARRER CASA-CALLE late tard tarde Room Habitació Habitación week setmana semana Lavatory Lavabo Lavabo Monday Dilluns Lunes Lift Ascensor Ascensor Tuesday Dimarts Martes Upstairs A dalt Arriba Wednesday Dimecres Miércoles Downstairs A baix Abajo Thursday Dijous Jueves Forbidden Prohibit Prohibido Friday Divendres Viernes Attention Atenció Cuidado Saturday Dissabte Sábado Right-Left Dreta-Esquerra Derecha-Izquierda Sunday Diumenge Domingo NUMBERS NUMEROS NUMEROS month-year mes-any mes-año one two three un dos tres uno dos tres Night Nit Noche four five six quatre cinc sis cuatro cinco seis Afternoon Tarda Tarde seven eight set vuit siete ocho Morning Matí Mañana 17 nine ten nou deu nueve diez Midday Migdia Mediodía 18