212 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

Guerau Palmada Carles Quer Josep Maria Auguet Feo Reyes Vidal BANYOLES CENTRE OF REGIONAL STUDIES LIMNOS ASSOCIATION BANYOLES CENTRE OF Art historian, master’s degree Biologist, REGIONAL STUDIES graduate in Cultural Heritage member of Graduate in Management, secondary school the Limnos Contemporary History, teacher and member of the Association and member of the Banyoles Centre of Regional Studies. environmental technician. Banyoles Centre of Regional Studies. An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles

hroughout history, many [et al.], 2011). For thousands of years, the Paraules clau: Banyoles, cities and towns have taken underground water intake of the lake origi- hortes, recs, molins, travertí advantage of the course of nating from the L’Alta Garrotxa river courses Palabras clave: Banyoles, rivers to fill water channels have been the Llierca River and the Burró huertas, acequias, molinos, for vegetable gardens, to River (Brusi [et al.], 1985). travertino obtain energy for mills and Keywords: Banyoles, vegetable even for transport. What makes the water The waters that emerged from the lake filled gardens, water channels, mills, travertine channelsT in Banyoles unique? To find out, the lake basin and intermittently flooded an we should go back to the Neolithic village of ample wetland area around it, finally clearing La Draga, one of the most important archae- naturally with the slope towards the valley of ological sites in Europe. The excavations have the Canaleta creek bed and, later, the Terri uncovered a very old town (7,000 years old), River. For a small group of families of protohis- with dozens of houses built on logs (stilts) tory, dedicated to hunting, fishing, harvest- stuck in the wetlands of Lake Banyoles (Bosch ing of nàiades (molluscs) and breeding some

A la ciutat de Banyoles la parcel·lació del En la ciudad de Banyoles la parcelación In the city of Banyoles the parcelling of paisatge en hortes i una xarxa de recs que de su paisaje en huertas y una red de the landscape in orchards and a network desguassen l’aigua de l’estany s’ha confi- acequias que desaguan el agua del lago of water channels draining the lake, set gurat en els pas dels anys en un element se ha configurado con el paso de los años up all along the years an ethnologyc, etnològic, cultural, històric i natural d’una en un elemento etnológico, cultural, histó- historical, cultural and natural element gran rellevància que cal preservar de cara rico y natural de una gran relevancia para of a great relevance to preserve for the al futur. La xarxa hidràulica començada a conservar en el futuro. La red hidráulica future. The hydraulic network, started l’alta edat mitjana es va construir amb una comenzada ya en la alta edad media fue at first medieval ages, is made using a tècnica constructiva tradicional i única a construida con una técnica constructiva traditional building technique, exclusive Catalunya: la pedra de travertí. En els salts tradicional y única en Cataluña: la piedra in Catalonia: the travertine slabs. At the dels recs es van anar edificant molins i in- de travertino. En los saltos de las acequias waterfalls of the channels they set mills dústries que aprofitaven la força motriu de se fueron edificando molinos e industrias and industries using the hydraulic motion l’aigua de l’estany, i que avui constitueixen que aprovechaban la fuerza motriz del of the lake’s water, and today constitute a un valuós patrimoni industrial. agua del lago, y que a día de hoy constitu- rich industrial and historical wealth. yen un valioso patrimonio industrial. An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 213 domestic animals, the natural environment permission was granted. It was the birth of the was more than enough. But it was impossible oldest monastery in Catalonia, Sant Esteve de to take advantage of the abundance of water Banyoles, organised in accordance with the to establish a city, if the lake was not domes- Sant Benet rule. The precept of 822 confirmed ticated, the wetlands dried up and cultivable this donation and consolidated the right of the land gained. For this reason, settlements of monastic community to choose the abbot. the ancient period, such as the Roman city of The monks also made a remarkable effort to Vilauba, had to be located far away from the build the pre-Romanesque temple, the monks’ lake, or in the small surrounding hills, such as building and a poorhouse “ibidem proprio the Iberian village of the castle of Porqueres. sudore laborasse” (Bertran [et al.], 2013). Whatever the case, the plain around the lake was still under water in the Roman period, This monastery would not have prospered so that no people settled there, either in the much if the decision had not been made to centuries of Visigoth rule, or during the brief domesticate Lake Banyoles to create a space Muslim rule of the territory. conducive to the birth of a medieval village and irrigated vegetable gardens intended to feed When the Visigoths that had taken refuge in the population. This involved building spits the Kingdom of the Francs were able to return around the lacustrine basin, demarcating it to the Girona region, under the military pro- and excavating water channels in the travertine tection of the Carolingian emperor, a Visigoth subsoil, directing water to fields and vegetable nobleman, called Bonitus, accompanied by gardens and taking advantage of unevenness The vegetable gardens some of his friends and dependents, in around to obtain hydraulic energy. This task occupied of Sotamonestir with the monastery of Sant Esteve in 812 asked the count of Girona, Odiló, to set- practically all of the medieval period (the tenth the background (May 2018). tle in an uninhabited place (locum eremum); to fifteenth centuries) and was completed “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. 214 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43 with common sense and impressive technical build the Colosseum in Rome. It is abundant ability. The set of hydraulic infrastructures of in Banyoles just a few metres deep in the sub- medieval origin that are still used today are, soil. It should be noted that the foundations in addition, respectful of the territory and the of urban houses were excavated in travertine environment, efficient and continue to be beds, and often the walls, partitions, vaults economically profitable. All this rich medieval and pillars were built with travertine slabs and hydraulic heritage could be in danger if citi- ashlars (Bramon, 2009). The water channels zens and the public in general are not aware were also excavated in the travertine subsoil of its high value as ethnological, historical and and the slabs and rough stone extracted were natural heritage. used to build the side walls. It is so abundant that it is known locally as “Banyoles stone”. Travertine stone and the Dividing borders were built between the veg- construction of the water channels etable gardens, as well as the side walls of the Travertine has been fundamental in the task of water channels, the little passage levers, the domesticating the waters of the lake and in the bottoms of the channels, the oldest washing urban development of the medieval centre of places and the fittings of barrages or checks, Banyoles. Lapis Tiburtinus is the name given all using this soft calcareous rock. by the Romans to the calcareous sedimentary rock formed by calcite, aragonite and limonite, The construction of the water channels in the caused by sedimentation cycles, evaporation Middle Ages involved laborious hydraulic and submersion in flat areas of upwelling, engineering work. Little by little, a network and incorporating vegetation and animals of main water channels was designed with captured by the rock in formation. It is an easy secondary branches under the tutelage of the Detail of the technique used to construct water channels with rock to work with, because it readily forms reg- monastery of Sant Esteve, the vast majority of travertine slabs (May 2018). ular blocks and is quite resistant. It was used to which are still preserved in the undeveloped “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 215 areas of the city of Banyoles (Jordi, 2002). of channels, ponds and barrages. All of this Indeed, the abbot of the monastery, as the feu- infrastructure of medieval origin went from dal lord of the town, had ownership and juris- under the control of the monastery to that of diction of a large area of lands, allods, streams the town in 1685, when the Banyolins (the and rivers, fountains and springs, and also inhabitans of Banyoles) bought the right to the water of the lake (stagno). The first water use the waters of the lake from the abbot of channels were built discontinuously over the the monastery, Antoni de Planella. For this tenth to fifteenth centuries. The first water reason, from the year 1686, Banyoles had a channels excavated were possibly the d’en Teix- water minister, that would resolve conflicts idor and Ca n’Hort channels, formerly known among Banyolins with regard to the right to as Palau water channel, Riera Vella, and also irrigate the vegetable gardens inside and out- the Guèmol water channel. The Guèmol and side the city walls. The institution has never Palau water channel are mentioned in a doc- disappeared, and at the moment it is a Coun- ument about the bad uses of the Benedictine cillor of the City Council who carries out this monastery of the year 1263. By the year 1440, traditional role (Pau, 2014). during the mandate of abbot Guillem de Pau, five water channels were already named: the Over the centuries, there has been a network Guèmol channel the Major (or Forques) chan- of dozens of kilometres of irrigation channels nel, the Figuera d’en Xo (or Canela) channel, with the traditional and unique construc- the d’en Teixidor channel and d’ca n’Hort tion technique of Banyoles: travertine slab. channel (Grabuleda and Palmada, 2014). In several places there are barrages that make it possible to block the passage of the main Detail of the water channels This network of water channels allows for the channel, increase the level of the small lock and made with travertine slabs, Banyoles’ original construction irrigation of about 3,000,000 square metres of allow the water to pass into another secondary technique (May of 2018). vegetable gardens, with a set of 33 kilometres channel, often located on a higher level. Often, “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. 216 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43 this hydraulic infrastructure also has a central project, a cooperative task carried out by ten 1 spit with right of way, and to each side there families with the support of a local women’s In the Empordà and the Pla de l’Estany region, a canat refers to a is a irrigation channel where the water runs association (L’Ateneu Obert de la Dona) and type of canal made from long, flat with inverse slopes. At the end of this complex the Platform for those Affected by Mortgages reeds that are wide in the mouth watercourse is the Canaleta creek bed, which (Plataforma d’Afectats per la Hipoteca), with and closed at the other end, which is the narrow part, and it is used is, in fact, the name of the upper course of such an interesting dynamic that it has received to fish in running water, such as in the Terri River that evacuates the excess water the attention of the Autonomous University water channels, canals or rivers. from the lake. The structural elements made of Mexico, groups from Manresa and Salt and 2 of travertine that demarcate the vegetable gar- the country’s media. The mongetes de l’ull ros beans, den plots and the channelling of the water also known as fesol banyolí or fesol menut, are a variety of small legume make a unique landscape in Catalonia, and a Bridges, washing places and that is typical of L’Empordà and unique ethnological element and landscape fountains from Pla de l’Estany, cultivated for that should be preserved. The first bridges of the Canaleta creek were many centuries and introduced by the Romans in Catalonia. These mentioned in the medieval period. In 1337, yellowish coloured beans with a The fish of the water channels, which were mention is made of the bridge of Canaleta small hook have a subtle flavour abundant in the past, are returning with the d’Amunt and the overpass of Canaleta d’Av- and fine skin, which makes them easy to cook. improvement of the quality of the water, and all, as well as the bridge of Viridario (Verger). with them all kinds of birds and even the otters. In the direction of Puigpalter the Margelaga 3 Banyoles garlic is a variety of garlic This abundance of eels, barbels and tench gave bridge (Mas Argelaga) also had to be crossed. that is typical of the region of Pla rise to intense fishing that was regulated in The bridges provided access to the lands, farm- de l’Estany, with a smaller head medieval times under the control of the abbot, houses and vegetable gardens outside the city than other varieties of garlic. It would have been introduced in the which established the seasons of prohibition walls, but they also formed part of the Camins nineteenth century extensively, but and the reproduction sanctuaries; mechanisms Rals (Royal Roads) out of Banyoles, such as the from the 1970s its production went that would seem so modern to us now. Several medieval road of Puigpalter, which became the into decline, and now it is a variety in danger of extinction. water channel sites (the canats1) were enabled Bàscara road in the eighteenth and nineteenth to install fishing gear, initially built with reeds centuries. The bridges that are still preserved that formed funnels which trapped the fish. today on the Canaleta creek bed are in the Outside these places, other portable gadgets Arcades, Canaleta and Can Puig neighbour- made it possible to fish for barbels barboleras( ) hoods. The Arcades bridge stands out with its with nets with a double funnel. In fact, an old rounded arch, with the date of 1870 engraved barbolera is still kept in a private collection in on it along with the name of the former mayor, Banyoles. Martirià Morgat. The Arcades aqueduct was attached to the bridge, which provided the The vegetable gardens, which have been people of Banyoles with potable water. The watered, weeded and worked on since the stone bridge on the Camí Fondo in Canaleta Early Middle Ages, have ended up with soil is also noteworthy, as it is very narrow and that is extraordinarily rich in humus and very used as a path to the Sotamonestir vegeta- productive. The spits also allowed the draining ble gardens. Finally, the Can Boada bridge is of flooded areas surrounding the lake, initially worthy of mention, with a diminished arch to be cultivated. The work of the farmers has of travertine slabs. The bridge was renovated created local varieties of cultivation that are in the nineteenth century, although the origin very popular in Catalonia, such as the l’ull ros of the bridge dates back to the medieval period beans2 or the famous Banyoles garlic.3 Some as a path to the neighbourhood of Puigpalter of these vegetable gardens today are a funda- (Grabuleda and Palmada, 2014). mental element of survival for low-income families, and are the ideal place to educate The daily life of people was also affected by schoolchildren on traditional vegetable garden the hydraulic works. Many houses had per- produce and the historical process of dom- sonal washing places in the water channels, inating lake water that led to the birth of a initially travertine, although later they were city. Fully exploited, they could give crops tiled. Also, the City Council, in the eight- with an annual value of 6 million euros. It eenth and nineteenth centuries, promoted is worth mentioning the “Campo Nyagaru” the construction of public washing places, An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 217

some of which were sheltered. Traditionally, of the wall. Then, at the end of the eighteenth Old stone bridge on the Camino Fondo going over the these places were not just for doing laundry, century, a covered gallery was built that was Canaleta stream (May 2018). they also served the social function of public several kilometres long and linked the Rajolera “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. lavoirs where people chatted and exchanged spring to the Plaça de la Font. These waters that information and opinions. Other facilities descended from the hill of Solivera fed the old were used to feed the animals, as the street spring of Pia Almonia, now the headquarters Carrer Abeurador (abeurador means “water- of the Archaeological Museum of the Region. ing trough” in English) reminds us, with the waters of the Major water channel running The Font d’en Sala is one of the oldest springs below it. Nor should we forget the richness of of the Banyoles vegetable gardens, built next Banyolí folklore related to waters and traver- to the Canaleta creek bed. It has preserved tine: the legends of the aloges in Banyoles, says its low medieval structure, although it is no they are living, hidden creatures that protect longer used and is closed, under Carrer Agraris. nature and life in the travertine outcrops of The structure of the fountain is rectangular Les Estunes (Vergés, 2008). and covered with a pointed barrel vault and with an ogival arch access made of well-cut The water channels that supplied water to travertine voussoirs. The spring is mentioned the monastery, (i.e. ca n’Hort i d’en Teixidor, at the end of the fourteenth century and was Figuera d’en Xo) also supplied all of the town’s repaired in the seventeenth. It took advantage houses and fountains with water, although it of the waters that fell from Puig de la Bellacasa was unhealthy and very harsh in lime con- (Palmada [et al.], 2005). tent. Given the quality of the water that the lake receives from its springs, in the fifteenth Waterfalls and mills century it was decided to build a Gothic The main water channels in Banyoles carry fountain with channelling to look for better a flow of water that fluctuates between 90 quality water in the vegetable gardens outside and 200 litres of water per second, in several 218 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43 sections. This continuous flow of water was In the Ca n’Hort i d’en Teixidor water used from the Early Middle Ages to move channel the various mills, most of which were located Ca n’Hort Mill. Mill for flour, textiles outside the wall, and in the current area of the and paper. vegetable gardens, formerly known as “del Can Brugada-Teixidor Mill. Mill for flour Terme” (meaning “of the Boundary”). It is and for refining hemp; next to a chocolate almost impossible to identify each mill, since their names, owners and uses have changed factory. over the centuries. However, between 30 and Surribas Flour Mill. Former iron forge, 40 industrial facilities that used the force of paper mill, chocolate factory and flour water have historically been producing flour mill. to feed the population; peeling the cereal to Rabassa Mill. Mill for flour, textiles and cook it; scrubbing the rolder to get the tan- later a textile factory (today Sindicat Agrí- nin and cook; grinding cutting tools; mov- cola). ing machines of all kinds, and manufacturing Mas Bou or Can Laqué Mill. Mill for paper, hemp, woollen fabrics, beams, gunpow- flour, textiles and cement. der, iron or copper tools, cement, electricity, oil and even chocolate. Water has also filled ponds Can Boada mill. Flour mill. to soak wool and hemp and macerate animal At the Major water channel skins to make hides and cloths for paper, often Colomer Factory. Oil and textile factory. until fairly recently (Rigau, 2001). All this created the material foundations that made Vilademí de Plaça Mill. Flour mill. Banyoles one of the richest cities of Catalonia Victòria Mill. Trade-union mill for textiles throughout the medieval and modern era. In and flour. the nineteenth century, this industrial network Masmitjà i Serratosa-Pujol Mill. Textile even maintained its own banking institutions. mill, textile and tanned hide factory (few remains preserved). The main mills that remain standing and that are of historical significance in the vegetable Cordomí or Cal Nocaire Mill. Textile mill gardens of Banyoles are divided according to (few remains preserved). the water channel they are located by (Pal- Campolier Mill. Flour mill and tanneries mada, 2014; Donat and Solà, 2014). (few remains preserved). Former canner and hemp mill at Can Brugada-Teixidor (May 2018). “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 219

Copper Forge. Production of copper and 2013 ). Centuries of lawsuits carried out by 4 paper factory. the papal curia and by the successive monarchs In Usages 72 or in the Constitution of the Corts of Barcelona in 1283, left the control of the feudal jurisdiction in the the control of the waters in the Conflicts soon arose as some of the mill owners hands of the monastery until the confiscation village is established: “Les aigües wanted to build locks and ponds to regulate corrents e les fonts vives... qui son of Mendizábal. en aquesta terra són de la potestat, and ensure the water flow they used. This no que hagen aqueles per alou, ne was frowned upon by the established millers Considering the little success the locals had tenguen aqueles en lur senyoria, downstream, who feared that the flow of water mas que sien tots temps a empriu with legal initiatives, it is not surprising that pel seu poble... sens alcun con- towards their installations would diminish, they opted to buy the lake from the monastery trast... ne sens alcun servei” (“The to the detriment of their businesses. In gen- running water and living sources... under the sub-emphyteusis regime in 1685, of this land... belong to the owner, eral, the abbots tended to prohibit the estab- so it ended up being a communal asset that but this does not mean the owner lishment of locks of this type, because they was theoretically a fiscal property, assigned by can charge for use of the same, nor does the owner have power of retained the flow of water of the water chan- emphyteusis to the monastery in exchange for nels, but, exceptionally, some were allowed, as decision over it. This means that the an annual census, which the monastery made running water and living sources in the cases of the flour mill of Boada or the can be used by the population, the town pay for. pond of the Farga d’Aram (Copper Forge). without restriction and without any specific service established”.). The confiscation by Minister Álvarez The legal regime of the lake water Mendizábal, as of 1835, gave rise to the auc- The Usatges de Catalunya (Usages of Cata- tion of all the goods of the monasteries, and lonia) established the power of the count as that of Sant Esteve de Banyoles, like many a representative of the tax on the waters and, therefore, of the lake, and the whole popula- others, finished completely. The emphyteutic tion had the right to use it without any hin- right on the lake was acquired by an individ- drance or in return for any payment.4 The ual (Jaume Ordeix), which was subsequently monastery of Banyoles monastery, however, transmitted to Josep Cordomí. The City tried to gain control of the lake and the water Council ended up repaying the emphyteutic channels, and did so successfully, with various census and became the owner, as a represent- legal artifices: forgery of the papal bull of 1017, ative of the community of neighbours, with purchase of Termenat Castle and the feudal complete power over the lake (1888). In the estate of Porqueres in 1250, a lawsuit against ordinances of 1907, the City Council codified James II of Aragon in the 1280s, resistance to the exercise of the communal property rights the purchase of feudal jurisdiction by the town of the people of Banyoles on the lake water at the end of the fourteenth century (Reyes, (Pau, 2014). Water flow to the mill at Can Boada (May of 2018). “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. 220 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

The 1907 ordinances for the waters stipu- The stone walls of the banks are an espe- late that, in case of discussion of subjects of cially interesting place as shelter for unique special importance, the Batlle d’Aigües must animals and plants. The water channels are summon an assembly with all the irrigators populated by varieties of carbonated water and the City Council must make decisions plants such as carophytes algae, pond weeds, taking into account the majority opinion. rushes, rockets, and a remarkable protected The ordinances also establish a interesting fern (Thelpteris palustris). The richness of system of equivalence between water, land sulfur and carbonates in the lake’s water has and energy: 1 horsepower = 0.2187 hectare allowed to identify processes of evolution and = 30 cubic metres of water per week. These bacterial adaptation never observed in other ordinances, which regulate the days and hours places. The result of this is also the formation that irrigators can use the water and penalise of travertine due to sedimentation of water violation, remain in force. carbonates assisted by physicochemical and biological processes. The travertine is formed Later (1916 and 1969), the City Council in Banyoles Lake, giving rise to stromato- tried to turn the lake and its waters into a City lites and, travertine processes also occur in Council asset, inscribing it as property. As of the water channels, helping to fix the carbon the 1980s, a process was started to make the causing the greenhouse effect. lake communal property again, at the initia- tive of the Council itself. The recent rulings At the moment, in the municipality of Ban- (1993, 2002) recognise the lake as communal yoles, there are still four large spaces of historic property and the City Council’s role of regu- vegetable gardens and closely linked to the lation and administration. The City Council water channels: the Guèmol, Can Castanyer, also owns the water channels and distribution Mas Riera i Bosc del Casalots and Sotamon- systems as municipal property and, therefore, estir vegetable gardens. We must also bear in has the right to set an irrigation fee, although it mind that many of these vegetable gardens has not been collected for decades. A last con- have been cultivated since the Middle Ages, as flict with the ACA (Catalan Water Agency) they are mentioned in documents dating back regarding the water fee was resolved with a law to the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries such as by the Parliament of Catalonia that establishes the Canat, Palaus, Colomer, d’en Fortià, d’en a zero fee for the lake water. Ferrerós, d’en Brugada, Bosc or Sant Miquel vegetable gardens. The water channels and vegetable gardens as biological corridors The entire system in danger: The lake, the ponds and water channels of the Special Plan of Sotamonestir Banyoles constitute a highly valuable element and the Municipal Town Planning from the point of view of biodiversity (Feo, Project (POUM) of 2018 2011). The connection of the lake with the The urban planning procedure currently in Terri River, a tributary of the Ter, through the force in Banyoles is the PGOU of 1984. At water channels allows the passage of native that time, there was little awareness of the fish such as barbels, catfish and eels (Massip, value of the natural and agricultural spaces of 1984). Several species related to aquatic eco- Sotamonestir (in terms of heritage, landscape, systems are unique. It is particularly unique biology, history, ethnology and social and that up to three species of river mussels can be economic factors), and the entire area was found, filtering species with a high capacity declared suitable for development, although to purify water. The water channels allow the it was not actually developed. We are dealing coexistence of a city of 19,000 inhabitants with about 25 hectares of vegetable gardens, with otters that hunt and live in the middle probably the most valuable ones in Banyoles. of the urban space, with the kingfisher that hides to hunt or with the rhythmic singing During the ERC (Republican Left of Catalo- of the midwife toad, of which there used to nia party) government, Banyoles City Coun- be many, during wet nights. cil prepared a proposal for the protection and An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 221

A mallard duck on the travertine side wall of Ca n’Hort i d’en Teixidor (May 2018). “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM.

enhancement of the main resources, taking pal team (Miquel Noguer, CiU) came up with into account their landscape and ecologi- a special plan to develop the space occupied cal value, called dits verds (green fingers). The by the Sotamonestir vegetable gardens in change of majorities left this project inactive. 2011. This plan provided for the construc- Also, during this period, the partial Plan for tion of roads and housing blocks (+4 floor; the Vilavenut road (UP8) was attempted, 600 homes) in the area, and only expected which was rejected by the Government of the preservation of two hectares of vegetable Catalonia’s Ministry of Urban Planning. In gardens (of the 25 in Sotamonestir; 12 out 2005, Limnos asked the Ministry of Cul- of a total of 200). To try to stop the project, a ture to list it as a Cultural Asset of National citizen platform was created called “Salvem Interest. Sotamonestir” (Save Sotamonestir), which collected signatures and presented 89 allega- In 2008, the Government of Catalonia tions in the plan. The City Council resolved proposed the construction of thousands and rejected all these allegations, but did not of homes in the Sotamonestir area, in an go ahead with the plan. Within the frame- action called “Strategic Residential Area work of the plan the most valuable assets were of Banyoles”. The opposition of the City identified and files were drawn up. Council and the associations and entities led to the plan being abandoned. In 2010, the Finally, as of March 2018, details of the new Pla de l’Estany Urban Plan was approved, POUM de Banyoles have come to light, the which, due to the mobilisation of various initial approval of which is planned for the environmental and social entities, included month of June. The new plan is to build roads an express mention for the need to protect through Sotamonestir and more than 2,000 the most valuable vegetable gardens and the homes in the vegetable garden area. This plan water channels. leaves the writing of regulations, in the later partial plans and the Water Channels Plan, With the argument of needing to improve that affect the owners maintenance of vege- links in the neighbourhoods of Canaleta and table garden spaces remaining free after the Can Puig with the rest of the city, the munici- planned development. 222 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

But the building of streets would inevitably network that respects the areas and vegetable make the entire network of water channels, gardens, especially those of Can Castanyer barrages, spits, washing places and travertine and Sotamonestir, and the preservation of the banks disappear; and with them, the land- heritage they represent, asking for recognition scape, the natural space, the immemorial as a Cultural Asset in the category of Area of knowledge of the techniques of cultivation Ethnological Interest. and irrigation, and the construction and main- tenance of water channels and the travertine The regulation and protection of boundaries, which are unique in Catalonia and hydraulic and agrarian systems in which form an inseparable group with factories other places and mills, ponds and locks, washing places and There is a current trend to treat agrarian infra- bridges, main sources and main water channels structures more and more like a valuable and that led to the Medieval and Modern Banyoles. central element of the heritage of cities. But to Development also implies the loss of a heritage integrate them into urban development, we that could be a vital resource for the future, must first know and emphasise their heritage from the economic point of view, through the value. Recently a large catalogue of hydraulic creation of cooperatives of producers, as well heritage and irrigation systems of the Valencian as from the educational and social point of Country has been published (Hermosilla and view, with great potential as a museum space Peña, 2013). We can see in this catalogue that (Feo, 2015). only 383 washing places have been identified in the province of Valencia, when in the Pla de These perspectives have led to the reactiva- l’Estany region up to a total of 284 can be doc- Vegetable gardens cultivated tion of the “Salvem Sotamonestir” platform, umented, which shows the remarkable level of in Sotamonestir and divided into small plots (May 2018). which aims to influence the design of a road concentration (Abellán and Casadevall, 2016). “SALVEM SOTAMONESTIR” PLATFORM. An exceptional ethnological rarity: the tradition of hydraulic exploitation in Banyoles Miscellanea 223

The Argentinian city of Mendoza, since it was Heritage Site (presented in March 2017), destroyed by an earthquake in 1861, led to a assumed by Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Croa- reconstruction in which a network of water tia, France, Italy, Switzerland and Slovenia. It channels and gates prevailed that allowed a should be mentioned that, while the material real oasis of vegetation planted with a chess elements are often protected in the munici- board appearance, which structured streets palities through the declaration as a Cultural and houses (Bórmida, 1984). Asset of Interest, in others, it is the constructive technique itself that is to be protected as an Regarding the value of the industrial her- Immaterial Asset of Local Relevance, within itage, the case could be compared with the the category of Asset of Cultural Interest of protection, as an industrial landscape, of the the Valencian Country (Decree 62/2011 of tanneries of the Rec d’Igualada district (Suero, 20 May). Also, the figure of Area of Ethno- 2014). It should be mentioned that the tan- logical Interest (within the BIC) has been used neries of Igualada are documented from the in the protection of the dry stone heritage of nineteenth century, while those of Banyoles Ciutadella (2013), based on the Heritage Law have historical sources already in the last third of the Balearic Islands (Law 12/1998 Historic of the eighteenth century. The similarities are Heritage, of 21 December). even clearer between Banyoles, with its set of agricultural and industrial hydraulic struc- By adding itself to the candidature mentioned Hydraulic system made with travertine slabs to irrigate the tures, and the Area of Ethnological Interest of in a unanimous vote on 9 June 2016, the vegetable gardens (May 2018). the neighbourhood of Tanneries in Vic and Council of Mallorca, defined this immate- PLATFORM “SAVE SOTAMONESTIR”. the concept of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Costa, 2010;Costa and Folch, 2014).

The example of “Les Tanques” in Menorca is very interesting, compared to the use of the travertine slabs used to demarcate the fields. The patrimonial value of the dry stone walls that demarcate the island’s fields (Vidal,1998) was already recognised in the 1990s. What is most transcendental is the treatment of the col- lection of 15,000 km of dry stone walls, as they protect them and prevent them from changing any of the elements. The Consell Insular de Menorca (Island Council of Menorca) pro- tected the constructive technique by declaring it an Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Intangible Asset of Cultural Interest (2016), and linked it to all the material assets (mov- able and immovable property) related to the technique, including the tools and each and every one of the constructions. In 2018, up to 2,500 farmers in the Balearic Islands applied for 9 million euros in grants to restore dry stone elements (122 kilometres). Eight million euros were already spent on sustainable tourism tax in 2017.

Following this example, the other Balearic Islands, through the Safeguard Convention, have been added to the candidacy to declare dry stone enclosures as a UNESCO World 224 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43 rial nature very well as one that exceeds the canals in the Lake Banyoles area is configured importance of the mere material remains: as an ethnological, cultural, historical and “The knowledge and techniques necessary natural element of great importance that to build them, or the trades related to their needs to be preserved for the future and is construction, maintenance and use, are some not be underestimated. The channels and elements of this intangible heritage. This inter- the entire hydraulic network were built fol- national recognition would mean recogni- lowing a traditional and unique construction tion of the work of ancestors to preserve and technique in Catalonia: travertine stone. transmit the whole culture of ‘dry stone’ and This heritage collection of vegetable gardens would help to maintain the traditional activ- of medieval origin, an extensive network of ities linked to it”. resources, heritage elements and industrial buildings, must be given its due value as a In conclusion, this humanisation and frag- great ethnological, natural, historical and mentation of landscape into vegetable gar- social asset in the heart of the city of Ban- dens and a network of water channels and yoles. n

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