Spain has seventeen autonomous regions, and one of them - Catalonia, received its autonomous status in 1924, when the country ruled Alfonso thirteenth. Now Catalonia has its own government and its president, in kindergartens and schools, instruction is conducted in Catalan, the color of the flag is four red stripes on a yellow background.
It is a country of proud and beautiful people, from here outstanding cultural figures such as Antonio Gaudi, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Dominique da Montenegro, Montserrat Caballe, and many others. In Spain, it is considered the most developed economic region, its gross income is 20% of the total from the country, but taxes with prices here are much higher than in the south or central Spain.
Catalonia almost always engaged in the production of textiles, here were built entire industrial cities and settlements .But recently textile production began to close, due to dumping prices for goods from Southeast Asia .Now the main source of income in this country is tourism, more than 50% of the population work in this field, and 6% of the inhabitants of this country are engaged in agriculture .It grows strawberries, which fructifies all year round, cucumbers, tomatoes, Chinese salad, pepper, in the greenhouses grow roses and carnations that are exported to the whole world..
In connection with the huge abundance of vegetables and seafood, the national cuisine of this country is based on these products, they know a variety of ways in the preparation of various shellfish, mussels, shrimps .Even the famous paelia here is prepared in different ways: the main ingredients of the dish are rice, vegetables, poultry or seafood .Well, the national dish is jamon and bread, rubbed with garlic and tomato .And, of course, white or red Spanish wine is drunk with all these dishes, and a local liquor or kava is suitable for sweet dishes .To the Catalans, the approach is special, this pleasure they can stretch for two hours, so they have such long siesty .
And, of course, bullfight and flamenco are inseparable from Spain, now it exists mainly as a show for tourists, the Spaniards themselves prefer football more, but still from May to October, in each self-respecting city there are bullfights ±$ br >.In small towns spend modillarians - battles with young, three-year bulls .But many national customs still exist in Catalonia until now, such as sardana is a massive dance when people become in a circle holding each other's hands, something like sertaki .Kastelieros - a competition whose tower of people will be higher, you can see all this in any town in Spain .
The capital of Catalonia is Barcelona, it was founded by the Romans more than 2000 years ago .This is one of the most populated cities in the world, per 100 sq. .km .where somewhere 2 million inhabitants .Barcelona is one of the most advantageous places to buy real estate in Spain..It is located between the mountains and the sea, from the mountain Montjuic you can see the whole city and even the port, a huge number of historical places and monuments of architecture, there are different museums, exhibition halls, theaters .Barcelona Aquarium is the largest in Europe, it presents more than 3000 species of various fish and marine animals..
The tourist boom in Catalonia began, where about fifteen years ago, thousands of hotels began to be built all over the coast, the work was done day and night .Service in hotels at a high level, they work mainly in the local population, the coast is clean and well-groomed, here they are very sensitive to nature and land, creating protected areas and various parks..A huge popularity among tourists are water parks, and they, too, every year, all multiplying and expanding .Well and the biggest pride of Catalonia, it is considered "Port Aventura" .This is a theme park that stands in line with such famous ones as Disneyland .
Of course, the Catalans consider themselves to be a separate country, but anyway, this is a beautiful and sultry Spain.