Aspencat, my favourite music group

Today we talk about music. In this case, a music group that sings in Catalan. Maybe you find it a bit boring that I am always talking about Catalan language and my culture, but I've noticed that when you're away from your land you sorely miss your language and customs. In Spanish we have a term that comes from Galician that perfectly express this feeling: morriña (something similar to the English term ‘homesickness’). Turning to my favourite music group, its name is Aspencat and its members are from the region of La Marina Alta, in the Valencian Country. Their style is based on ska, reggae and drum and bass, but now they've moved towards a more electronic rhythms. They have been considered one of the most critic groups with the Valencian institutional culture due to the content of their work. In 2013 they finished second in the Premi al Disc Català de l'Any (Award to the best CD in Catalan of the year), if they had won they would have been the first Valencian group to win this award. The last time I saw them in a concert was in the Aplec dels Ports, a festival held in the region of Els Ports (Valencian Country) in the summer of 2013. Below you can hear one of the songs that I most like of this group:

The Battle of Valencia

The Battle of Valencia is an identity conflict that confronted the Valencian society during the Spanish Transition to democracy (1975-1982), characterized by a high degree of conflict, and that caused a political and social fracture in the Valencian Country that still endures.

The conflict began during the autonomy process of the Valencian Country, in which the conservative parties sought to gain votes by promoting the fear of a "Catalan invasion" that pretended to suppress all that was part of the Valencian identity (between that was included the Valencian language). At first the progressive parties were strong and they established the Consell del País Valencià (Council of the Valencian Country) with José Luis Albiñana from the Partit Socialista del País Valencià (Socialist Party of the Valencian Country) as the President. A temporary flag for the country was established:

On October 6, 1979 in Valencia took place a mass demonstration against the new flag organized by conservative groups and other groups linked to the Franco’s dictatorship. Due to the blockade of the Consell, the Socialist councillors resign and the Unión de Centro Democrático (a centre party) takes control of the Consell. Here begins the Battle of Valencia.

The quatribarrada (flag of the Crown of Aragon) with the Coat of Arms in the middle was changed for the flag of the city of Valencia (with the blue stripe and the crown), the name of Valencian Community was adopted instead of Valencian Country and they gave to Valencian the category of language (without considering it a dialect of Catalan).

Since then the fear to a "Catalan invasion" continued and groups of blavers (groups who refuse to consider Valencian as a dialect of Catalan) began to use violence against political figures and intellectuals such as Joan Fuster, which was bombed at the door of his house. Fortunately he wasn’t damaged.

Today the blavers remain almost half of the population of the Valencian Country and thanks to them the People’s Party (conservative party) gets large majorities in the Corts Valencianes (regional parliament). The situation today is different but still exist posters as this one:

No mos fareu Catalans means "You won’t make us Catalan". The youth of today and much of the population of Valencia know that we have a language and a culture in common with Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. The theory that Valencian is an independent language from Catalan contradicts itself. In this image you can see the map of the regions where Catalan is spoken (Catalonia, Roussillon, Valencia, Balearic Islands, East Aragon, North East Murcia and Alghero [Sardinia]):

The Fallas of Valencia

From March 15th to 19th you can find throughout Valencia a big amount of giant papier-mâché monuments of more than 5 meters high. These monuments are called “Fallas” (“Falles” in Catalan) and they are believed to have a history of more than three centuries. Historians say that the origins of the festival go back to the time when carpenters cleared out their workshops at the end of winter, throwing out ends of wood and old candles and lighting them on the street the day of Saint Joseph.

Since then the Fallas became more artistical: the ends of wood were replaced by papier-mâché figures called “ninots” representing political personalities of the city or the neighbourhood around the 1700s. Gradually the “Fallas” gained height and beauty and nowadays are considered Fiesta of International Tourist Interest of Spain.

Maybe you recognize these two people:

One is Angela Merkel (maybe the most hated person in Spain), using her puppet Rajoy to do what she wants for the good of the European Union. 

Here Angela is teaching Rajoy and his government how to cut in social welfare expenditure.

Perhaps you may not know this man. He‘s Alberto Fabra, President of the autonomous government of the Valencian Country. He was severely criticized for doing what he‘s doing in the image, killing the regional television, Canal 9, the only channel we had in our language (The emissions of TV3 [The Catalan regional Television] were blocked in the Valencian Country).

On the night of March 19th is the night of the "Cremà" and all the monuments are burned. This was the origin of the critique, burning those personalities who had done bad things for the city or for the country.