#pubilla

Two of the most iconic outfits in traditional clothes of Catalonia: a pubilla outfit (formal dress for women, the male equivalent is the hereu outfit) and the clothes for the participants in the Devils' Dance (ball de diables).

Women didn't usually wear barretines. Instead, there are different head covering depending on the occasion.

For everyday life is the common people, in old photos you will usually find this:

Simply a handkerchief tied around the head. This fell out of fashion for young people in the 20th century, and nowadays in Catalonia we don't wear it anymore. (Well, of course people in Catalonia wear it if they're Muslim, usually of Moroccan origin, but it's unrelated to this ones).

Only in the Balearic Islands they still include it as part of the traditional clothing they wear for some traditions and festivities.

Examples from Ibiza:

In Mallorca they're a bit different, but still a handkerchief tied around the chin:

In Catalonia, what we would consider the women's equivalent of barretines are rets and gandalles, two kinds of fishnet or silk hair coverings that used to be worn on Sundays, festivities or special events, and more often by wealthier families. They're part of the traditional outfit for the pubilla (a family's heiress).

Women in many parts of Catalonia wear this, like men do with the barretina, for some festivities and traditions.

These illustrations are from l'Auca de la Pubilla (available here).

Hello!

When we say Central Catalonia (Catalunya central), also called central counties (comarques centrals), it includes the following comarques: Berguedà, Solsonès, Bages, Moianès, and Osona. Sometimes you can find L'Anoia also included, but usually L'Anoia is included in the Penedès instead.

This is a map of the vegueries (broader areas) of Catalonia:

Culturally, Central Catalonia is united by shared accent and linguistic traits, geography (mountain ranges and the Vic plain), pilgrimage routes, having the same cities as reference and by food such as the excellent embotits (cured meat) such as llonganissa de Vic and everything they do in Osona. People from the rest of Catalonia will buy them from there because they’re so delicious!

It’s also the area with the most important religious (Catholic Christian) heritage since the Middle Ages, and it also has an important heritage from the Industrial Revolution.

In the north of l’Anoia there is the holy mountain range of Montserrat, where the image of the Mother of God of Montserrat (also called La Moreneta) was found and is kept. She is the patron saint of Catalonia (together with St. George), so as you can imagine there are a lot of people who go on pilgrimage to this mountain. There are many popular activities such as large groups of people walking up the mountain together, songs like el Virolai, the legend of the drummer of el Bruc (though it takes place here, it’s known in all Catalonia), and the Montserrat Abbey has the oldest choir in Europe, founded in the 12th century!

(The Montserrat Abbey and the venerated image of La Moreneta)

One of the main cities in Central Catalonia is Manresa, which is also a pilgrimage centre because Saint Ignatius of Loyola lived in a cave in this city for some years to meditate, when he was on his way to Montserrat.

You can visit the cave as well as St. Ignatius’ pilgrimage routes and other buildings associated with him.

(Inside the cave in Manresa)

The city of Vic, too, has an important place in history and religion. It’s the seat of the bishop, and is famous for the bishop Oliba (971-1046) who drove the reforms known as “pau i treva” (peace and truce), which meant that by law the feudal lords only had power over their subjects during daytime and not on holy days and rest days.

(Monument to Abat Oliba, between Vic’s cathedral and its museum of ecclesiastic art Museu Episcopal de Vic)

The industrial heritage of Catalonia is also heavily centered in Central Catalonia, since the way that industralisation worked here was by creating factory-towns that used the river’s force to make the factory work. Central Catalonia is crossed by the rivers Llobregat and Ter, where the majority of these factory-towns were.

It’s in Central Catalonia where the tradition of choosing a pubilla and an heureu is stronger. Pubilla and hereu mean “heiress” and “heir” respectively, and they are two people chosen by the town to become their representatives or ambassadors in cultural activities. This tradition comes from the traditional Catalan laws, where the heirs were very important for families.

In many areas of Catalonia like the centre, every year each association or quarter choses their own pubilla and hereu, and from all of those they chose the pubilla and hereu for the town. And between the ones from each town, the region ones, and between the region ones, the one that will represent all Catalonia for the year. They dress in traditional clothing that represents the heir and heiress from big farmhouses, and they attend cultural activities around all the country as a representative.

In Central Catalonia, the choice of the town’s pubilla and hereu is usually part of the town’s festa major (local patron saint festivity).

(Candidates to pubilla and hereu in Solsona)

(Pubilla and hereu making a flower offering at the Montserrat Abbey)

That’s what comes to my mind about Central Catalonia. It has some things that are different from the rest of Catalonia but mostly the differences are on what cultural elements have more importance and people participate in most.

The patronal festivities of Tortosa (Terres de l’Ebre, Catalonia), called Festes de la Cinta for being dedicated to the local image of the Virgin Mary known as Mare de Déu de la Cinta, celebrated on the first Sunday of September.

Each town and city in the Catalan Countries has a festa major, which is a local celebration on the day of their patron saint or Madonna. They involve dancing folk dances, the correfoc with the town’s mythical animals and devil dances, a big family lunch, fireworks, concerts, etc. The dances, music and clothes change from area to area, making each festa major unique.

Many towns also have their own specific traditons for their festa major. Tortosa has a few of those. One of them is the panoli.

In Tortosa, the festivities start with about 100 pubilles (girls elected as cultural representatives of the city) going around the city accompanied by musicians playing traditional “flutes” (gralles and dolçaines) and drums. The pubilles hand out a traditional flat cake called panoli.

Catalan festivities

Wine Harvest Festivals (Festes de la Verema) are a group of festivities celebrated around the wine-producing areas of Catalonia during the season that grape is harvested (from September to early October). Wine-making has been one of the most important industries in Catalonia for centuries, particularly in the Priorat, Penedès, and Bages regions, but also important in Empordà, Costers del Segre, and others.