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Photos: Montserrat visita, Carme Fenoll, Abadia de Montserrat, Biblioteca de Montserrat.

Library of the Montserrat Abbey, Central Catalonia.

The abbey was founded in the 11th century, and since the beginning it was home to manuscripts. In the 12th century, the abbey had its own scriptorium (monks dedicated to copying and illuminating manuscripts), which was very active during the 14th and 15th centuries and exchanged books with the Catalan royal family.

In the year 1499, they also opened their own printing press, still a very recent innovation back then. The library kept growing during the 17th and 18th centuries, becoming one of the most important libraries in Catalonia for the quantity of books they had and their quality. Montserrat Abbey is considered the spiritual heart of Catalonia, and its library couldn't be any less.

But in the year 1811, the Napoleonic troops invaded Catalonia. The French army destroyed the abbey, including the library, and practically all of it was lost to the fire.

Later, the abbey was rebuilt. At the end of the 19th century, they built the new library (the one you can see in this post's photos). In the early 20th century, they worked hard to get books to have a good library once again. In a few years, they went from having 15,000 books to 150,000. This growth was stopped in 1936 because of the Spanish Civil War. They continued growing in the second half of the 20th century, with the aim of having an up-to-date collection. In 1998, they started digitalizing the collection.

Nowadays, the Montserrat Abbey Library has 370,000 books and 30,000 printed sheets, 3,800 Late Medieval books, 400 incunables (books printed before the year 1500), 1,500 manuscripts, 18,000 engravings, 500 historical maps, and every year it grows. It's specialized in Humanities, particularly Ecclesiastical Sciences, World History, Medieval History, and the History of Catalonia and Europe. All their books are accessible on the internet as part of the catalogue of Catalan universities.

Allegories of Painting, Science, Agriculture, Trade, Architecture, Sculpture, Philosophy, and an untitled allegoric figure, painted in 1874 by the Catalan artist Francesc Sans Cabot. Oil and golden glitter on canvas.

I realise I hadn't posted current music recently, so here's a song I've been listening to a lot lately! It's by the Valencian singer Naina, who makes urban music.

Link to the song on YouTube / Link to the song on Spotify.

Lyrics in Valencian-Catalan and translation to English if you want to sing along.

Ho recordo perquè de moment ha votat molt poca gent (només un 7,4% del cens electoral!), i sabem que el sector turístic ha estat impulsant que la gent voti Pyrénées Mediterranée simplement per atraure més turistes, venent el nom de la terra per convertir-la en una simple publicitat.

Es pot votar per internet o presencial, és fàcil i ràpid i molt important per al futur del País Català. Tenim fins al 15 d'agost!

It will be inaugurated soon, next to a community centre in the city of Sant Joan Despí (Barcelona Metropolitan Ambit, Catalonia). This tiny museum has been created by the People's University of Sant Joan Despí, a grassroots organization that promotes education and culture for the working class in the city.

They have named it "el Petit Museu" ("the Little Museum" in Catalan) and it measures only 1.5 metres wide and 2.40 metres tall, in a structure inspired by Doctor Who's Tardis cabin.

The cabins like the one seen in the TV show Doctor Who actually exist in the UK, they telephone were boxes installed in the 1920s where people could go to call the police. Now, in a time where most people have mobile phones, these boxes are not used anymore. In 2016, Warley Town (Yorkshire, England) turned a telephone box into an information point about their town with objects given by the neighbours. One of the members of the People's University of Sant Joan Despí learned about this initiative, and it was the inspiration for their own Little Museum.

Members of the People's University have built the cabin themselves in their free time, and its purpose is to hold tiny temporary exhibitions made by local associations and artists. Its first exhibition will open this September, and it will showcase the books that have been presented by the People's University of Sant Joan Despí in the last few years. Each exhibition will be visible for 1 or 2 months, 3 at most, and then it will give space to a new one.

The Little Museum's creators remind us that culture isn't only found in grandiose historical buildings in the capital cities, but can also be found in every little place.

Sant Salvador d'Alentorn chapel in Artesa de Segre (Ponent, Catalonia).

The building we see today was made in the 18th century, on the site of an older chapel dating back at least to the early 11th century. The church was built merging it into the natural wall.

Book holder amulet, kept at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London (UK). Lenght: 12.4cm. Width: 9.9cm. Depth: 1.1cm. Chain length: 15.0cm.

Heart-shaped pond in the High Pyrenees Natural Park (Parc Natural de l'Alt Pirineu), Catalonia.

This is a traditional Catalan folk song that talks about a dangerous night in an inn... What would you have done if you were the maid?

Here's the lyrics in Catalan and the translation to English. This recording skips some of the last stanzas, but I'm posting the whole lyrics so you can know how the story ends!

A l'hostal de la Peira, oi-dà / Dames hi van anar / Ja truquen a la porta, oi-dà / Ja en responen: -qui hi ha?- oi-dà. / -Som unes pobres dames / Si ens voleu allotjar? / - Obre'ls la porta, noia / I deixa-les entrar. Some ladies went to the La Peira inn They knocked on the door, the answer was "who's there?" "We are some poor ladies, if you would welcome us?" "Open the door, girl, and let them in."

Diuen a la mestressa / -què hi ha per a sopar? / -Hi ha cargols amb ceba / samfaina amb bacallà. / Una no té pas gana / l'altra no en vol menjar / l'altra està prenyadeta / i al llit se'n vol anar. They ask the innkeeper "What do you have for dinner?" "We have snails with onion, and samfaina with cod" One of them isn't hungry, the other one doesn't want any, the other one is pregnant and wants to go to bed.

-Mossa, tu pren el llum / ves-les-hi a acompanyar / Quan foren dins la cambra / es varen despullar / La mossa n'és traïdora / pel pany les va mirar / Se'n baixa a baix a la cuina / i es posa a sospirar. "Maid, take the light and accompany them to their room" When they were in the room, they got undressed. The maid is traitorous, she looks at them through the lock the maid goes downstairs to the kitchen, and starts sighing.

/ -De què sospires, mossa? / què en tens per sospirar? / -Què haig de tenir, mestressa! / que ens volen robar! / -Porten calceta curta / pistoles als costats. / 'Neu's-en al llit, mestressa / perquè jo en vull vetllar. "What are you sighing about, girl?" "What will it be, innkeeper! That they want to rob us! They're wearing shorts, and pistols on the sides. Go to bed, innkeeper, I want to keep watch tonight"

Al llit va la mestressa / ella a l'escó es posà. / Allà a les deu tocades / els lladres van baixar. / Ja van de cambra en cambra / per veure què n'hi ha / Ja n'entren a la cuina / la mossa hi van trobar. The innkeeper goes to bed, the maid sits down on the fireside bench. Around 10 o'clock, the thieves came downstairs. They go from room to room, to see what's there. They get to the kitchen, and they find the maid.

En veure-los que entraven / ja se'n posa a roncar. / Se'n feia la dormida / damunt d'uns sacs de gra / Tres gotetes de cera / al pit li van tirar. / La mossa n'és traïdora / ronca que roncaràs / Lo un en diu a l'altre / - Ben adormida està When she saw them coming in, she started snoring. She pretended to be asleep on some grain sacks. They drop a few drops of wax on her chest. The girl is traitorous, she snores and snores. One [of the thieves] says to the other "She's fast asleep"

Un braç de criatura / al foc en van tirar: / qui dorm, se'n despertava; qui no, s'adormirà. / Ja en surten al defora / i es posen a xiular / La mossa n'es traïdora / la porta els va tancar. They threw in the fireplace a kid's arm: whoever is asleep would wake up, whoever isn't will fall asleep. Now they're going out, and they start whistling The maid is traitorous and closes the door [with them outside]

Obra la porta, mossa / cent dobles te'n vull dar / -Ni per cent ni cinquanta / la porta s'obrirà / -Aquell braç de criatura / si me'l volguessis dar / -Jo prou te'l donaria / mes no el puc apagar "Open the door, girl, I want to give you 100 coins" "The door won't open neither for 100 nor for 50". "That child's arm, if you could give it to me" "I would gladly give it, but I can't extinguish the fire"

-A la gerra de l'oli / l'hauries de tirar / La mossa n'és traïdora / a la cuina se'n va. / Pren el braç amb l'esquerra / destral a l'altra mà: / -Per on te'l donaria, per on te'l puc donar? "You should throw it in the oil jar" The girl is traitorous, she goes to the kitchen. She takes the arm with her left hand, and an axe on the other hand: "How can I give it to you [at the other side of the door]?"

-Dóna-me'l per la porta / per 'quell forat que hi ha. / -Treu la mà per la porta / que el braç te'n vull donar. / La mossa n'és traïdora / la mà li va tallar. / -T'assseguro, criada / que me l'has de pagar. "Hand it to me through that hole on the door" "Put your arm through the door, so I can give you the arm" The girl is traitorous, she cut off his hand. "I assure you, maid, that you will pay for this..."

Amb la sang de tes venes / les mans em vull rentar, / i amb ta cabellera / me les vull eixugar. / -Hostaler de la Peira, / te'n pots ben recordar! / A la teva criada / la pots ben estimar. / Que t'ha salvat la vida / i l'hostal de robar: / dels tres fills que tu tens / li pots donar a triar. "...And with the blood of your veins, I want to wash my hands. and with your hair, I want to dry them. Innkeeper of La Peira, you remember this! You should love your maid. For she has saved your life and your inn from being robbed. Let her choose from your three sons [which one to marry]."

Like with all orally-transmitted folk songs, there are multiple versions of the lyrics, but the variations are small and they all explain the same story. There's also a version with a different melody.

As for the "kid's arm"... I wondered if it could have any other meaning (like maybe a small log for the fire?), so I searched it and I couldn't find any explanation, but I found an auca (traditional Catalan equivalent of comic books but with rhymes) from the 1920s illustrating this song and it's literally just an actual kid's arm...

Serrat cheese is one of the traditional cheeses of Catalonia. It's originally from the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees areas (most of the Northern half of Catalonia) but it's very popular so nowadays it's made by artesans in all of Catalonia, though it remains particularly popular in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees.

It's made with sheep milk and it's dense, with an intense flavour, and dry or semi-dry. It's usually eaten on a slice of bread with rubbed tomato (seen in the last photo), alone in pieces as part of entrants, or sometimes in salads.

Views in the town of L'Albi in Ponent, Catalonia.

The square in these photos was built in the 15th-16th centuries, when the town grew out of its original area around the castle.

These pictures were made by Parlars Mallorquins and the seamstresses from Més que puntades, Alambla, and Sedes i draps. Posted on their Instagram here. I recommend following them if you're interested in historical and traditional fashion!

On the left: Bernat Costa. On the right: Cheetos bag.

His name is Bernat Costa and he is a graphic novel artist. For 7 years, he drew all the Cheetos mascot and other publicity campaigns. As he explains in an interview, every time he went to a work meeting everyone was astounded and told him how much he looked like Johnny Depp, but he never thought much about it.

Until one day he got a call from an agency who wanted to hire him and he became his official double in the state of Spain. Apparently, famous actors have an official double in every state, just in case he ever came to film a movie. Meanwhile, these doubles are hired in corporation parties and similar events. Bernat says he's also been hired for lots of birthday and wedding parties, and that "the only thing missing is to be hired as the corpse of the original."

Very often, he also has people assume he's the real Johnny Depp. People shout and cry and ask for selfies with him, invite him to their yachts, and even ask to date him (incredible considering that Johnny Depp is condemned for domestic violence against his wife!)

About this job, Bernat says "I'm very lucky to have very little personality, this makes it easier to be a double."

A street in the village of Les Pallargues (Ponent, Catalonia).