{"id":603,"date":"2026-04-09T17:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/?p=603"},"modified":"2026-04-09T17:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:25:09","slug":"catalonia-like-youve-never-seen-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/catalonia-like-youve-never-seen-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalonia Like You\u2019ve Never Seen It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Catalonia Like You\u2019ve Never Seen It: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Surprising Facts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people think of Catalonia, they usually imagine Barcelona, sunny beaches, and Gaud\u00ed\u2019s architecture. But this region has so many more secrets. If you’re planning a trip to this part of Spain, here are a few things standard guidebooks rarely mention.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Volcanoes right around the corner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardly anyone associates mainland Spain with volcanoes. However, in the Garrotxa region, there\u2019s a natural park with 40 dormant volcanoes. Covered in thick forests, they look like gentle hills. It\u2019s a perfect spot for hiking in a very unique natural setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. A strange Christmas tradition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catalans have a very specific sense of humor and their own unique traditions. One of them is the Caganer<\/em>\u2014a figurine of a person “doing their business” that is a must-have in the Nativity scene. It\u2019s meant to be a symbol of luck, health, and a good harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"\"<\/a>\n\n\n\n

3. A book instead of just flowers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Valentine\u2019s Day is popular worldwide, the biggest day for couples in Catalonia is April 23rd\u2014the Day of Saint George (Sant Jordi<\/em>). The streets fill up with rose and book stalls. Tradition says that partners exchange these two things as gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. A region without bullfighting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though bullfighting is often associated with Spain, you won\u2019t see it in Catalonia. The Catalan parliament banned bullfighting back in 2010. Most locals find the tradition cruel and too closely tied to central Spanish culture, which they try to stay distinct from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Cava \u2013 high-end bubbles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you like sparkling wine, you have to try the local Cava. Many people think it\u2019s just cheap bubbly, but it\u2019s actually made using the exact same time-consuming method as French Champagne. The heart of Cava production is in the Pened\u00e8s region near Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Three official languages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most tourists know that people speak Spanish and Catalan in Barcelona. But few have heard of the third official language: Aranese. It\u2019s a variety of Occitan spoken by just a few thousand people living in the Val d’Aran, a high-altitude valley in the Pyrenees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. The tragic end of a great master<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antoni Gaud\u00ed, the man behind the Sagrada Fam\u00edlia, was an incredibly humble person. He died tragically after being hit by a tram in Barcelona. Because he looked so disheveled and had no ID on him, bystanders mistook him for a homeless man. Taxi drivers initially refused to take him to the hospital, not realizing they were leaving behind the most famous architect in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catalonia Like You\u2019ve Never Seen It:  7 Surprising Facts. When people think of Catalonia, they usually imagine Barcelona, sunny beaches, and Gaud\u00ed\u2019s architecture. But this region has so many more secrets. If you’re planning a trip to this part of Spain, here are a few things standard guidebooks rarely mention. 1. Volcanoes right around the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":605,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions\/605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destinosespana.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}