Catalonia news stories on Newser

Stinky Nativity Tradition: Pooping Catalan Doll

Mark Russell — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 05:49:34 CST

In Barcelona at Christmastime, you can find plenty of Nativity scenes, with shepherds, magi, baby Jesus, and the like. But you can also find one uniquely Catalan character hidden in the background—or squatting, with his pants down, the caganer, or "the defecator" (though our sources tell us the term...

Catalonia Bans Bullfights (Hemingway Saw It Coming)

John Johnson — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:40:31 CDT

Score one for the bulls. Catalonia became the first region in mainland Spain to ban bullfighting today, reports the BBC . Animal rights activists who see the sport as barbaric succeeded in getting the ban passed, much to the dismay of those who see it as an integral part of the...

Barcelona May Ban Bullfighting

Rob Quinn — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:00:45 CDT

Catalonia will vote today on whether to become the first mainland Spanish region to say adios to bullfighting. The spectacle has long been in decline in the region, and the capital, Barcelona, now only holds a dozen or so bullfights a year, with foreign tourists making up much of the...

Emergency H20 Flows Into Parched Barcelona

Rob Quinn — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:36:00 CDT

Barcelona is having to ship in emergency supplies of drinking water as Spain suffers its worst drought since records began 60 years ago, the Guardian reports. The first shipment of 5 million gallons arrived yesterday and dozens more are scheduled. The city's reservoirs are down to a quarter of capacity...

In Spain, It's Not Good to Be the King

Jason Farago — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:29:24 CDT

Amid loud calls for his abdication, Spain's King Juan Carlos I has been forced into the unprecedented and lowly position of justifying his throne to commoners, reports the Telegraph . Catalonian separatists have been burning effigies of him and Queen Sofia, and some are calling for him to hand the crown...