Ceret - the day after torrential rain and Catalonia Part 1

Yesterday it poured all day, sometimes very heavily. Last night just before it got dark we noticed a waterfall on the hill behind Ceret that had not been there before.

This is the shot I took of it this morning, with a zoom, from our front door.

On the "croissant run" this morning Mum and I were amazed at the sophisticated water channelling systems at work when a town is built on a hillside. Gutters, pipes, channels, drains, all were full to capacity and rushing towards the river in the valley below.

One victim of the downpour.

and another (it almost looks like a drowned butterfly)

After breakfast I decided to go and try and get a closer picture of the new waterfall. I would have loved to have walked to la cascade, to see what the rain had done to that, but I knew the path would just be a sea of mud.

The path I would have liked to take (you can just see the bottom of the waterfall at the
top left of this photo) had a stream flowing across it ....

and at least 80 people on mountain bikes; helmets, goggles, spandex and bodies covered
in mud, with grins on their mud flecked faces, came flying down that path. I knew
 they would have made it even muddier so decided against that route.

I walked up a road and got a bit closer and then gave up on the endeavor.

A reminder of Rasta.

Everywhere were creeks and streams where there had been little more than trickles before.

I have been trying to get a picture of the Jays I have been seeing here. Sorry, no time
to zoom, he's on the left of the irrigation canal. (Yes Chris, he could be a seal). Anyway
chasing this guy, he kept flitting along the canal, lead me along the footpath that follows
the arrosage. It follows the hillside and just as it allows backyards to access the water it
allows the path followers to view the backyards.

Little bridges are for other paths, there is so much to explore!

After lunch Mum and I walked down to the 3 bridges to check on the River Tech after the rains.

Yep, pretty full

I have been planning to do a post on Catalonia, and gathering pictures, but realize now there will be more than one post. Especially as I am going to be in Barcelona (the former capital). Catalonia, its existence, its history, its culture and its present situation are complex and I recognize that my brief comments cannot do it justice. I have been reading a couple of books (that were in the bookshelf here); Homage to Barcelona by Colm Toibin and The History of Catalonia under the auspices of Museu d'Historia de Catalunya and some of this info and impressions are based on that reading.

Ceret (and Barcelona) are in Catalonia and consider themselves to be Catalan. Catalonia peaked in the 13 Century and was ruled from Barcelona by the Princes of Aragon. Not only did it consist of parts of present day France and Spain but also Majorca, Sardinia and Sicily. In Ceret we hear the Catalan language being spoken and Catalan flags are flown.

A rendition of la Senyera on a plate on the side of a house. Le Senyera is the standard or banner
for Catalonia. The 4 red stripes on a golden background are used in town symbols, rugby emblems,
businesses names etc etc. Legend has it that Catalonia had no flag and this was created when during a war,
 four fingers of blood from a Counts wound was drawn across his golden shield to act as a rallying point.

The Estelada has the same 4 red bands on a gold background but also has a star (either red or blue). This is the flag of the Catalan Separatists flown to support Catalan independence.
There have been periods of time when speaking Catalan was banned and those with Catalan heritage were persecuted but the Catalan identity has continued and Catalan Independence is again being talked about.

The Catalan Flag flying on the top of Fontfrede, the mountain behind Ceret.