Long live Llorenç del Penedès!
Last week, I visited Llorenç del Penedès to participate in a book club at the library. Upon arrival, the librarian confessed that she was a little worried about whether enough people would come. In an attempt to reassure her, I mentioned that, in my experience, the smaller the town where a cultural event is organized, the more people are guaranteed to attend. Both the librarian and the Town Planning Councilor—who had been kind enough to replace the Culture Councilor, who was unwell—interrupted me briskly. "The thing is, Llorenç del Penedès is a special case." They didn't mean it was a rather apathetic town, quite the opposite: both assured me that it's a town with a huge cultural activity, very active, and that they were afraid the book club would coincide with some other scheduled event. "Sometimes we're forced to look bad in someone's face because we don't have to choose one of the activities that coincide," lamented the people of Llorenç.
When I wanted to know the reason for this frenetic cultural activity, they explained to me that, despite being a small town—about 2,300 inhabitants—in Llorenç del Penedès there are two century-old organizations, both Creu de Sant Jordi, that greatly stimulate social life. These organizations are El Centro and La Cumprativa. "But we have many other associations that also fill our agenda," the librarian and the councilor said, between pride and resignation.
I've visited the Llorenç del Penedès City Council website: apart from the two entities mentioned above, there are the Portal Nou Cultural Association, the Escó de gent gran association, the Baix Penedès con el Sáhara Association, and the Patuleia Colonies and Camps Group—up to fifteen (fifteen!). The librarian and the councillor weren't exaggerating in the least.
After a large and highly participatory reading club, I took the car to return home, and on the radio they were talking about the general policy debate taking place in the Parliament. The opposition had, naturally, put pressure on President Isla in a session full of criticism, among which I was struck by the Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) party, which accused the Socialist government of wanting to "denationalize the country" and called Isla "the great anesthetizer of Catalonia."
Driving along the highway, I thought it was surely true that the Socialist government has a certain interest in keeping a social majority "asleep," which, just a few years ago, had sought to turn everything upside down. However, returning from Llorenç del Penedès, I had the feeling that this will be very difficult to achieve. Catalonia is full of small, medium-sized, and large towns that maintain a rich and diverse social fabric in full swing. Honestly, I doubt that any corner of Spain, or perhaps other countries I know less well, can compare. It's a long-standing tradition—and surely has to do with the country's historical lack of real power—and one that is fully consolidated. Along with the language, this social and cultural activism is the lifeblood of the country and also one of the doors open to immigrants who want to enter. Long live Llorenç del Penedès!