Facts about Catalonia

1 About 30% of all land in Val d’Aran is at least 2000 metres above sea level.

2 Catalonia is a historic principality that once actually extended into what is now France.

3 Catalan is not the most common first language. A total of 45.92% mainly use Spanish, 35.54% primarily speak Catalan and 11.95% use both languages equally.

4 It’s regional economy is the largest in Spain with a GDP of € 200 billion ($180 billion) which is roughly the same size as Portugal, Greece or Oregon.

5 The National Day of Catalonia, La Diada, is celebrated on September 11 each year. It commemorates the 1714 siege of Barcelona during the war of the Spanish Succession.

6 A castell – or a human tower – is traditionally built in festivals across Catalonia. It literally is a tower made by dozens of people standing on top of each other.

7 Bullfighting was banned in Catalonia on January 1, 2012. The last bullfight in the region took place in September 2011.

8 The language of Catalan is not actually a dialect of Spanish. It was developed independently out of the vulgar Latin spoken by the Romans who colonised the Tarragona area.

9 Catalonia is the birthplace of the famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali.

10 Even more Catalans want independence from Spain than Scots want to break away from the UK. An informal, nonbinding vote on was held in 2014 with 80% of those taking part voting yes to independence. However, the Spanish government says Catalonia has no constitutional right to break away.