Baix Penedès

Spanish comarca
comarca_name = Baix Penedès
location_

province = Tarragona
capital = El Vendrell
largest_city = El Vendrell
demonym =
population = 61,256 (2001)
area = 295.5
pop_density = 207.3
municipalities = Albinyana|L'Arboç|Banyeres del Penedès|Bellvei|La Bisbal del Penedès|Bonastre|Calafell|Cunit|Llorenç del Penedès|Masllorenç|El Montmell|Sant Jaume dels Domenys|Santa Oliva|El Vendrell

Baix Penedès is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. The area has been settled since the times of the Ibers, with ancient ruins remaining in Banyeres at "Can Canyís", in the capital el Vendrell at the village of "Guàrdies" and in Calafell at the villages of "Toixoneres" and "la Ciutadella" ("The Citadel").

Municipalities

Populations are for 2001.

* Albinyana - pop. 1780
* L'Arboç - pop. 3977
* Banyeres del Penedès - pop. 1862
* Bellvei - pop. 1532
* La Bisbal del Penedès - pop. 2349
* Bonastre - pop. 424
* Calafell - pop. 15883
* Cunit - pop. 7339
* Llorenç del Penedès - pop. 1821
* Masllorenç - pop. 453
* El Montmell - pop. 784
* Sant Jaume dels Domenys - pop. 1637
* Santa Oliva - pop. 2422
* El Vendrell - pop. 26,820

Gastronomy

Typical dishes of this region include:

* "el xató" (a dish with vegetables)
* "la coca de verdures" (cake of vegetables)
* "el civet de senglar" (a way of cooking wild boar)
* "el bull de tonyina" (a type of sausage of tuna)
* "l'arròs a banda" (rice cooked in fish and shellfish stock)

Desserts include:
* "els bufats" (?)
* "les orelletes" (?)

Castellers

Baix Penedès has one of the longest-lived traditions of castellers in Catalonia. (Castellers practice the traditional Catalan art/sport of making human pyramids.) The comarcal capital, el Vendrell, has a monument dedicated to castellers.

Present-day teams:
*els Nens del Vendrell (founded 1926)
* la Colla Nova
* els minyons de l'Arboç

The most important competitions of Castellers in the comarca occur each year as part of the August festival in honor of the Virgin Mary at Bisbal and on the fourth Sunday of August at l'Arboç del Penedès, with castellers from all over Catalonia.

People from Baix Penedès

Among the most important historical figures from Baix Penedès are:

*Àngel Guimerà (1845-1924): writer. Guimerà was originally from the Canary Islands, but his mother was from el Vendrell, and he eventually settled there in his ancestral home, "cal Guimerà".
*Pau ("Pablo") Casals (1876-1973): cellist and composer. The house-museum "vila Casals" is at Sant Salvador, as is a concert hall, l’"Auditori Pau Casals".
*Aureli Maria Escarré (1908-1968): abbot of Montserrat. Since 1978, there has been a monument to him in his home village of l'Arboç, where his ancestral home is on the main street.

External links

* [http://www.ccbp.altanet.org/consells/bpenedes/ Official comarcal web site (in Catalan)]
* [http://www.municat.net:8000/omunicat/owa/mun_p03.mapa_comarques?via=1&codcoma=8101200000&err=0 Map, on the site of the Generalitat de Catalunya]
* [http://www.idescat.net/territ/BasicTerr?TC=3&V0=2&PDF=FALSE&V1=12&VOK=Confirmar IDESCAT: statistical information about this comarca]