Baix Penedès

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Baix Penedès

Capital	El Vendrell
Province	Tarragona
Largest city:	El Vendrell
Demonym:
Population:	61,256 (2001) inhabitants.
Area:	295.5 km²
Population Density:	207.3 people/km²

Municipalities

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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 Iberians, 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").

[edit] Municipalities

Populations current as of 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

[edit] 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 (?)

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.
Andreu Nin (1892-1937) dissident Communist revolutionary in the Spanish Civil War).