Monday, May 05, 2008

We got back from the pueblo last night. Everything is all green out there now; it's yellow and brown for ten months out of the year, but the wheat and barley is nearly knee-high right now. Remei's cousin Santi, who farms up in Albió, says it's going to be an excellent harvest. Then again, he also believes in the crazy "insurance companies spraying anti-hail chemicals and causing the drought" theory.

I talked to two older people about the Civil War in Vallfogona and learned: 1) the town was divided 50-50 into "rojos" and "fascistas" 2) the "rojos," CNT and POUM, set up a collective, but didn't force anyone to join 3) the "rojos" killed four people at the beginning of the revolt, a doctor who lived at the spa and three men from Cal Felip 4) the "fascista" air force bombed the bridge on the Riu Corb two kilometers up the valley from the spa 5) the Regina Hotel was used as a Republican hospital during the Battle of the Ebro, and that's where the bodies buried in the cemetery came from 6) Ramon from Cal Matruqueu may have made up the story about dumping the bones that they dug up in the ravine 7) some of the locals hid the priest and guided him along the back roads to Igualada; the CNT came looking for him but he was already gone 8) the "rojo" government came around regularly and confiscated the peasants' farm produce, or at least what they couldn't hide.

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