We had met our local tour guide, St Jordi on a bus from Cambodia to Thailand more than a year ago and spent some time together back then enjoying the delights of the Thai Islands.

Arriving at his place in Gracia, Barcelona we found ourselves immersed in the true Catalan culture, where he was our unofficial tour guide for the weekend.

Jordi hails from Palomos a further 1,5 hours up the Costa Brava and this was to be a challenge for him as we laid down the rules of being a good tour guide. The pressure was huge, that is until we shared with him that if he made up interesting stories, we would ask him questions and if he kept a straight face we may just believe him. Fake news? Nope. Fake tour guide? Maybe 🙂

Alas, Jordi is very knowledgeable about the different flags and pennants, the museums and history of Catalonia. Our day trip to Girona and afternoon in the sun with his friends tasting the local paella, yummy! We had even more Catalan friends, who were willing to share stories about life in this passionate and beautiful region of Spain.

tour guide on autopilot at the end of a long day

a bit of Gaudi never hurt anybody

Whether it is the flags waving outside most balcony windows, from the Catalan flag, the flag of Barcelona or Barca football team flag there is a story and some bit of history which links back to the Siege of Barcelona in the 1700s and the persecution of Catalans and their language and heritage.
This is the main reason why so many people do not see themselves as Spanish and do not really support the national flag…..or maybe as Jordi points out with some fake tour guide facts, the Catalan flags have less colours, so they are cheaper to manufacture and sell.