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The Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, expressed this Friday the Catalan Executive’s disapproval of the arrest of the Mayor of Berga, Montse Venturós, for refusing to take down a pro-independence flag from the town hall building. Munté considered it not only “outrageous” but “an aberration both from a political and democratic perspective”. However, the case showed the different in criteria between the Catalan and Spanish institutions. While Munté lamented Spain’s “prosecution” of elected representatives and the “judicialisation of politics”, the Spanish Executive assessed the arrest as “only normal”. In his first appearance as Spanish Government spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo warned that “whoever fails to adhere to the rules has to accept the consequences”. 

Montse Venturós testified before a judge on Friday morning for not taking down an independence flag from the town hall building. The Mayor of Berga was arrested by police and taken to court after failing to attend voluntarily on two occasions. She is accused of an electoral crime and disobedience for ignoring the Electoral Roll Office’s requests to take down the flag from the façade of the Town Hall on two election days: the 27th of September Catalan election and the 20th of December Spanish general election. Her arrest caused an outcry amongst pro-independence parties and also those in favour of the right of Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence. Talking to journalists after testifying before the judge, Venturós confirmed her commitment to the “popular mandate” towards independence and said that her arrest was “a new attack on the Catalan people” by “an absolutely anti-democratic” Spanish state. The Catalan Government has described the arrest as “outrageous”.

Pro-independence radical left CUP’s Montse Venturós, Mayor of Berga, a small village 80 kilometres from Barcelona, has been arrested this Friday by the Catalan Police, the Mossos d’Esquadra. Venturós will now have to testify before the judge over an alleged electoral crime for refusing to take down pro-independence flags from the façade of the Town Hall on the 27th of September, the day of the Catalan Elections, and on the 20th of December, that of the Spanish Elections. Indeed, Venturós has twice refused to testify before the judge for the same case. CUP have already expressed their disapproval of the arrest and have called on members to demonstrate before Berga’s court in support of Venturós. Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who has been lately accused of ‘disobedience’ for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in the Catalan Chamber, has also expressed her support for Venturós, via Twitter. “Neither the judicialisation of politics nor the court will impede that Catalans decide their future”, she said. For his part, the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stressed that “freedom of speech is not a crime”.

‘Patum’ is a popular festival celebrated every year during Corpus Christi in the Catalan city of Berga. In this town, the earliest reference to this festival dates from 1454 although the celebration has its origins in pre-Christian festivities. During five days, the streets of Berga are transformed into a massive stage. The ‘Patum’ festival,  which was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, comprises several parts and is a mixture of sound, fire and parades of allegorical and traditional figures such as ‘Guites’ (mule dragons), the Eagle and giant-headed dwarves. All the figures join to perform the final dance, the Tirabol. This years’ ‘Patum’ will take place from the 25th to the 28th of May.

Núria Picas was born in Manresa, in central Catalonia, 39 years ago. She considers herself a “daughter of the Montserrat mountain”, where her parents brought her climbing as a child. Since she was little she established a strong bond with nature and is now the ‘number 1’ woman in mountain trail running. Last year she won the Ultra Trail World Tour, a competition with ten races (twelve this year), of at least 100 kilometres each. Last season, Picas ran four of these races winning three times and coming runner-up in the fourth. In 2015, however, her “main goal” goes beyond the running world. She is on cloud nine with her new challenge and will soon be literally closer than ever to the clouds: in the spring she is going to attempt to climb an 8,000-metre peak in the Himalayas.

‘La Patum’ is a popular festival celebrated every year during Corpus Christi in the Catalan city of Berga. In this town, the earliest reference to this festival dates from 1454 although the celebration has its origins in pre-Christian festivities. Over the years, a new symbolism has been given to the festival – it also incorporates elements from theatre in the Middle Ages - which led to an original mix of giants, devils, angels and other peculiar-looking characters. In 2012, ‘La Patum’ celebrates its 7th anniversary since UNESCO declared it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. This celebration coincides with the launch of a documentary which shows how ‘La Patum’ was celebrated 50 years ago.

La Patum is a historical and immensely popular representation, born and derived from the ancient and medieval theatre performances held during the week of Corpus Christi. It is held in Berga, in Central Catalonia and it has been declared by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 100,000 people expected at Berga for this Corpus Christi Festival.