SANTS: C.ESPORTIU MEDITERRANI & FIRA DE LES CIRERES

Fira de les Cireres, Sants

Today, The Grandma has visited Sants, one of the most popular neighbourhoods of Barcelona.

The Grandma has gone to see a swimming competition celebrated in the installations of Club Esportiu Mediterrani, the local club.

After seeing the championship, The Grandma has enjoyed a beautiful and popular fair, La Fira de les Cireres or Cherries Fair in the centre of the neighbourhood. Lots of farmers have come from Sant Climent de Llobregat, a little town near Barcelona, to offer their fresh products like peacocks, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, apricots and the star product, cherries.

Club Esportiu Mediterrani is a sports club founded in 1931 by a group of sports enthusiasts in particular Swimming, who frequented the beach of Barceloneta and the swimming baths located in the delightful seaside neighbourhood of Barcelona. They practice several sports, but mainly swimming and water polo.

A group of friends from the Poble Sec decided to found the Club Esportiu Mediterrani, which in 1943 already had 263 members. It was then when it split into two clubs, emerging the Club Natació Montjuïc.

CE Mediterrani Waterpool team, 1941

In 1940, he settled in what had been the deposits of the Vapor Vell textile factory, where part of his facilities are still found, together with those of Regent Mendieta Street -now Les Corts, then Sants-, opened in 1978.

The men's team enjoyed its peak between 1992 and 1994. In addition to chaining three national subchampionships, it won the 1993 national cup and it reached the 1994 LEN Cup Winners' Cup's final, lost to ASP Pescara. On the other hand, the women's team dominated the national championship through the 1990s with eight titles in a row.

Sants is a neighborhood in the southern part of Barcelona, Catalonia. Formerly an industrial town on the plain bordering Barcelona, known as Santa Maria de Sants, it belongs nowadays to the district of Sants-Montjuïc and is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the northeast, Les Corts to the northwest, and by the municipality of l'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south. 

Sants is a neighbourhood with a clear identity because of its historical origins. It was the main core of an independent village until 1897 when it became part of Barcelona, the former municipality of Sants included most of the actual neighborhood of Sants-Montjuïc district. 

By then, Sants had a population of 19,105 inhabitants, and the neighbourhood had a strong industrial character, home to some of the most important manufacturers of Catalan textiles, such as Espanya Industrial and Vapor Vell.

More information: Club Esportiu Mediterrani (Catalan Version)

In the spring of 1883, the municipalities of Sants and Barcelona decided by mutual agreement to merge the two respective municipalities. One year later, the central government annulled the merger due to technical issues. The process was again put in motion the following year. City hall sent a request for aggregation to the Diputació Provincial de Barcelona, but this request was not fulfilled for more than two years.

In March 1889, the Civil Government asked the Deputation to solve the case, which ultimately reflected the interests of the city. A commission presided by Rius i Taulet traveled to Madrid to help move along the case. However, once more, the Deputation took no action.

The main artery of the neighbourhood is Carrer de Sants, popularly known as Carretera de Sants, which unites Plaça Espanya with the neighbouring municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Cheering the athletes, CEM, Sants

It is one of the most commercial streets in Barcelona. Among the places that stand out in Sants are the Barcelona Sants railway station, the major railway station in Barcelona, and the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial.

The most famous feast is the Festa Major, which is celebrated yearly in honor of the patron saint, Bartholomew the Apostle. During the week-long feast, the traffic is cut off in several parts of the neighborhood, where multiple popular activities are organized outdoors, such as butifarrades, xocolatades -gatherings where people drink chocolate-, concerts, Sardanes, and Habaneres. The neighbours decorate the streets with allegorical themes. Another feast, the Festa Alternativa, is celebrated simultaneously with great success.

Inhabitants of the neighborhood have included the writer Quim Monzó and the tenor Josep Carreras.

More information: Barcelona Turisme

Sant Climent de Llobregat is a municipality in the comarca of Baix Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia. It is connected by road with Viladecans and Sant Boi de Llobregat. The town is well-known thanks to its cherries.

A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).

The cherry fruits of commerce usually are obtained from cultivars of a limited number of species such as the sweet cherry (Prunus avium) and the sour cherry (Prunus cerasus). The name cherry also refers to the cherry tree and its wood, and is sometimes applied to almonds and visually similar flowering trees in the genus Prunus, as in ornamental cherry or cherry blossom. Wild cherry may refer to any of the cherry species growing outside cultivation, although Prunus avium is often referred to specifically by the name wild cherry in the British Isles.

More information: Sant Climent de Llobregat

I came from a real tough neighborhood.

I put my hand in some cement and felt another hand.

Rodney Dangerfield