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| Víctor meets The Grandma in Vielha e Mijaran, Aran |
Vielha e Mijaran is the capital of Aran, an Occitan country inside Catalonia.
The Grandma loves Occitan culture. It is amazing and we cannot explain our current Europe without knowing the importance of Occitania during the Middle Age.
During her travel from Cadaqués to Vielha e Mijaran, The Grandma has studied a new lesson of her interesting course of Ms. Excel course.
Chapter 13. Images, diagrams and titles (III) (Spanish Version)
Vielha e Mijaran is a municipality in Aran. It was created in 1970 by the merger of the municipalities of Arròs e Vila, Betlan, Escunhau, Gausac, Vielha and Vilac: some of the former municipalities retain some privileges as decentralised municipal entities, as does the village of Betren.
Mijaran literally means Middle Aran in Aranese, as the inhabited part of the municipality is situated in the valley of the Garonne. The Noguera Ribagorçana has its source on the territory of the municipality, on the opposite side of the watershed. The ajuntament or town hall is in Vielha, which is also the capital of Aran.
The municipality is linked to France and to Catalonia, via the Vielha tunnel, by the road. The road continues up the valley to Naut Aran, and on over the Port de la Bonaigua (2,072 m) to the Catalan comarca of Pallars Sobirà. This road, the higher stretches of which are impassable in winter, was the only route between the Aran valley and Catalonia before the opening of the Vielha tunnel in 1948.
The municipality is composed of thirteen distinct settlements: Arròs, Aubèrt, Betlan, Betren, Casarilh, Casau, inhabited in Roman times, Escunhau, Gausac, Mont, Montcorbau, Vielha, Vila and Vilac.
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| Víctor is playing at his Aranese home |
This valley constitutes one of only two areas of contiguous part of current Catalonia that are located on the northern side of the Pyrenees. Hence, this valley holds the only Catalan rivers to flow into the Atlantic Ocean -for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one.
The Garonne river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret near the Port de la Bonaigua. It is joined by the Joèu river, from the slopes of Aneto mountain, which passes underground at the Forau de Aigualluts. It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. The Noguera Pallaresa river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the Mediterranean.
The Garonne river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret near the Port de la Bonaigua. It is joined by the Joèu river, from the slopes of Aneto mountain, which passes underground at the Forau de Aigualluts. It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. The Noguera Pallaresa river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the Mediterranean.
Aran borders Occitania (France) on the north, Aragon (Spain) to the west and the Catalan counties of Alta Ribagorça to the south and Pallars Sobirà to the east.
The capital of the comarca is Vielha, with 5,474 inhabitants. The entire population of the valley is about 9,991. A plurality of people in Aran spoke Spanish (38.78%) as their native language, followed by Aranese (34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having a different native language. Speakers of languages other than the local Aranese are typically people born outside the valley, or their children.
In 1313, Jaume II granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a Latin manuscript called the Querimònia. The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to Jaume II in a dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley. This situation was suppressed in 1834, when the Valley was integrated into the new Province of Lleida, in the context of creation of the liberal state.
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| Visiting Musèu dera Val d'Aran |
Before the construction of the Vielha tunnel, opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter.
In 1990 the autonomy of Aran was restored by the Parliament of Catalonia, as well the establishment of the Occitan as official language.
In 2015 the powers of Aranese institutions were increased.
In 2015 the powers of Aranese institutions were increased.
Aranese is the standardized form of the local Gascon variety of the Occitan language. Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other minority languages in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance.
The name Aran comes from Basque haran, meaning valley. Basque toponyms reveal that Basque was spoken further east along the Pyrenees than today. The growing influence of Latin began to drive Basque out after the turn of the first millennium.
Administratively, Aran is a unique territorial entity roughly equivalent to a comarca (county) with additional powers. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015. The area is divided into six administrative divisions called terçons -meaning thirds, as there were formerly three divisions. The current arrangement of the divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the Conselh Generau.
The main economic activity in the valley is tourism; from the ski resorts in the winter and from other tourist activity in the summer. Other primary sectors of the economy include forest products, cattle ranching and agriculture, all of which have become progressively less important since the opening of ski resorts.
Every crag and gnarled tree and lonely valley has
its own strange and graceful legend attached to it.
Douglas Hyde
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