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Their next destination is Banyuls de la Marenda, a beautiful seaside town in Catalunya Nord, surrounded by vineyards, mountains and the blue waters of the Mediterranean.
Banyuls is closely associated with the sculptor Aristide Maillol, whose artistic legacy remains an important part of the town's cultural identity. However, it is also the place where one of the most extraordinary women in contemporary Catalan cultural history spent the final decades of her life. Her name was Teresa Rebull.
In 1939, the poet Joan Oliver, better known as Pere Quart, wrote Corrandes d'exili, one of the most moving poems about the Republican exile. His verses express the pain of leaving one's homeland, the uncertainty of departure and the sorrow of separation.
Decades later, Teresa Rebull would sing about her country from a different perspective. Her song El meu país speaks of a profound emotional relationship with the land, language and memories that define a person's identity.
If Pere Quart represents the painful farewell, Teresa Rebull represents the enduring connection with everything that exile could not destroy. Both artists remind us that a homeland is much more than a geographical territory. It is also a language, a collection of memories, a cultural inheritance and a place that continues to exist within us even when we are far away.
Teresa Soler i Pi was born in Sabadell on 21 September 1919. She grew up in a politically active environment. Her mother, Balbina Pi, was an important figure in the anarcho-syndicalist movement.As a young woman, Teresa became involved in political activism and joined the POUM. During the Spanish Civil War, she worked as a volunteer nurse.
Following the Republican defeat in 1939, she went into exile in France, where she subsequently collaborated with the French Resistance during the Second World War. Her life was marked by political struggle, exile and a determination to defend social justice and cultural freedom. But Teresa was much more than a political activist. She was also a singer, composer, painter and a woman with an extraordinary capacity for reinventing herself.
Teresa Rebull began her recording career relatively late in life. In 1969, when she was approaching fifty, she released her first record. At a time when the Nova Cançó movement was becoming an important expression of Catalan cultural identity, Teresa brought something different to the stage. She brought the experience of an entire generation that had lived through war, defeat, exile and resistance. Her younger colleagues affectionately called her L'Àvia de la Nova Cançó, the Grandmother of the Nova Cançó. She set poems by Catalan writers to music, including works by Joan Salvat-Papasseit, Josep Sebastià Pons and other important literary voices. Her music connected poetry, memory and political commitment.
For Teresa, singing in Catalan was also a way of preserving a language and a culture that had endured decades of repression. Her voice became a bridge between generations and between the two sides of the Pyrenees.
Among Teresa Rebull's most memorable songs is El meu país, meaning My Country. The song can be understood as an expression of belonging that goes beyond physical borders. For those who have experienced exile, a country is not simply a place on a map. It is the sound of a familiar language, the memory of childhood, the landscapes left behind and the people who shaped their lives.
Teresa Rebull eventually settled in Banyuls de la Marenda. She had built a new life but her Catalan identity remained an essential part of her artistic and personal world. Her experience reminds us that exile can transform a person's relationship with their homeland without necessarily destroying it. Sometimes, a song becomes a place where memory can survive.
On 6 July 2006, Òmnium Cultural organised a tribute concert to Teresa Rebull at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. The concert was called Visca l'amor, meaning Long Live Love. It brought together several generations of Catalan musicians, including Lluís Llach, Maria del Mar Bonet, and many others. Teresa was eighty-six years old.
It was the first time she had performed at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
Claire Fontaine and The Grandma were fortunate enough to attend that concert, and they still remember it with enormous emotion. What impressed them most was Teresa's extraordinary strength and vitality. She had lived through some of the darkest chapters of European history, yet there she was, standing on one of Catalunya's most emblematic stages, surrounded by musicians and an audience celebrating her life.
Every performance was memorable. Lluís Llach's interpretation of El meu país was particularly moving. Maria del Mar Bonet's version of Dona d'aigua was another unforgettable moment. And the collective performance of Visca l'amor, based on a poem by Joan Salvat-Papasseit that Teresa had set to music, brought the evening to an extraordinary conclusion.
They also remember the presence of Muriel Casals, a woman whose dedication to Catalan culture and civic life left a lasting impression on so many people. Looking back, that concert was much more than a musical tribute. It was a celebration of memory, friendship, culture and the extraordinary resilience of a woman who had never stopped believing in the power of music.
Banyuls de la Marenda is also the birthplace of Aristide Maillol, one of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century. Born in 1861, Maillol developed an artistic language characterised by harmonious forms, balance and the expressive possibilities of the human body. His work reflects a deep relationship with the Mediterranean landscape.
Although Maillol and Rebull belonged to different generations and artistic traditions, their lives offer two fascinating perspectives on the cultural richness of Catalunya Nord. Maillol transformed the human body into sculpture. Rebull transformed poetry and memory into song. Both remind us that artistic expression can preserve something that extends beyond the lifetime of its creator.
Teresa Rebull died in Banyuls de la Marenda on 15 April 2015, aged ninety-five. Her life had taken her from Sabadell to exile, from political resistance to musical creation, and from the painful memories of war to the affection of new generations of listeners.
She never stopped being connected to the country she had left in 1939. And she never stopped giving that connection a voice. Perhaps this is why her story is such a meaningful continuation of our journey through Catalunya Nord.
At Argelers, we remembered the suffering of those who crossed the border seeking refuge. Through Pere Quart, we heard the sorrow of farewell. And through Teresa Rebull, we discover that even after exile, loss and decades of separation, love and memory can continue to flourish.
Some people leave their homeland, but their homeland never leaves them. And sometimes, when words are no longer enough, they begin to sing.
More information: Banyuls
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