The volume, edited with the support of Fundació Aigües de Manresa-Junta de la Sèquia, has as authors Josep Alert, Mercè Codina and Josep Huguet
Under the generic title Manresa: where water is the path, Cossetània Edicions has published in the Azimut collection a new tourist guide on the capital of Bages. The volume, whose edition has the support of the Fundació Aigües de Manresa-Junta de la Sèquia, offers a proposal of ten urban routes from two vertebrating axes that give identity to the territory: on the one hand, the farming and irrigation tradition; On the other, the footprint of St. Ignasi de Loyola’s stay, which is a strategic city bet.
From these two conductive threads, the guide – produced with the intervention of the company CatEmocions, SL, specialized in tourist content – proposes the discovery of a landscape not only physical and natural, but also human and cultural, to Through a wide range of information on historical events, characters, anecdotes, customs, curiosities, etc.
The ten itineraries of the guide run along parallel paths to the water obstacles of Manresa -rises, rivers, ditches and channels derived in natural, rural, irrigated and urban areas- on the pretext of following the footprint that peasantry Irrigation has left on the landscape of the capital of Bages, until the outbreak of industrialization. The book follows, at the same time, the places visited in the 16th century by the founder of the Company of Jesus, or who retain their trace.
The work, therefore, shows a city that grows and forms around the water and allows you to travel through places that are unusual not only for most visitors but also for the majority of the people of the city. At the same time, it offers a curious story of seven hundred years of history the bages capital, grafted with the general history of Catalonia.
Manresa: where the water is the way has been prepared by a team formed by Josep Alert, Mercè Codina and Josep Huguet.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Josep Alert i Puig (Igualada, 1966). He has a degree in history, has been teaching and journalism and has worked as a community facilitator and a culture technician. On behalf of the City Council of Manresa, in 2013 he coordinated the Year Amat-Piniella. He is the author of La Barcelona Jewish and La Sèquia de Manresa (with Pol Huguet), edited by Cossetània. Currently working in the field of cultural management and cultural tourism.
Mercè Codina i Gessé (Solsona, 1992). Geographer, technology in geographic information technologies. He has collaborated in the development of TIG tools for the management of the Collserola Natural Park. Amateur for hiking, he has guided groups of children and young people from a listening group for seven years in the Solsonès region and in different places of Central Catalonia.
Josep Huguet i Biosca (Manresa, 1951). Industrial engineer and graduate in contemporary history. He is the author of several didactic works of the social sciences and essays on political issues, as well as a regular contributor to the newspapers El Punt Today and Region 7. Coordinator and promoter of various cultural and nature tourism guides, and the Barcelona Cosmopolis collection, edited by Cossetània and the Barcelona City Council.
The program of the European Heritage Days will take place from October 6 to 19 and is part of the acts of the Capital of the Catalan Culture Manresa 2018. This year includes the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the oldest river factory in Catalonia: the Panyos
As every year at this time, monuments and heritage facilities throughout Europe open doors to celebrate the European Heritage Days, a holiday that has already become a cultural event of the highest order in the annual calendar. In Catalonia, on October 12, 13 and 14, hundreds of monuments will open doors for free and activities will be carried out for all audiences.
Manresa joins the celebration with various activities that will be held from October 6 to 19, 2018, and will serve to bring the city’s heritage closer together and spread the awareness of preserving it among the citizens. This year marks the commemoration of the 200 years of construction of the Panyos factory, which will culminate in the year 2020, when it will be two centuries after the factory began to work. The importance of this event for the city and the country has made it join the acts of the Capital of the Catalan Culture Manresa 2018.
Today, the presentation of the acts has been presented, with the presence of the Councilor for Culture and Youth of the City Council of Manresa, Anna Crespo; the vice president of the Fundación Aigües de Manresa -Junta de la Sèquia, Josep Alabern; the president of the Center of Studies of the Bages, Francesc Comas, and representatives of all the entities that collaborate in the days: Parc de la Sèquia, City Council of Manresa – ManresaCCC 2018, AMCTAIC, Colegio de Arquitectos-Demarcación de the Central Counties, College of Industrial Engineers-Demarcation Central Catalonia, Center of Studies of the Bages, Museum of Science and the Technique of Catalonia, AADIPA, Foundation Tourism and Fairs of Manresa
200 years of the first stone of the Panyos
Manresa counts among its industrial heritage with the oldest river factory in Catalonia that still retains its original characteristics. It is about Can Miralda, popularly known as the Panyos Factory, which was built between 1818 and 1820. It is an emblematic building, representative of the era of the first industrialization in Catalonia and which has a recognized international prestige.
Due to its patrimonial value, the Miralda Factory was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 2009 and also deserved to be included in the National Plan of Industrial Heritage as one of the four industrial buildings of greatest interest in Catalonia.
It is a space rooted in the memory of the Humans who have tried to conserve over the years. Rehabilitation of the roof has been done but, in spite of everything, it is still a place to recover. That is why since October and for two years, 2018 to 2020 will be scheduled activities around the factory, to commemorate the 200 years of its construction to return the value and splendor that he deserves
Within the framework of the JEP, an exhibition of photographs, a playful day with stories, music and visits to the factory and a technical Conference, entitled “200 years of the Panyos, symbol of the Industrial Revolution”, has been organized at Museum of the Technique of Manresa, with the participation of architects and historians to explain and understand the importance of the factory in the Catalan industrial revolution.
At the press conference today, Councilmember Anna Crespo said that “the Panyos is a monument that needs a lot of support. The City Council made a cover to stabilize it, but it would be necessary to have a more comprehensive intervention, which can not be understood in the short term from the municipality. ” Even so, within the framework of the Conference, “we want to celebrate and make ourselves aware that we have this and other great heritage elements, which must be preserved and can return to life, and bring it closer to everyone.”
Josep Alabern, vice president of the Fundació Aigües de Manresa – Junta de la Sèquia, and also president of the Association of the Science and Technology Museum and Industrial Archeology of Catalonia, pointed out that within the framework of the cultural capital of Manresa, It is important to highlight the importance of Locks. Since the construction began in 1818 and finished in 1820, the celebration of the 200 years will also be extended until 2020. According to him, “we can consider Locks as the beginning of industrialization in Catalonia. That sounds very strong, but nobody can say no. It’s worth doing this celebration that we have planned “. Alabern pointed out that at the initiative of the Aigües de Manresa Foundation many collaborating entities were added (“at the first meeting we were sixteen people”) and especially highlighted the day with specialists about the Panyos, who will analyze the its meaning for Manresa.
Since Friday morning, more than 2,000 people have visited the 3rd playmobil exhibition in Manresa, at the Technical Museum.
Visitors have been able to see from a recreation of a pirate war to a city full of actions of everyday life, a Napoleonic battle, a reproduction of the American West, a fairy tale or a spectacular nineteenth-century city (Victorian). In total, 12 Playmobiles dioramas made by the Click & Clack association and by amateurs who have also participated in this event.
Both Click & Clack and Kanko events value the fact that visitors have known a tourist area of the city, many of which are unknown. The Playmobils Fair has also been visited by people from all over Catalonia, Zaragoza and Madrid.
This exhibition has been possible thanks to the collaboration of Parc de la Sèquia, Bureau Vallée, Accessoris Manresa, Baxi Manresa, Printdossier, Solans Música, Llobet Supermarket and L’Arpellot and Manresa Capital de la Cultura Catalana 2018.
Visitors will be able to see from a recreation of a pirate war to a city full of actions of everyday life, a Napoleonic battle, a reproduction of the American West, a fairy tale or a spectacular nineteenth-century city. In addition, in an amateur way, Althaia and other people have contributed with their diorama.
From Friday 21 to Sunday 23 September 2018, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Manresa Technical Museum (Santpedor, 55) will present 12 Playmobiles dioramas made by the Click & Clack and for amateurs who have also participated in this event.
All visitors to this 3rd. Playmobils’ exhibition will be able to participate in the Click Amagat game, which consists in finding inside the diorames some figures of Playmobiles that do not correspond but have infiltrated them.
This exhibition is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Parc de la Sèquia, Bureau Vallée, Accessoris Manresa, Baxi Manresa, Printdossier, Solans Música, Supermercats Llobet and L’Arpellot and Manresa Capital de la Cultura Catalana 2018.
The Click & Clack association is a friendly organization of Playmobil that has the will to transmit to the public the advantages of this symbolic game that allows to develop the creativity, ingenuity and development of children accompanied by their families. Likewise, the Parc de la Sèquia and the Technical Museum will allow us to access some of the most emblematic buildings in the city of Manresa due to its role and at the same time offer visitors guided visits to the permanent exhibitions of the cinteria and the water. Kanko is an event organizer that aims to bring the public closer to an activity full of pedagogy.
Do you know the elements that condition the water bill?
Water is a free raw material, so what do we pay with the invoice? The public service that is done. This consists on capturing water, the treatment plants, distributing it by maintaining the pressure and quality twenty-four hours a day, and evacuating it through the sewage system to be treated on treatment plants and, finally, to return it to the natural environment for its preservation and reuse.
This collection, treatment, distribution and purification cycle requires human, technical, material and financial means that are included in the final price of the receipt of water.
These treatments, considered in economic terms as fixed costs, are very high and represent between 60 and 80% of the price of the invoice.
What and who marks the price of water?
The price of water varies between countries, regions and municipalities and can range from a few cents to more than seven euros, as in the case of Denmark. These differences are based mainly on the conditions of exploitation of water, for example, water quality conditions the complexity of the treatment, or geographic conditions determine the complexity of the distribution networks and the energy cost of pumping.
In addition, the price is subject to two levels of approval, the place that falls on the town councils, and a second level that corresponds to the Generalitat through the organ of the Commission of Prices of Catalonia.
In the water world, there are several forms of billing, as well as a great diversity of rates in the different municipalities and territories.
How is our invoice calculated?
As for the municipalities in which Aigües de Manresa works, the concept of water service is generally invoiced a variable part, which is based on the actual consumption carried out, and a fixed quota, independent of consumption.
The price of the variable part is usually expressed by sections of consumption (blocks), at a reduced price in a first tranche, and will increase progressively in the following four sections. In these same terms, the concept called Water Canon also appears, which is applied on behalf of the Catalan Water Agency. This concept has a minimum of 18 m3 and four sections of consumption with very progressive prices.
It is also common to include the fixed concept of conservation and sewerage, which is a percentage and based on the concept of water.
The invoice shows all the costs that make up the water cycle, from capture to purification. And to all these concepts, Iva’s taxation must be added.
How can we adjust our invoice?
The sections of consumption, both of the water service and of the canon, are extended if there is more than three people living in the house, so it is essential that the statement of the inhabitants be made, if this happens, it could be a significantly lowering on the total cost of the invoice.
In the municipalities managed by Aigües de Manresa, there is also a customized social tariff that applies to subscribers with low resources, which represents a significant reduction. In the case of Manresa, this reduction is 66% of the domestic rate.
When talking about the price of water if it is expensive or cheap, it will always depend on the perception of each one of us, but studies that analyze the effort that costs them citizens to pay the water bill with respect to their Relative rent, they tell us that Spain is the second country in less effort, just surpassed by Italy, quite the opposite of what happens with other services such as gas or electricity.
Joan Flotats, economic and financial director of Aigües de Manresa
