Catalan National Anthem
Els Segadors (the reapers) was declared the national anthem of Catalonia in 1993 by the Catalan Parliament.
It is based upon an anonymous ballad written in the second half of 1640, and refers to the Revolt of the Reapers in a Catalonia occupied by the troops of Philip IV in which the peasants played a key role. The anthem is a fierce call to defend the freedom of the land, calling upon the peasants to cut down the Spanish oppressors with their scythes, ‘swing the sickle’, ‘ sharpen the tools’…..
tornarà a ser rica i plena.
Endarrera aquesta gent
tan ufana i tan superba.Refrain
Bon cop de falç!
Ara és hora, segadors.
Que tremoli l’enemic,
shall again be rich and bountiful.
Drive away these people,
Who are so conceited and so contemptful.Refrain
Strike with your sickle!
Now is the time, reapers.
May the enemy tremble,