My favorite things Barcelona and Catalan
1. Cellist: Pao Casals; see my comments under Puerto Rico.
2. Artist: Joan Miró, who remains underrated. Oddly many people do not see him as better than the guy who puts the squiggles on their design bags. Almost everything he did — across media — was phenomenal in terms of composition and textures. I am fond of Antoni Tapies, although his work does not reproduce well on-line. Aristide Maillol, who was French Catalan, did paintings and sketches. Dali is now so vilified by some intelligent people that he can rightly be considered underrated.
3. Novelist: Albert Sanchez Piñol's Cold Skin is a favorite of mine. Quim Monzó is a fun writer, as is Carlos Ruis Zafón.
4. Architect: I have mixed feelings about Gaudi; it feels to me like he is trying too hard. How about LluÃs Domènech i Montaner? Try this one too.
5. Composer: Isaac Albeniz, especially as played by Alicia de Larrocha. There is also Federico Mompou. I grew up playing the guitar music of Fernando Sor, though it is less fun to listen to.
6. Economist: Xavier Sala-i-Martin; his home page is full of interesting links.
7. Bandleader: Xavier Cugat. Wong Kar-Wai likes him but mostly he is forgotten. Here is a good video and you can hear his unusual Spanish accent as well.
8. Medieval theologian and memory expert: Ramon Llull. I am a big fan of Llull, a cosmopolitan polymath and early advocate of animal welfare. I wrote a part of my next book about him, although I ended up cutting it out of the final draft because it didn't quite fit.
9. Movie, set in: I've never seen Barcelona (is it good?), so I have to go with Vicky Cristina Barcelona. There's probably a better movie set in Barcelona, but offhand I don't know it.
10. Chess opening. Duh.
They have a bunch of opera singers too.
The bottom line: This is an impressive showing, yet what ties it all together remains elusive in my mind. Perhaps that is what makes the region so interesting.