Members of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (CEC) will ascend Montgat hill on November 26, 150 years after five young people did so for the first time. It will be the central activity with which the entity will commemorate a century and a half of a historic recreational outing that marked the beginning of hiking in Catalonia. Those were years of the Renaixença and the construction of Catalanism. On that distant day in Montgat, and already on their way back to Barcelona, those five young people decided to found the Associació Catalanista d'Excursions Científiques, the embryo of the current CEC, which currently has more than 4,500 members.
Those pioneers little thought that, today, their hiking association would be one of the most important in Europe. They decided to found it once they had descended from the hill, while observing the sea sitting on the beach and imbued with the enthusiasm that the excursion had left in them. This is recorded in the first minutes of the entity, which was inspired by other alpine societies already existing in France, Great Britain, Germany, and Switzerland.
The objective of the association was, first of all, the practice of alpinism, then still a minority sport in our country. But soon, and following the model of geographical societies, the entity quickly acquired a scientific character as well, and members dedicated themselves to collecting information on the geological richness of Catalonia, which would eventually contribute to the economic and industrial progress of the country. Manuals were published and maps were drawn up. In 1878, two years after its founding, a group of members split off and formed the Associació d'Excursions Catalana. In 1890, they reunified into the current CEC.
The exploratory activities of the CEC played a very relevant role in the construction of Catalan identity at the end of the 19th century. In addition to the sporting and scientific vocation, a cultural one was added, and, especially, the promotion and protection of Catalan. In its premises, at the current number 10 of Paradís street, the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) was founded in 1907. A year earlier, the First International Congress of the Catalan Language was held.
The CEC was installed in a place in the city of great archaeological importance, as in its interior patio one can admire the remains of the temple of Augustus, which presided over the forum of Roman Barcelona and today attracts thousands of visitors. These are four of the columns that supported it. Three of them, those that form a corner, have been standing for two millennia. The fourth was assembled with various pieces found among the remains of demolitions and renovations of homes that over the centuries gradually engulfed the temple. This reconstructed column was for many years in the Plaça del Rei, until it was decided to move it next to its sisters.
The remains of the temple of Augustus are one of Barcelona's great archaeological treasures that the CEC guards in its central patio, which did not exist when the entity was installed. It did so on the third floor of the building, where the capitals of the Corinthian columns emerged. Over the years, the floors that prevented the view of the ensemble were deconstructed, which can be admired today from almost all the windows of the building. This stands in the heart of what was Barcino, the highest point of what is known as Mount Tàber, a small promontory that the Romans chose to found the city, as it allowed for an infrastructure that naturally facilitated water evacuation. An old mill wheel in front of the CEC entrance marks this highest point and a plaque on the outer wall informs that it is 16.9 meters above sea level.
The moment of greatest boom for the CEC was cut short with the beginning of the Civil War. Until then, it had collaborated closely with the Mancomunitat and the Republican Generalitat. During the conflict, it provided shelters and mountain equipment to the alpine military unit. It managed to survive Francoism and resume activity in a very unfavorable political context due to the entity's Catalanist background. This did not prevent Catalan classes from being taught under the pretext of learning about the toponymy of geography.
Throughout this century and a half, the CEC has accumulated an important heritage. Perhaps the most relevant is its photographic archive, almost 800,000 snapshots that can be consulted online. Its bulletin is also an indispensable source for historians and other scholars. In 1983, the CEC was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi. Two years earlier, it had received the Premi d'Honor Jaume I, and in 1999, the Unesco medal. Now, the members are focused on commemorating its 150 years, as they did before on its fiftieth and centenary, when they erected a monolith on top of Montgat hill, the CEC's ground zero, to which they will return next November 26.
Meanwhile, if one has the opportunity, it is worth visiting the building on top of Mount Tàber and admiring the columns of the old temple of Augustus. It is a great experience.