L'ÀPAT

8 9 Q uien haya tenido ocasión de viajar en los últimos quince años por la línea férrea de Lleida a Zaragoza, habrá podido observar a la salida de aquella población, dejada ya su exu- berante huerta, la transformación lenta y paula- tina de unos extensos terrenos, antes estériles y desiertos, con un castillo que se erigía solitario en medio de ellos, casi demolido por los años y la falta de cuidados, convirtiéndose al correr del tiempo en una explotación agrícola modelo, que en sus 32 kiló- metros cuadrados de superficie encierra tal variedad de cultivos, tanto cereales como viñedos y principal- mente forestales, que es conceptuada hoy en día, una de las primeras fincas experimentales de Europa. Hace cuatro lustros (a finales de 1900) las tierras de Raymat las conocían únicamente algunos cazadores cuya afición se veía favorecida por la gran llanura esteparia y los pastores de la co- marca que debían estar de paso con sus rebaños en busca de país más hospitalario que tuviese para su ganado los pastos que allí le faltaban. Los guardas habitantes del castillo sólo cuidaban de sembrar una poca tierra cuando les beneficiaba la lluvia, que era muy raramente en aquel terreno sin un árbol en todo el horizonte. Tal perspectiva ofrecía entonces la vida de Raymat y nadie se aventuraba a solas por sus laberínticas sierras y llanos uniformes. Mi padre, Manuel Raventós, repobló el monte de Raymat en 1914 Mi querido e inolvidable padre, D. Manuel Raventós Domènech, director que fue de la Escuela Superior de Agricultura de la Mancomunidad de Cataluña, adquirió la finca y emprendió, en los años de la guerra europea, con ingenieros a sus órdenes, la noble tarea de repoblar el monte de Raymat y las tierras que lo circundaban. Es trabajo poco menos que imposible enumerar las contrariedades y disgustos ocasionados por tan laudable propósito, no sólo moralmente, sino por los factores de todo punto imprevistos que anulaban cuantos esfuerzos se dedicaban a la transformación de aquellos eriales. El estado pésimo en que, en aquella época, se encontraban las carreteras, y la falta de carbón producida por dicha guerra, que obligaba a los trenes a 8 y 10 horas de retraso, fueron un gran obstáculo para mi padre, quien además de los proyectos a desarrollar en la finca recién adquirida, debía atender la gestión de la casa Codorníu de San Sadurní de Noya. Poco tiempo después dejó ésta al cuidado de mi hermano Manuel (Raventós Fatjó) para dedicarse de pleno a la transformación de Raymat. La evolución de un desierto a una colonia agrícola: la sal, conejos y orugas Comenzó mi padre por trazar acequias; máquinas excavadoras arrastradas por 32 mulos, abrieron las zanjas y se hicie- ron más de 100 km de ellas de metro y medio de profundidad con sus correspondientes terraplenes, acueductos y si- fones. Se plantaron 75 hectáreas de chopos, que murieron la mayor parte, debido a la sal, la funesta plaga de las tierras del Canal de Aragón y Cataluña que destruía las raíces. Se plantó de nuevo al año siguiente y en mayor extensión, bien preparada la tierra, desfondada por un malacate que labraba de 5.000 a 8.000 m 2 en una jornada larga. Casi se puede As any farming land would have, in addition to the stables for farmwork, there are also selected cows of the best Dutch and Swiss breeds and their offspring, more than 2,000 sheep and lambs grazing in the cool tree groves, goats, poultry, etc., and the straw from the harvested grain is used to produce manure for fertilising the crops. The construction of the colony The business entailed many other works: the old castle was rebuilt along with the guards' accommodation; 100 houses were built for the workers; a school for the workers' children, a church, a 3-storey co-operative building to supply the farm, 5 detached cottages for the foremen, the private residence of Luis Raventós Fatjó, reservoirs to store water dur- ing the winter, aqueducts to carrywater to the different parts of the estate, 150 kilometres of roads with bridges to car- ry them, 12 large warehouses to store the cereals and fodder grown at Raymat, 4 sheep pens, 5 stables for the horses, an set-up of 4 hydraulic presses with a capacity of 4,500 kilos of grapes each, considered to be the best in Europe, an im- mense cellar capable of holding 30,000 hectolitres, for making and ageing the wines harvested, refrigerating machines for cooling the wines, an alcohol distillery, as well as 12 kilometres of electricity and 18 kilometres of telephone lines. To make this work possible, draught animals were acquired: horses, mules, oxen and also tractors, as well as all kinds of agricultural machinery to meet the needs of the specialised varieties in each aspect of the farm; Extremadura for the livestock, Girona for forestry, the Penedès for wine-making, staff who, in their early days of living at Raymat suffered from the relentless malarial fevers during the summer, with a continuous average of 20 to 30 victims each season. Engineers were employed to lay out roads; mechanics to assemble, operate and repair agricultural machinery and accountants and assistants to keep the organisation up to standard. Building contractors with their large brigades of bricklayers and labourers took care of the construction of the buildings, never leaving the estate since then, and from year to year they made new buildings, which nowadays form a village. And this is the transformation that anyone who remembers the Raymat place from 15 years ago and sees it today will notice. A barren place with a railway station known as a “punishment station” where travellers were surprised that the trains stopped because they were unable to deduce who might use it when they saw the surrounding vast plains completely deserted. Nowadays, about a thousand wagons leave the station every year with alfalfa, wheat, straw, wine, wood, cattle, etc. And glassware and cooperage arrive there in large quantities to ship and preserve the wines, agri- cultural implements and machinery, foodstuffs for the supply of the farm, and building materials which until now had never been interrupted, etc. And as for the village, which formerly consisted of the ramshackle castle with three guards, one of them with his fam- ily, and the hunters' house, it has been improved by the constructions described above, with two grocery shops, an inn-café, hairdresser, carpenter, blacksmith, mechanic, electrician... being established in the colony, and now enjoys the advantages of electric lighting and power; it has seen its means of communication increased by a good network of roads and paths and by the telephone service, which has a switchboard with seven private telephones; it also has a fronton and a football pitch for playing sports. Despite the many initial difficulties there may have been in carrying out such a large project, they were all overcome thanks to the intelligence and tenacity of our unforgettable father, who has found in his children firm supporters of his altruistic and benevolent management, achieving with the continuous improvements that can be seen on the estate that it is justly considered, despite its extraordinary size, as the best cared-for farm in Spain. PROTAGONISTS Raimat, una de las primeras fincas experimentales de Europa PROTAGONISTAS por Jesús Raventós Fatjó escrito en 1932  Manuel Raventós and his wife Montserrat Fatjó in Raimat | Manuel Raventós y su mujer Mont- serrat Fatjó en Raimat Stone of the ancient village of Raimat | Piedra del antiguo pue- blo de Raimat   Manuel Raventós Domenech