Jota, the song that travels up and down the Ebro river

Legend says that 1000 years ago, when most of the Iberian Peninsula was under muslim arabic rule, there was a singer and poet in the city of Valencia, by these days "Balansiya", called Ibn Jot. He used to sing very fresh and popular songs. He became so famous among the people of Valencia that the other singers and artist became jealous of him so they decided to claim to the religious authorities that the letter of what he was singing was among Islam and the Koran.

Ibn Jot was expelled from Balansiya and decided to go further north. While travelling northwards he kept singing his melodic songs in all the souks and medinas he visited. Lately he arrived to the Ebro river bassin, to the city currently know as Tortosa, by that days "Turtuxa", also under islamic rule.

We cannot know if his songs were revolutionary or not as his detractors argued, what we certainly know is that his musical style, the "Jota" (From his name Ibn Jot) is now very popular in...what a surprise! all the Ebro valley, from Tortosa up to Cantabria through Aragon, south Navarre, Rioja and Burgos province.

Maybe Ibn Jot fell in love with the Ebro River and the landscape created by this river with its merchant ships carrying goods from distant lands and fishermen catching all kind of fish in its blue water.

What is true is that know, in 2009, the only place in Catalonia where Jota is still sung and danced is in Terres de l'Ebre, the area south of Catalonia around the city of Tortosa. These pictures, taken last weekend in the small town on Paüls, give proof of it.