More Catalan footprints in Australia: the Paronellas

Josep Paronella and his wife Margarita - I imagine the first photo was taken for their wedding, in 1925! - were not a classic Catalan couple. He'd been working - and saving money - in Australia for 12 years, as explained here, when he returned to Catalonia to court a Catalan girl...

Click on "Més informació" to see the rest of the post.

What they built in the following ten years is, today, the top tourist attraction in Queensland, Australia, according to this website! Paronella Park and Castle are in Mena Creek, nor far south of Innisfail.

Peronella Park, having been rebuilt several times after floods, cyclones and fires, is now run by Mark and Judy Evans, the current owners. The Park website includes a history of the Park and Castle.

And, full marks: the website includes a PDF in Catalan on the Park!  

There is a detailed history of the whole project here.

This is yet another Catalan footprint in Australia!

Dena Leighton wrote a biography of Jose Paronella, The Spanish Dreamer.


See more on Catalans at: the Queensland Migration Heritage website, where there is an essay by Cristina Poyatos Matas (2001).


p.s. Thanks to Barbara Mathiesen (Townsville, Queensland) for telling me about the Park and the origin of its founders!