The local football team still emulate the St Mirren kit
Credit: CD Borgonya
Whilst it is generally known that the Scots have influenced the world, it is something of a surprise to discover St Andrew’s flag flying in a Spanish town.
Although it’s not the only municipality to honour its Scottish links (as Teba has its own Douglas Days Celebration), the village of Borgonya in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees goes a step further.
Paisley moves to the Pyrenees
In 1893, J P Coats which was based in Paisley, Scotland decided to create a new factory in this quaint little village to weave the Paisley cloth that it had become famous for.
Interestingly, although Paisley cloth is forever linked with the town in Scotland, the design was first seen in Persia and cloth was imported in large volume from India in the 17th and 18th century until savvy manufacturers in Paisley decided to make their own.
Turning back to Borgonya, employees from Coats travelled to the village to train the locals and their influence saw the building of terraced houses with back gardens as seen in Scotland as well as creation of new streets with such names as Carrer Paisley, Coats and Escòcia.
A view of Borgonya, note the former factory and terraced houses
Credit: Josep Maria Viñolas Esteva CC
Links with St Mirren Football Club
The factory continued to grow and expand and lasted more than 100 years before finally closing in 1999 but the Scottish influence still remains today, none more obvious than the local football club, CD Borgonya whose team plays in the same black and white stripes as Paisley based St Mirren and even has a saltire (blue flag with white cross) on the shirt.
When the local football stadium was damaged in a storm not so long ago, a St Mirren fan on holiday in the area set up a crowdfunding page and raised £1,600 to help with the restoration efforts.
Although still a small village with a population of less than 400, Borgonya is proud of its Scottish links and its parent municipality Sant Vicenç de Torello hopes that one day it will be able to create a museum covering the 100 years of Scottish influence.
In the meantime, it’s a nice place to visit with great views and places to eat and drink.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica.
Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene.
Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development.
Share your story with us by emailing [email protected], by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment for robots
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Almeria, Axarquia, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
