Originally published in Spanish. Manuel Alejandro Hidalgo Pérez and Jorge Díaz Lanchas. Agenda Pública. The disdain towards other collectives seems to be a common strategy while pursuing some other political goal, even if those other collectives are fellow citizens. Apparently, Spain has not been spared from this attitude. The secessionist movement, legitimate or not –we […]
Categoría: In English
Catalonia, offence and despair
Published originally in Spanish. José Andrés Rojo. El País Taking the demands of independence outside to the streets has loaded the debate with emotion rather than clear arguments When you don’t know what’s happening it’s hard to communicate, everything gets complicated, anxiety rises, suspicions grow. It happened a few days ago in the Catalan Parliament. […]
Language as a weapon
Published originally in Spanish. Carlota de Benito Moreno. «Se me va de la lengua» You may not speak Catalan. But perhaps you’ve visited Catalonia and felt like people there talked to you in Catalan just to bother you, knowing full well that you neither speak nor understand Catalan. You may be Spanish yet have a mother […]
Independent and broke
Published originally in Spanish. Luis Garicano, Francisco de la Torre. El Mundo Catalonia lacks a tax authority of its own capable of collecting great taxes. It has neither taxpayers’ data nor a legal code. There’s a direct link between the flight of major Catalan companies and Carles Puigdemont’s ‘suspended/reversible’ declaration of independence. It’s true, as […]
It is Catalan, ok?
Published originally in Spanish. Manuel Jabois. El País On Wednesday afternoon, Andrea, 39, asked for sparkling water in an emblematic bar in the Malasaña neighbourhood of Madrid. The waiter warned her: “It is Catalan, eh?”. Andrea did not care. “I’m telling you”, replied the old man, “so you can’t complain later”. He showed her the […]
Being Spanish is breathing
Originally published in Spanish. José Antonio Montano. The Objective. A nation is not a metaphysics — it’s a result of history. It depends on the moment. And as of 1978, being Spanish is breathing, because it’s nothing else, it entails no particular content nor any specific way of behaving. Today, being Spanish is not a […]
The cruel reality
Originally published in English. Sandra Leon. El Pais It is possible that from now on the economy becomes the moderating factor in the ‘procés’ The answers to the actions initiated by the Government of Catalonia during the last few weeks can be summarized, following an old theory, in the types: Loyalty, Voice and Exit. Whereas […]
The sound and the fury – a Catalonia of patrons of the arts
Published originally in Spanish. Manuel Jabois. El País The social force of the pro-independence movement is that of Òmnium and ANC, two associations protecting the roadmap of the independence process. In Catalonia, Joan Baptista Cendrós was such an important man that he became a smell. Strong and mentholated. His was the fragrance of Floïd, an […]
Flags of our Fathers
Published originally in Spanish. Manuel Arias Maldonado. The Objetive The October 8th was a day of flags and is understandable that it had caused some unrest to anyone with historical awareness: collective disasters where no flag was raised are rare. But there are reasons to ask if the flags we saw last Sunday in Barcelona […]
Lose to win
Published originally in Spanish. Juan Claudio de Ramón. El País Nationalism needs to lose so that it can vindicate. That’s why today it blocks the alternative narrative, too. It was Jon Juaristi, in El bucle melancólico (The melancholic loop), who synthesized in the most effective way the strategy of nationalism: lose to win. To recreate […]