Photo by Alexandre Perotto on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: “De los apellidos de los catalanes”. Maia Güell and Sevi Rodríguez-Mora. Nada es gratis. 22nd Sept 2015 The existence of an ethnic dimension to the Catalan conflict is often discussed, generally using the phonetics of surnames as a indicator of ethnicity. Given the bitter political climate, it seems useful […]
Categoría: In English
Suffocating public spaces
Photo by Sara Riaño on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: «Asfixiar los espacios públicos». El País. 9th June 2018 Radical independentism assumes for itself the right to use the streets, without any authorization or limitations Last Thursday, radical pro-independence militants close to CUP and the Committees for the Defense of the Republic picketed and disrupted a tribute to […]
My colonist father
Foto: Cathal Mac an Bheatha | Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: “Mi padre colonizador”. Antonio López Fernández. El País 11th June 2018 I read the opinions of the Catalan regional minister for culture with astonishment. She states that Spanish is a language of imposition in Catalonia, a consequence of Francoism that used immigration to colonize Catalonia with the Spanish language. […]
To Defend and Protect
Photo by Alessia Cocconi on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: «Guardar y hacer guardar». Rafael Latorre. El Mundo. 3rd June 2018 Maybe Ramón González Férriz is right when he says that Catalonia is not as secularized as we thought. There are huge differences if we compare the passionate inauguration of President Torra’s government with the sober inauguration of […]
Friends of Catalan Le Pen
Photo: Shawn Appel | Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: «Las amistades del Le Pen catalán». Juan Francisco Fuentes. El País. 6th June 2018 I believe the story has never been recounted in writing, although its unwilling protagonist, socialist politician Luis Araquistáin, told it in private a few times, more amused than offended. Araquistáin was ambassador in Berlin during […]
A different plan is needed for this challenge
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish. ‘Se necesita otro plan para este desafío’ Ignacio Varela. El Confidencial. 14th May 2018 Two weeks ago, we all concurred was the most desirable advance was for Catalonia to have an effective government as soon as possible, even assuming it would be one led by a secessionist to the liking […]
What kind of leadership for Catalonia?
Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: «¿Qué liderazgo para Cataluña?». Juan Claudio De Ramón. El País. 1st of June 2018 Sociology literature distinguishes between transactional and transformational leadership. Transactional leaders manage an organizational routine that that they don’t question: Their goal is that nobody break the existing rules; when that happens, and a rule […]
A missed opportunity
Photo by Ian Espinosa on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish. ‘Una ocasión perdida’ Javier Cercas. El País. 3rd June 2018 The most worrisome aspect of Joaquim Torra’s election as President of the Catalan regional government isn’t for the main representative of all Catalans to be a racist and a xenophobe, or even for him to have been voted in […]
Defeat
Photo by Matteo Catanese on Unsplash Originally published in Spanish. ‘Derrota’ Fernando Savater. El País. 2nd June 2018 Every anti-separatist (not ‘unionist’, as it’s not about uniting what’s separate but about keeping what’s united from separating) is in debt with Quim Torra: he is the ideal adversary, because he expresses his ideology so obscenely that even those who partake […]
Amphibians
Photo: Himesh Kumar Behera | Unsplash Originally published in Spanish: «Anfibios». Rafa Latorre. El Mundo. 29th May 2018 With the implosion of the legislature, newspapers had to skim over the glory of one of the most durable, interesting and perhaps fateful phenomena in Spanish politics. Within one week PNV showcased the amphibious nature -copyright by Jordi Amat- of […]