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 […]
Categoría: Voices From Spain
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 […]
Essere spagnolo è respirare
Originale: “Ser español es respirar”. José Antonio Montano. The Objective La nazione non è una metafisica, ma un risultato storico. Dipende dal momento. E dal 1978 essere spagnolo è respirare, perché non è niente, non implica contenuti o un determinato modo di comportarsi. Essere spagnolo oggi non è un essere, ma un avere: avere una […]
Le coup d’État postmoderne
Publié à l’origine en espagnol. Daniel Gascón. Letras Libres. Dans le numéro de septembre de Letras Libres, Miguel Aguilar explique un des malentendus liés à la question catalane. D’un côté, il y a la question du financement et l’integration de la Catalogne dans l’ensemble de l’Espagne. De l’autre, il y a l’aventure manifestement illégale enterprise par le gouvernement […]
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 […]
‘Reality bites’
Originale: “Reality Bites”. Manuel Arias Maldonado. El Mundo. Nessun piano resiste il contatto col nemico: la frase del innovatore maresciallo prussiano Helmuth Von Moltke si adatta perfettamente alla situazione in Catalogna negli ultimi giorni. Senza escludere, certamente, che quando sará pubblicata questa nota le cose siano nuovamente cambiate. ¡Angoscia di giornalista! Non sembra. Tutto sembra […]
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 […]
Don’t exaggerate, your Majesty
Published originally in Spanish. Manuel Cruz. El Confidencial A common view in Catalan public opinion is to classify as excessive any initiative coming from Madrid that questions the Govern decisions at any level “Do not exaggerate, your Honor” was the sentence, already famous, with which agents from Mossos d´Esquadra replied to the head of the […]