La Mar
Park Guell
Looking out from Park Guell I arrived in Barcelona not being able to read any of the signs. Some of the words were strangely anglicized while others left me baffled as to how to even attempt to pronounce them. I had stepped into another country located within the borders of Spain. Though Spanish (which, technically speaking, is called Castellano) is mandatory as the official language of the country, Catalán is the first language of Barcelona without a question. Spain’s four main regions have developed distinct dialects ever since the establishment of separate kingdoms within "Spainish" borders after the inquisition. Yet no other region has struggled more with its identity than the northeast region of Spain. Catalunya itself was declared an autonomous community after the new Spanish constitution was written post-Franco in 1975 with Barcelona as the capital. Here you can also find the largest population of immigrants in all of Spain—a controversial issue no matter what region you’re from.
One of the staff at the hostel, Miguel, a native to Barcelona and a speaker of both Castellano and Catalán, explained his personal perspective of the dual identity. As one of the richest areas of the country, in both resources and tourism, the majority of the people in Catalunya feel that they should be entitled to more independence. Paying taxes to finance other areas of the country that look down on them for “butchering the perfectly good language of Castellano” is not their idea of an autonomous region or of a government working toward bettering Catalunya. If Catalunya were ever to secede from Spain and form its own autonomous body, Miguel explained to us that he would most definitely raise his children as Catalonians. Catalán is so much more than just a language: it’s an entirely different culture so distinct from the entirety of Spain and so misrepresented and disrespected from the rest of the country that it’s hard not to see why they would want their independence. It’s for this reason, more than anything, that Spain refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo. For them, it’s a mockery of the integrity of the state. How can a region within the state secede without the consensus of the government? And though they are culturally and ethnically different, can the people of a small region like Kosovo or Catalunya really maintain itself?
I don’t know what the answer is but something has to be changed with Catalunya. The politics in Spain refuse to do anything concrete about their desire for independence. They fight the terrorism that stems from this problem but not the source. Presidential elections are March 9th and while the focus has most certainly been on the economy, there are masses of people holding signed petitions in the street of Barcelona, hoping for something other than what they have: an identity. One thing’s for certain: Spanish politics are stubborn enough to let this issue boil until it explodes and I can’t see anything changing in the near future.
One of the staff at the hostel, Miguel, a native to Barcelona and a speaker of both Castellano and Catalán, explained his personal perspective of the dual identity. As one of the richest areas of the country, in both resources and tourism, the majority of the people in Catalunya feel that they should be entitled to more independence. Paying taxes to finance other areas of the country that look down on them for “butchering the perfectly good language of Castellano” is not their idea of an autonomous region or of a government working toward bettering Catalunya. If Catalunya were ever to secede from Spain and form its own autonomous body, Miguel explained to us that he would most definitely raise his children as Catalonians. Catalán is so much more than just a language: it’s an entirely different culture so distinct from the entirety of Spain and so misrepresented and disrespected from the rest of the country that it’s hard not to see why they would want their independence. It’s for this reason, more than anything, that Spain refuses to recognize the independence of Kosovo. For them, it’s a mockery of the integrity of the state. How can a region within the state secede without the consensus of the government? And though they are culturally and ethnically different, can the people of a small region like Kosovo or Catalunya really maintain itself?
I don’t know what the answer is but something has to be changed with Catalunya. The politics in Spain refuse to do anything concrete about their desire for independence. They fight the terrorism that stems from this problem but not the source. Presidential elections are March 9th and while the focus has most certainly been on the economy, there are masses of people holding signed petitions in the street of Barcelona, hoping for something other than what they have: an identity. One thing’s for certain: Spanish politics are stubborn enough to let this issue boil until it explodes and I can’t see anything changing in the near future.
2 comments:
Wow,
Thank you for NOT coming into this with an anti-Catalan perspective. I find that so many of the blogs by people from outside of Catalunya spend a great deal of time expressing what is wrong with Catalans and why their independence minded sentiment is blind nationalism.
It makes sense that any people that have their own language and culture should want the right to express that identity, be they Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Occitan, etc... and maybe even be able to have their own nation; A place in this world of nations to celebrate that uniqueness with confidence and dignity without fear of being hated for it.
Thanks again,
Alex
Thanks Alex. It really is tough to imagine that even the most liberal-minded people here in Madrid have such an anti-Catalan sentiment (though that might be why the PP will win the capital come election time). It can never be "blind nationalism" when so many people are disenfrachised in their own country.
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