George from Barcelona

Why I Support Independence of Catalonia

2011-08-29T18:56:00.002+02:00

First published in Help Catalonia on 24/8/2011

Born and brought up in London, England, of a Swedish mother and a Catalan father born in Paris, France, I think it might be fair to say that I am a citizen of Europe. I have imbibed of several different cultures, with an education at British, French and Spanish schools. I speak five languages, with a smattering of a further two or three. I am thus what might be termed multicultural, with influences from many different points of view, though admittedly “Western”. This world-view, with a clear liberal, democratic bent, means I give cultures that tend to restrict others' freedoms, political or otherwise, very short shrift.

One such culture is Spain's. It has a long history of nationalism whose prime characteristic is a constant obstinacy in imposing its unitary national identity, understood as cultural and political uniformity. Worst of all is that this unitary nationalism does not originally spring from modern nation building, but from an atavistic Castilian trait of a closed, self-sufficient, typically feudal society which survived well into the 19th Century. One has but to read the Spanish literary classics to realise this. Notice, by way of example, that in the Spanish Wikipedia's entry for Literature of Spain there is but one single Catalan language author. Catalan authors are set apart as a footnote.

This Spain that has for centuries been unable to consolidate as a nation beyond the regions of Castilian culture (i.e. Spain not including Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia), even “by whichever means necessary”, be these outright war, attempted cultural and linguistic obliteration, or economic and fiscal seizure, is still today attempting to secure its uniform identity. Thus, the modern Spanish political mainstream, whether Socialist or PP, (never mind the old Francoists) has always been politically conservative and culturally unitary, opposing today's politically liberal and culturally diverse, multifarious milieu.

Opposing this conservatism has been Catalan politics' historical endeavour to change the political culture and structure of Spain. Catalonia, with its distinct singularity, has long been at the forefront of social, cultural and economic advancement, not only in Spain, but also in Europe. It is the most open society in Spain, with 13.5% of its population coming from abroad. Catalonia has long welcomed migrations: between the 16th and the 18th centuries, many French migrated here, escaping from religious strife and civil disturbances, and as of the late 1950s, while southern Europe, including Spain, was 'exporting' labour to the north, Catalonia was a net 'importer', like the UK or Germany.

But any proposals for a more liberal, federal Spain emerging from Catalonia have lasted but moments in the history of an absolutely illiberal, uniform state. Federalism has been the last stand of those who still hope for a more open Spain, one that should be ready to accept its cultural and political diversity. But there is little hope for federalism, which is, in my opinion and that of many Catalans, what should have been legislated after the Franco dictatorship, but which was not for fear of the centuries-old demands of unitary uniformity by Spanish reactionary conservatives and the military.

The latest Catalan initiative attempting to lay the foundations of a federalising state, the 2006 Statute for Catalonia, was approved by 90% of its parliament's members and was approved in referendum by the citizens with a clear majority in favour. It is obvious that most Catalan citizens are unhappy with Spain as it stands. In a recent poll, a majority of Catalans would vote for independence.

But still today the Spanish government procrastinates with the application and, most importantly, the budget assignations the last Statute requires. It is clear that Spain is unwilling to make any changes, to recognise its own diversity, cultural or political. If the Spanish powers-that-be are not yet ready to accept change, after more than thirty years of democracy and three hundred years of imposition, there isn't much point in carrying on any further with their ground rules.

Independentists like myself move, therefore, that solution for both Spain and the citizens of Catalonia is Catalan independence.

Catalonia: in search of an exit

2011-04-03T16:07:00.006+02:00

I found Julian Glover's article, Prosperous Catalans may beat rebellious Basques to the exit, in The Guardian on Friday fairly equitable. At least he had made an attempt at speaking to as broadly representative a choice of interviewees as possible.

There was, however, a tinge of distasteful subterfuge: He says that “the Catalan parliament – tellingly – faces the city zoo.” Would it be fair, nay, would it be acceptable, to say that the London Business School or the Central Mosque lie – tellingly – opposite Regent's Park, home to London Zoo?

He also likens the Catalan Parliament to a London gentleman's club because of its red velvet carpets and uniformed retainers. Perhaps much alike the carpeting and the attending staff and doorkeepers at the Parliament in Westminster? Mr. Glover says it “feels no place for a revolution”. But then, does Westminster? Besides, is anyone actually advocating revolution? Besides one or two hotheads, all those who favour independence for Catalonia propose differing strategies for absolutely democratic and properly legitimate process, and that includes those Mr. Glover finds most radical, like Antoni Strubell or Josep Huget.

Besides these objectionable points, there are many other significant issues to be taken up. However, I will take a look at infrastructure, for the time being: Mr. Glover mentions an abundance of “fast roads, new railways and oversized airports”.

First off, the oversized airports. Well, I would say that after several decades of squeezing more that 30m passengers per year into an airport designed to take half that amount, it was about time the capacity of Barcelona airport were enlarged. The new terminal, which started operations in June 2009, has allowed the airport to grow to 55m passengers per year.

As to those “fast roads”, is Catalonia really “awash” with motorways? Well, perhaps they are fast in the eyes of those used to the M25, even though we also have serious traffic problems with our own orbital roads. And if we look at the decades they take to plan, tender and build, I would say they are anything but fast! Besides, most of our truly “fast roads” are toll roads, often with no feasible toll-free alternatives.

One symptomatic example Catalans have particular issue with is the building of a motorway northbound from Barcelona to France to substitute the N-II highway for which the only alternative is a toll road. This has been a stop and go affair for the last 20 years, long before the current economic crisis and consequent budget shortfall. The works have been suspended again and again, and last month the Spanish Minister of Public Works announced there would be no tender for further work in the foreseeable future. The last inauguration was in 2007 (rushed to come before Spanish General Elections) for a 5-mile stretch near Girona. Nothing further has been done since.

As to the new railways we apparently seem to be drowning under, the only new lines built in Catalonia in the past 30 years are for the AVE high-speed trains. The idea behind planning for these arose in the late 1980s and was for a high-speed standard gauge connection northward with Europe (Spanish gauge is broader and rolling stock from other networks cannot travel on the Spanish network, and vice versa). However, the priority was totally twisted! The first line was opened in 1992 between Madrid, the capital of Spain, and Seville in the south. The AVE lines did not reach Catalonia (Lleida) until 2003 and only reached Barcelona in 2008.

There is still no connection with Europe, which was the whole point of standard gauge. Mr. Glover was no doubt confused by the new trains he probably saw when in Figueres, as the high-speed line there only goes north to France. The trains he saw there were in fact French TGVs, and not the Spanish AVEs! After well over 30 years, Catalonia is yet to be connected to standard-gauge Europe!

One can imagine how Catalans feel about Spain, when the Spanish state obviously does not hold Catalonia and its citizens' interests among its priorities, whether for infrastructure or for a host of other issues such as culture (Catalan, that is), the Catalan language, or the acceptance of Catalonia's role in history (the Castillian bias is unavoidably patent). Spain refuses to accept Catalonia as a nation within a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-national state. As I pointed out in my How Much is Enough?, “the Spanish political mainstream ... has always been ... politically conservative and culturally unitary, opposing today's politically liberal and culturally diverse, multifarious milieu, whether local or global.”

Should it therefore be such a surprise if Catalonia is in search of an exit from Spain in order to manage herself and decide how and where to go from now on?

A History of Spanish anti-Catalan Opinions

2010-11-05T12:51:00.013+01:00

There is a long history of leading representatives of Spanish political opinion that have constantly dished out anti-Catalan sentiment. Is it such a surprise that many Catalans feel very hard done by? And this is how Catalonia is meant to integrate quietly?

1625 – Conde Duque de Olivares, PM to King Philip IV: “Now we have assimilated you and you won't have to spend your money on fighting us, it seems reasonable you pay us in taxes.”

(“Ahora que os hemos asimilado y no tendréis de gastaros dinero en lucha contra nosotros, parece razonable que nos paguéis con impuestos.”)
1725 – José Patiño, governor in charge of administration after the invasion of Catalonia by Spanish and French troops: “... the obstinacy and barbarity of this criminal people (Catalonia) is quite notorious...”

(“… es bien notoria la obstinación y barbaridad de este pueblo criminal…”)
1906 – Revista “Ejercito y Armada” (“Army & Navy” magazine): “Catalonia must be made Castilian ... Think Spanish, speak Spanish and behave as a Spaniard, be it willingly or by force.”

(“Hay que castellanizar a Cataluña … Hay que pensar en español, hablar en español y conducirse como español, y esto de grado o por fuerza.”)
1907 – La revista militar (The Military Review): “The Catalan problem will thus not be solved with freedom, but with restriction; not by palliatives and pacts, but by iron and fire.”

(“El problema catalán no se resuelve, pues, por la libertad, sino con la restricción; no con paliativos y pactos, sino por el hierro y por el fuego.”)
1927 – La revista militar (The Military Review): “Think Spanish, speak Spanish and behave as a Spaniard, be it willingly or by force.”

(“Hay que pensar en español, hablar en español y conducirse como español, y esto de grado o por fuerza.”)
1927 – Writer Juan Llarch: Imposing the use of Spanish in Catalonia is doing them a paternal favour, like making a short-sighted, rebellious child wear glasses”

(“Obligar a usar el castellano en Cataluña es hacerles un favor paternal, como lo es obligar a un niño corto de vista y revoltoso, a ponerse unas gafas.”)
1934 – Spanish PM Manuel Azaña: “someone I know assures me that, as a rule of the history of Spain, Barcelona should be shelled once every fifty years”

(“una persona de mi conocimiento asegura que es una ley de la historia de España, la necesidad de bombardear Barcelona cada cinquenta años.”)
1938 – Spanish army general Queipo de Llano: “We will transform Madrid into a garden, Bilbao into a large factory and Barcelona into one huge plot of land”

(“Transformaremos Madrid en un vergel, Bilbao en una gran fábrica y Barcelona en un inmenso solar.”)
1939 – Military Governor Aymat: “Catalan dogs! You are not worthy of the sun that shines on you!”

(“¡Perros catalanes! ¡No sois dignos del sol que os alumbra!”)
1968 – La Vanguardia editor Luis de Galinsonga imposed by the Franco dictatorship authorities: “All Catalans are shit.”

(“Todos los catalanes son una mierda.”)
1968 – Spanish minister for Information and Tourism under the Franco dictatorship, Manuel Fraga Iribarne: “Catalonia was occupied by Philip IV, it was occupied by Philip V, who vanquished it, it was shelled by General Espartero, who was a revolutionary general, and we occupied it in 1939 and we are ready to bear our rifles again. So, you know what to expect, and here is my musket ready to be used again”

(“Cataluña fué ocupada por Felipe IV, fué ocupada por Felipe V, que la venció, fué bombardeada por el general Espartero, que era un general revolucionario, y la ocupamos en 1939 y estamos dispuestos a coger de nuevo el fusil. Por consiguiente, ya saben ustedes a que atenerse, y aquí tengo el mosquete para volverlo a utilizar.”)
1977 – Lawyer Jorge Carreras Llansana: “There is nothing other than Spaniards who live and work in Catalonia. A Spaniard who comes here, comes to a Spanish region and cannot ever be considered an immigrant.”

(“En Cataluña no hay más que españoles que viven y trabajan. Un español que viene aquí, viene a una región española y jamás puede ser considerado como inmigrante.”)
1981 – Real Madrid president Santiago Bernabéu: “I like Catalonia, despite the Catalans”

(“Me gusta Cataluña a pesar de los catalanes.”)
1984 – Spanish PM Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo: “Emigration of Spanish-speaking people to Catalonia and Valencia is to be encouraged, so as to ensure the implicit feeling of Spanish sentiment is maintained.”

(“Hay que fomentar la emigración de gentes de habla castellana a Cataluña y Valencia para así asegurar el mantenimiento del sentimiento español que comporta.”)
1984 – Spanish lawyer and politician José Prat: “Catalans are only important when they write in Spanish”

(“Los catalanes sólo son importantes cuando escriben en castellano”.
1984 – Spanish PM Felipe González: “Terrorism in the Basque Country is an issue of law and order, but the real threat is the distinctiveness of the Catalans.”

(“El terrorismo en el País Vasco es una cuestión de orden público, pero el verdadero peligro es el hecho diferencial catalán.”)
1986 – Spanish lawyer and politician José Rodríguez de la Borbolla: “Andalusians are intelligent enough not to trust the Catalans.”

(“Los andaluces son bastante inteligentes para no confiar en los catalanes.”)
1992 – Spanish politician Alejo Vidal Quadras: “Only an infirm mind can conceive of the segregation of Catalonia”

(“Només una ment malaltissa pot concebre la segregació de Catalunya.”)
1993 – Jerez mayor Pedro Pacheco: “Basques and Catalans are vultures ready to pick on the carrion.”

(“Vascos y catalanes son buitres prestos a recoger la carroña.”)
1994 – Spanish politician Mercedes de la Merced: “I am worried about the Guardia Civil (Spanish Gendarmes) coming under Jordi Pujol, today the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), and tomorrow under any lunatic that might preside.”

(“Me preocupa que la Guardia Civil pueda llegar a depender de Jordi Pujol, hoy Presidente de la Generalitat, y mañana de cualquier loco que la pueda presidir.”)
2001 – Spanish politician Txiki Benegas: “For me, being a nationalist and being cultured and intelligent is incompatible.”

(“Para mi, ser nacionalista y ser culto e inteligente, es incompatible.”)
2001 – King of Spain, Juan Carlos I: “... nobody has ever been forced to speak Spanish; it was the several peoples who, of their own free will, made Cervantes' language theirs.”

(“… a nadie se le obligó nunca a hablar en castellano; fueron los pueblos más diversos quienes hicieron suyo por voluntad libérrima, el idioma de Cervantes.”)
2005 – Spanish politician J. C. Rodríguez Ibarra: “Don't you feel any shame? Can you be such cretins? (…) Not enough money for health? Well, you shouldn't have spent it on having an autonomous police force, on three television channels. Everyone spends on what they want, but then don't come wailing, my friends. (…) I don't know of any budget assignation that says: transfer from one region to this one. And if it does exist, please exclude me. They can stick their money where the sun doesn't shine.”
(“No les da vergüenza? ¿Se puede ser tan cretino? (…) ¿Falta dinero para la sanidad? Pues no se lo hubieran gastado ustedes en tener una policía autonómica, no se lo hubieran gastado ustedes en tener tres televisiones. Cada uno se lo gasta en lo que quiere, pero después no vengan ustedes llorando, amigos. (…) No conozco ninguna partida presupuestaria que diga: transferencia de renta de esta región a ésta. Y si existiera, que por favor me borren. Que se metan los cuartos donde les quepan”.)
2006 – Spanish radio host César Vidal: “A Valencian who considers himself Catalan is like a Jew who admires Hitler.”

(“Un valenciano que se considere catalán es como un judio que admirara a Hitler.”)
2006 – Spanish politician Alfonso Guerra: “We have scrubbed down the [Catalan] Statute”

(“Nos hemos cepillado el Estatut.”)
2008 – The mayor of the village of Agón in the neighbouring autonomous community of Aragon: “Let the Catalans die of thirst, the youth are sick of Catalan oppression”, “The village is likely to take justice in its own hands and destroy the transfer pipes and other facilities if they don't get proper compensation for the bother the Generalitat (Catalan government) has caused them”

(“¡Que los catalanes se mueran de sed, los jóvenes estan hartos de la opresión catalana”, ”Es muy probable que el pueblo se tome la justicia por su mano y destruyan las tuberías del trasvase y otras instalaciones, si no reciben justa recompensa por las molestias que la Generalitat ha causado.”)
2009 – Spanish lawyer and politician Alicia Sánchez-Camacho: “We cannot allow Catalan to become the vehicular language in [Catalan] schools”

(“No podem permetre que el català sigui la llengua vehicular a les escoles.”)

From historian Joaquim Ullan's Cathalonia blog.

You might also like to have a look at my Catalan Independence and Political Activism: A very brief history.

Spain: Fascism's last refuge in Europe

2010-02-08T10:04:00.011+01:00

Toni Strubell, the Coordinator of the Dignity Commission, has sent the following letter to the international media condemning Spain's refusal to eradicate the remains still present in many villages and towns of the dictatorship of General Franco, Europe's last fascist government and ally of Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy. He also decries Spain's obstacles to inquests into crimes committed during the dictatorship and it's opposition to any kind of official inquiry or truth commission.

Dear Sir,

I would very much like to call your attention to worrying events coming from today's Spain. Last February 4th, Spanish newspapers reported that a National Audience judge, Baltasar Garzón, is to be put on trial and possibly suspended. What was his crime? Having dared to try and open up an investigation into the mass graves and other crimes perpetrated by the Franco regime (in Valencia alone, mass graves holding over 26,300 post-war Franco victims have recently been discovered). That very day the newspapers also informed that the huge fascist monument honouring the cruiser Baleares in Palma bay (the pride of Franco's fleet sunk by the Republicans after having shelled thousands of fleeing refugees on the coastal roads of Andalusia) is not to be demolished. It is to be conserved. What must Spanish democrats and relatives of the victims make of this? Can anyone imagine the same occurring with a monument dedicated to a Fascist-manned warship in any other part of the democratic world? Furthermore, on February 5th newspapers informed that the Basque Parliament, where Spanish Constitutional parties at present hold a majority (due to the illegalization of the Basque left party) voted against instating a Truth Commission (such as the one established by Nelson Mandela in South Africa in the early nineties) to discover the truth about the crimes of Franco. What in heaven's name is happening in Spain? I think it is high time democrats all over the world be informed about the huge democratic deficit that exists today in Spain. Europe largely ridded itself of Fascism in 1945. The one place it lives on is in Spain, where 56 streets in Madrid still bear the names of Franco generals. The sooner the whole world knows the truth about Spain, the sooner we can start to put an end to so much iniquity and disgrace.

Toni Strubell i Trueta
Coordinator of the Dignity Commission

The former head of State, General Franco (left), with his successor to be, the then Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, at his side at a Fascist rally in Madrid in September 1975

Spanish Government Forbids International Flights to Barcelona

2009-06-10T10:57:00.006+02:00

Barcelona-El Prat airport cannot operate flights to and from 23 countries because several international bilateral agreements signed by the Spanish government forbid them. These agreements, which establish priority for Madrid's Barajas airport, include one European country, six in Latin America, eleven in Africa and one in Oceania. This information has been garnered by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in a report analysing 80 bilateral treaties currently in force in Spain. Although 42 of these include Barcelona and 15 are open to include the airport if an airline shows interest, the report reveals that 23 treaties explicitly exclude Barcelona, of which 20 name Madrid-Barajas as the operational airport, and 13 of these consider the latter airport exclusively for operation of flights to and from the corresponding countries.

But this legal situation is not the only, and not even the main drawback to the growth of Barcelona airport. The heritage of Iberia as the Spanish flag-carrier and exclusive monopoly for regular flights for 40 years still weighs heavily, particularly with AENA, the State monopoly operator of Spanish airports, aerodromes and heliports, which depends on the Spanish government's Ministry of Public Works and Transport and manages not only the administration of civilian air transit, assignation of slots and navigation control, but also commercial operations, including all airport premises, offices, car parks, shops, bars and restaurants, etc.

The Spanish government says it is considering renegotiating the older treaties to remove the legal obstacles for certain Spanish airports "although this is not an easy process", according to the Ministry's sub-director of Air Transport. This makes clear that these obstacles exist, and even the sub-director admits that if an airport is not included in the government's bilateral treaties, it cannot open routes with the countries in question. It is not hard to come to the conclusion that the Spanish governments have had and have a distinct tendency to favour Madrid over Barcelona, whether directly and explicitly (via government treaties) or indirectly (via AENA).

From the article “El Prat té vetada la possibilitat de vols amb 23 països” (3/24: Catalan public television news service)

Thousands Demonstrate in Brussels for Independence

2009-03-10T03:36:00.000+01:00

15 reasons why Catalonia can no longer form part of Spain

2009-02-22T22:26:00.003+01:00

Because Spain prevents the Catalans from deciding our political future.
Because official Spain is allergic to the Catalan language and culture.
Because the 10% of Catalonia’s GDP that is creamed off by Spain devastates our economy.
Because repressive sentences passed by Franco are still in force.
Because Catalonia is prevented from participating in international sport.
Because Spain systematically ignores U.N. calls against impunity for the Franco regime
Because the mass graves of Franco’s victims are still uninvestigated.
Because Spanish courts systematically overrule Catalan laws.
Because many Spanish streets are still named after Nazis and Fascists.
Because Catalans are a constant target of prejudice and abuse.
Because Spain never apologized for executing our President in 1940.
Because Catalonia wants to contribute to the future of Europe.
Because Catalonia wants to share its language with all Europeans.
Because Catalonia needs a constituency for its own MEPs.
Because Catalonia wants France and Spain as amiable neighbours on friendly terms.

No European can fail to understand this

The Economist :: One last, brief point

2008-11-22T09:45:00.010+01:00

It has been said here in Catalonia that Michael Reid, the editor of the recent special report on Spain in the Economist, was not received by several Catalan political leaders due to agenda incompatibilities. Not speaking to an Economist journalist preparing an in depth report is perceived here as a grave mistake, given the newspaper's profound influence on the opinion of high level decision makers in international business and politics.

However, shouldn't Mr. Reid and his report also be criticised on this point (along with several others, as in my "How much is enough?") for having failed to obtain crucial information and contrasting opinion to include in the report for a more precise picture of Spain in general and Catalonia in particular, as ought to be required by The Economist to maintain its usual consistently high standards?

How much is enough?

2008-11-10T07:30:00.013+01:00

It is revealing to read the comments on the article titled “How much is enough?” in this week's Economist special on Spain. It shows just how polarised the discussions on Spain's devolution to its “autonomous communities” can be. Attacks on nationalism can be really quite fierce, as nationalism (always “regional”, of course) is seen as a threat to the Spanish nation's unity and cohesion.

This confrontation between perceived local nationalist parochialism and what is wishfully understood to be Spanish broad-minded liberalism, as seems implied in the Economist's article, lies paradoxically in Catalan nationalism's historical endeavour to change the political structure of Spain, and Spanish nationalism's constant obstinacy in imposing it's unitary national identity (i.e. uniformity), while subduing that of Catalonia. It is obvious, thence, that the Spanish political mainstream, whether Socialist or PP, (never mind the old Francoists) has always been, in this sense, politically conservative and culturally unitary, opposing today's politically liberal and culturally diverse, multifarious milieu, whether local or global.

Herein lies the difficulty of Spain for the past 300 years. This Spain that has for centuries been unable to consolidate as a nation beyond the regions of Castilian culture (i.e. Spain not including Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia), even “by whichever means necessary”, be these outright war, attempted cultural and linguistic obliteration, or economic and fiscal seizure, is still today attempting to secure its uniform identity. The article mentions that “Catalan and Basque nationalism are creations of the late 19th century”. This is true, not only of Catalonia but also Spain, France, America, etc., if one accepts “nationalism” as described by orthodox modernists, such as Marxist philosopher Eric Hobsbawm or functionalists such as Ernest Gellner. But if one is to consider current trends of study, nationalism is not only a “modern” (i.e. 18th & 19th century) phenomenon, but it also has pre-modern origins, as described by Anthony D. Smith's thesis of ethnosymbolism. This is made clear by the history of Catalonia and its struggle for self-rule and its political activism, the history of which goes back a long way (see my Catalan Independence and Political Activism: A very brief history).

A closed, parochial society?

The parochial nationalism that is unable to adapt to post-modern society, with its radical reappraisal of modern assumptions about culture, identity, history, or language, is not in fact Catalan nationalism, but that of Spain. Catalonia, with its distinct singularity, has long been at the forefront of social, cultural and economic advancement, not only in Spain, but also in Europe. It is the most open society in Spain, with 13.5% of its population coming from abroad. Catalonia has long welcomed migrations: between the 16th and the 18th centuries, many French migrated there, escaping from religious strife and civil disturbances. During the last quarter of the 19th century and the whole of the 20th, Catalonia had a net influx of migrants. As of the late 1950s, while southern Europe, including Spain, was 'exporting' labour to the north, Catalonia was a net 'importer', like the UK or Germany. Between 1950 and 1975, the population of Catalonia grew by 75%, from 3.2 million to 5.6 million. In the first years of the 21st century, the foreign-born population has grown from 181,596 (2.9% of the total) in 2000 to 939,321 (13.1%) in 2006.

This obvious attraction felt by many hundreds of thousands of migrants does not say much for this image that some hope to sell of a closed, parochial society. Indeed, some months ago, Spanish (non-Catalan) tourist business leaders tried to put over the idea that having our own language somehow hurt our tourist industry. However, the Spanish 'region' that receives most tourists is in fact Catalonia, with 15 million visitors, 25% of the total received by Spain (2006, the last year for which official figures are available), followed by the Catalan-speaking Balearics, with 10.2 million foreign tourists. In other words, two regions with protectionist Catalan-language policies are the most successful in drawing foreign visitors.

Devolution or Federalism? Independence!

The Economist's article describes the estado de las autonomías as a successful process of devolution, and that there have been more and more transfers of powers over the last 30 years. But here lies another paradox: these transfers are no more, and are in fact less, than those that were stipulated by the 1979 Statute for Catalonia. The 2006 Statute was passed because it was clear that the process supposedly governed by the previous one had come to a standstill. Worse still is the fact that the date by which the financial arrangement for the new Statute was to come into force has come and gone, with the Spanish government still stalling on the issue.

Furthermore, devolution is, as described by Wikipedia...

“... the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. It differs from federalism in that the powers devolved may be temporary and ultimately reside in central government, thus the state remains, de jure, unitary.

Any devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed by central government in the same way an ordinary statute can be. Federal systems, or federacies, differ in that state or provincial government is guaranteed in the constitution. Australia, Canada and the United States have federal systems, and have constitutions (as do some of their constituent states or provinces).”

The latter is, in my opinion and that of many Catalans, what should have been legislated after the Franco regime, but which was not for fear of the centuries-old demands of unitary uniformity by Spanish reactionary conservatives and the military. This was, after all, what had essentially led to Franco's military uprising and the Spanish civil war: the Catalans had been given an inch and had tried to take a mile. The democratic government of the nineteen-thirties had in many ways devolved more than today in the democratic give-and-take.

And there lies the question: How much is enough? Well, enough is what the citizens decide they want, isn't it? That is the whole point of democratic rule. The Catalan parliament voted for the new Statute by 90% of its members, and it was approved in referendum by the citizens with a clear majority in favour. But still the Spanish government procrastinates with its application.

If the Spanish powers-that-be are not yet ready to accept this, after thirty years of democracy and three hundred years of imposition, there isn't much point in carrying on with their ground rules. Independentists move, therefore, that Spain's solution, for both the Spanish and the Catalans, is Catalan independence.

Catalan and the European Union

2008-01-31T12:00:00.002+01:00

The European Union is made up of 27 member states, with an aggregate of 23 official and working languages. Catalan is not one of them, although its speakers are granted certain linguistic rights: they may use Catalan in written communication with the Council of the European Union, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee, the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman, as well as in the Committee of the Regions.

Catalan is spoken in three member states: Spain – in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencia, Aragon (in La Franja, a strip neighbouring Catalonia) and in Murcia (in the town of el Carxe); France – in the Pyrénées-Orientales department (known as North Catalonia); Italy – in the town of l'Alguer (Alghero). It is also the official language of Andorra, a small non-EU country in the Pyrenees.

However, although spoken by some 9.1 million European citizens the language is not officially recognised by the EU. Does this mean that there are different linguistic rights accorded to different citizens of the EU, depending on their mother tongue? It cannot be argued that this is an issue of economic rationale, that this is a so-called minority language: Catalan is spoken by more European citizens than either Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Slovak or Slovene, and about as many as Bulgarian or Swedish. All of these are recognised official and working languages in the EU, but not Catalan.

This is not democratic: Catalans are not a minority, we are a discriminated, colonised people.

Join the Facebook Cause to Defend Europarl.cat, stop europarl.cat from being closed down and get the official Euro-Parliament website translated into Catala.

Björk Declares Independence

2008-01-18T08:30:00.001+01:00

On the 2^nd of this month, indie webzine Pitchfork published an interview with singer, musician and actress Björk. Björk is Icelandic and still keeps her country in mind, even though she is an international megastar with a manifest, unquestionable multicultural and multidisciplinary style. She is the daughter of a union leader and a politically active mother. You could hardly identify anyone further from the image of provincial nationalism or right-wing jingoism. She does not, however, renounce her roots.

The interview focuses on her album Volta and particularly on her latest single Declare Independence, whose video ends with Björk bearing the flags of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands. Pitchfork asks Björk about this…

It's Greenland's flag and the Faroe Islands' flag. Iceland became independent from Denmark 60 years ago. We were a colony for 600 years, and we were treated really badly, as all colonies are. And Greenland and the Faroe Islands are still part of Denmark. The song was partly written to those countries. In Iceland's newspapers, there's always some talk about the Faroe Islands and Greenland wanting independence, and Greenland seemed close, but then they found a lot of oil, and Denmark doesn't want to let that go. If you were to go into a local bar and ask about Greenland and the Faroe Islands, people get very feisty. People are very supportive of Greenland and the Faroe Islands getting independence. I think that Greenland and the Faroe Islands have looked a lot to Iceland as an inspiration, the way we set up our bank systems, the way we became more and more independent.

And I thought it was hysterical to say to your friend who is having a lot of problems with his girlfriend, to just say 'Declare independence and raise your own flag.' Maybe it's just my silly sense of humor. But it's definitely written to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

For the full interview, click here.

Spain's Past: A rude awakening

2008-01-07T11:51:00.000+01:00

An open letter to the Editor of The Economist on their article on the Spanish Historical Memory Law

Dear Sir,

Re. your article on the Spanish Historical Memory Law, I certainly hope Franco is turning in his grave. I am absolutely sure that many others are also turning in their unidentified roadside graves, along with those who were summarily tried and executed by military tribunals. The latter are still recorded as being criminals, and their descendants have suffered all sorts of discrimination through the years. In fact, this is one of the candent issues not dealt with by the Historical Memory Law: that these victims are not cleansed of the implications that having been found guilty by a military court brings. The Law may be to the satisfaction of Spain's prime minister, but it only qualifies the hearings as “illegitimate”, and nothing further. It does not explicitly annul the trials, leaving the victims’ descendants to bear the costs and burden of going through the administrative bureaucracy of having each hearing made void in order to clear their forbearers’ names. This is still worse for those whose sentences were not execution, and who have lived through a life of discrimination, including not being able to claim war pensions because they fought on the “wrong” side. Likewise, the widows of those who have since died, along with those of the executed, have never been able to claim war widows’ pensions and many have suffered consequent impoverishment. You mention that El Pais implies that the victims never lost their dignity. Is there any dignity in a life of discrimination and being forced into destitution?

Where in Italy or Germany, the authorities would not even dream of maintaining statues and other monuments to Mussolini and Hitler, throughout Spain one finds statues, memorial plaques, street names, etc. commemorating Jose Antonio, the founder of Spain’s equivalent of the Nazi party, many right-wing generals who supported Franco’s rebellion against the democratic government, as well as others paying tribute to Franco himself. These are not “few”, as you say in the article: just look up calle or avenida Jose Antonio or Francisco Franco in Google Maps. And that’s just street names. Can you imagine just one “Hitler Ave.” or a “Dr. Mengele St.” in Germany, or a “Mussolini Sq.” in Italy?

As to the repeal of the Francoist laws you mention, about time say hundreds of thousands of Spanish citizens. The fact these laws still exist after over thirty years of democracy, and that the governments that have come and gone have not found it convenient to repeal them because of the so-called “pact of forgetting", just goes to show the lack of understanding that some parties have of the deep, long-lasting pain suffered by the victims of the Spanish Civil war, brought about by an army uprising aligned with the fascist Axis powers the Allies fought later, and the dictatorial regime following that.

To paraphrase the Armenian guide you quote in your article on Turkish and US policy, “Our objective is not to attack this or that political party. It is to ensure recognition of the victims of the first total war of the 20th century, that of the Axis upon the people of democratic Spain.”

Catalan Independence and Political Activism: A very brief history

2007-12-29T14:50:00.003+01:00

Since the end of the War of the Spanish Succession and the defeat of Catalonia by Spain in 1714 after the siege of Barcelona, symbolised annually by the Catalan National "Diada" or Remembrance Day on 11th of September, the Catalan people have constantly been reclaiming their citizens’ rights to freedom and their Constitutions. This struggle has been hidden away by a carefully planned strategy to wipe away the facts and reality of the Catalan polity, its culture and language.

Firstly, the Nueva Planta decrees suppressed the institutions of the lands that were formerly part of the Crown of Aragon (Aragon, Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands), including the dissolution of the Generalitat (Catalan government):

"Having ceased with the entry of the arms of the King, Our Lord, to this City and place, the representation of the Council and Generalitat of Catalonia, the most Excellent Lord Marshall Duke of Berwick and Liria has ordered me to mandate that the councillors and judges of accounts (auditors) of the Generalitat of Catalonia furl all ensigns, cease totally, along with their subordinates, the exercise of their offices, occupations and posts, and surrender the keys, books and all other things concerning the house of the Council and its dependencies...." Decree of dissolution, dictated by José Patiño, President of the Spanish “Real Junta Superior de Justicia y Gobierno” (Royal Superior Committee of Justice and Government) on 16th September, 1714.

Having, with divine assistance and the justice of my cause, pacified entirely by my Arms the Principality of Catalonia, my sovereignty established shall govern therein…” Nueva Planta decree, 16th January, 1716.

The hearings of the Royal Audience (Court of appeals) shall be held in the Castilian (Spanish) language.” Article 45 of the Nueva Planta decree, 16th January, 1716.

The government of Philip V sent his Corregidores (Spanish royal civil servants locally representing the Crown) secret instructions that same year and again in 1727, indicating among other things that “You shall take special care to introduce the Castilian (Spanish) language, to which end you shall make the most tempered and disguised provisions, so as not to reveal our concern”.

The suppression of Catalan identity, went on and on. King Charles III signed a Real Cédula (Royal Warrant) whereby:

“I mandate that the education of the first readings, Latinity and Rhetoric be made generally in the Castilian (Spanish) language, wherever practised, and that the corresponding Courts and Justices take care to enforce its compliance, recommending also by My Council that the Bishoprics, Universities and the Regular superiors keep exact observation and diligence in extending the general language of the [Spanish] Nation for greater harmony and mutual bond.” Article VII of the Royal Warrant signed at Aranjuez on 23rd June, 1768

Yet another Warrant bans Catalan from mercantile records:

“.. that all Merchants and Traders, whether wholesale or retail, Domestic or foreign, shall observe the Law of the Kingdom therein and which provides for Records in the Castilian (Spanish) language.” Royal Warrant signed by Charles III of Spain on 24th December, 1768

This has continued to the present day, with further peaks of repression under the absolutist monarchy and the civil wars during the 1800s, the dictatorship of General Primo de Rivera in the 1920s, and Franco’s regime from 1939 onwards.

Notwithstanding, the Catalan nation, defending her rights, culture, heritage and language, and thus Catalonia’s identity, has resisted without abate:

1734 – “Via fora els adormits” (Get out with thee, ye drowsy), a pamphlet against the Bourbon monarchy, is published.
1736 – A letter is published, addressed to George II and titled “Reminder of the Alliance, made to His Serene Highness, George Augustus, King of Great Britain” appealing for his commitment to recover the freedoms lost when the British crown turned its back on the Catalans after the War of the Spanish Succession.
1760 – The representatives of the Catalan-speaking countries (Catalonia, Valencia and Majorca) submit at the Court of Charles III the first “Memorial de Greuges” (Record of Grievances) in which they denounce the perverse economical, institutional and cultural effects of the regime imposed by the Nueva Planta decrees.
1789 – Revolt in Barcelona against the Quintas, whereby one of every five able-bodied men is conscripted without compensation into the Spanish army to fight wars from which Catalan society is disassociated, and often deployed against the civilian population itself.
1789 – The “Bread Disturbances” break out in Barcelona, Vic, Mataró and elsewhere, brought on by the Spanish government’s economic mismanagement which had led to a famine, particularly due to the increase in the price of wheat, and also meat, wine and oil.
1835 – Further disturbances, the pro-liberal “Bullangues” break out spontaneously against the absolutist monarchy, the church, which supports the monarchy, and the Royal Statute of Prime Minister Martínez de la Rosa.
1842 – Another revolt leads to General Espartero’s bombardment of Barcelona and a successive repression by General Van Halen of the working population, banning al forms of association.
1843 – The “Jamànsia” revolt breaks out in reaction to generalised famine and poverty. General Prim follows Espartero’s example and bombards Barcelona again.
1855 – Workers’ leader Josep Barceló is executed and a general strike is called.
1873 – Republican leader Baldomer Lostau proclaims a Catalan State from March 5th to 7th. The proclamation is called off after the Spanish Prime Minister’s (unkept) promise to withdraw the army from Catalonia.
1888 – A message is presented to the Queen Regent appealing for attention to the Catalan issue.
1892 – The Catalanist Union holds an assembly in Manresa to approve the “Bases for a Catalan Regional Constitution”, a project for autonomy for Catalonia.
1900 – Anti-government riots upon the visit to Catalonia by Eduardo Dato, then minister of "Gobernación" (Home Office in the UK or Justice Dept. in the US).
1919 – The Mancomunitat or “Commonwealth” of Catalonia, which builds up infrastructures in the absence of initiative by successive Spanish governments, approves a project for a Statute for autonomy. This is rejected outright by the Spanish government.
1926 – Francesc Macià organises a foiled plot to invade Spain from Prats de Molló to rid Catalonia of Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship.
1932 – A Statute of Autonomy is finally approved under the Spanish Republic, but this democratic government is defeated after only seven years by a military uprising led by General Franco, who installs himself as Generalissimo at the head of a fascist dictatorship for over 40 years.

Catalan state on Facebook

2007-12-19T11:30:00.000+01:00

Are you a Facebook user? Well, now you can add to your causes. How about advocating for the Catalan-speaking countries' own state?

Facebook's “Catalan Secessionist Cause for an Own State” is the sister of the Estat Propi (Own State) site where those who want to support the cause for independence of Catalonia can show how many of us there are worldwide, and where we are.

The Own State campaign has been created in the Catalan blogsphere, responding to the widespread need to find out what the true popular support is for the achievement of the Catalan Countries' own state.

Aims:

Promoting favourable arguments for Catalan independence
Spreading the Catalan secessionist cause
Convincing people to join the Catalan secessionist cause

Just go and join to show a little flag on a world map. Obviously, most flags show up within the Catalan-speaking countries, and specially in Catalonia. But why not in India, or Australia, or wherever YOU may be? It's really easy!

What is Catalonia?

2007-12-14T00:34:00.000+01:00

Well, for starters, what it isn’t. It isn’t a “region” of Spain, at least not in the political sense. It’s what is known as an “Autonomous Community” (see the Wikipedia entry). The only Spanish Autonomous Community that is formally termed a region is the Region of Murcia. There are articles on the Catalan people, nationalism and independentism in Wikipedia, although some items in the entries are highly debatable, even contentious, so a visit to the discussion page is a must. In any case, I do not intend to compete with Wikipedia. What I hope to do is to lay out different points of view, particularly mine, which is that of an Independentist.

More soon.

Welcome to George from Barcelona

2007-12-12T17:11:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my blog, where I hope to give those of you who live beyond the borders of Catalonia a different view of this country in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. I already have another blog, YuriBCN, where I started posting articles in Catalan in April 2006, offering my opinions on social and political issues here in Catalonia. Since I get the impression there aren't really all that many places where people who don't know Catalan can go to get a distinct perspective of society and politics in Catalonia, from an independentist's point of view, I have decided to start George from Barcelona.

Hope you find it useful.