I have lived here in Barcelona for five years now, and am married to a Catalan man who is very pro independence from Spain. We both went to the demonstration on Sept. 11th and I find I am now fascinated by how this is playing out in the press, both foreign and local. I have had heated conversations with local friends who consider themselves Spanish and are very angry about the Catalan culture and people thinking of themselves as distinct from the Spanish. I do see distinct differences between Catalan and Spanish culture.

It seems to me that this is all very much infused with feelings left over from the civil war that the Catalans refuse to forget, and that the Spanish want to ignore as if the war and subsequent Franco facism toward Catalans and there language/culture never happened.

The Spanish government still actively fights any attempt to examine the war and the Franco era to the extent that they will not let families search for the remains of their loved ones killed in the war and buried in mass graves. It is as though they want to rewrite history to minimize the atrocities of the war and Franco’s dictatorship.

It is a painful history that will not fade into oblivion for convenience sake. As an American, our history of slavery ended 147 years ago and we still have not moved past the ramifications and ideology of our past. Many Americans still can’t cope with the idea that we have a black president. How else could an out of touch, shoot yourself in the foot candidate like Romney still be viable as an alternative?

There are still people alive who lived through Spain’s civil war and this is all very much resent history for them and Spain, whether some want to acknowledge it or not. I don’t think that Rajoy and the King’s calls for unity are realistic. Spain as a truly patriotically and unified country and culture is a myth. The constitution grants amnesty to all for the crimes of the war and the Franco era but it is a mistake to act as though the constitution has effectively rewritten history.

I just felt the need to get this out and was wondering if there are any other expats living in Catalonia who have thoughts on these events as they happen around us.

I don’t really think that independence for Catalonia is likely or possible. I just think that the current path of turning a blind eye to history will only add to the instability and problems Spain faces as it try’s to manage its financial recovery.

 
Danny

Hello Danny:

I suppose we have to look at the history of Catalunya.  It was part of Italy at one time.  Indeed the infamous Borgia family was actually catalan.  Then it is up there on the frontier with France.  So no doubt there are difference in contrast to other parts of Spain.  Oddly enough much of the population up there is made up of Andalusian “emigrants” who went there for work in times gone by. 

I have lived in Spain almost all my life, and at one time I worked with a Catalan firm.  I don’t remember them being particularly nationalistic, but they certainly felt they were more industrious and efficient than other regions!  But that was their view.

As for the Spanish Civil War, well, and this is just a personal view, opening old wounds is not necessarily a good idea.  In my own country, Ireland, we had a civil war, in the early 1920s, and dreadful things happened then too.  It isn’t talked about much either.

I don’t think it is a good idea to divide up a country into regions, but that was their choice.  In unity lies strength. 
When I first came to Spain Franco was still alive, it was the years immediately prior to his demise.  Sure, the people from the various regions, north and south, had different approaches, accents, outlook, but this is so in any country. 
If people have the goodwill to want to get along with each other then they will get along with each other.

Thank you for your thoughts and perspective.

I agree with you about old wounds. I was not talking about opening them up though. I was talking about the folly of refusing to acknowledge them. That refusal is what really opens them up again, I think.

What do you think about the Socialist’s push for federalization? I wonder if it would put all of Spain’s regions on a more equitable plain with each other and grant them the ability to maintain their own identities while still keeping Spain as a country, whole.

Danny