Catalonia, everything tinged by history.

(Personal opinion piece, and let me state, not everyone agrees with what I'm going to write)

When I first talked about God to my Catalan partner, I was shocked by the negative and close minded reaction he displayed. As a yoga practitioner and someone who prays daily, I couldn't grasp the reason behind his derision towards God and his inability to see the Catholic church outside of its architectural worth.

                                          Donkey's represent Catalonia. You can guess why.

Time has taught me that to understand the Catalan people's beliefs, you have to read history books.

The Catholic church, to many people, even to this day, represents Franco-ism.

Now, there are many little seemingly innocent aspects of life here in Catalonia that are resonate with the history of the people. It's easy to blunder into cultural no man's land or even inadvertently to put yourself on the other's team.

Like many countries, there is a healthy dislike of nearby lands occupied by 'others'. For example, Australians are quite happy to deride New Zealanders. Swedes laugh at their Norwegian neighbours. It's something you find all over the globe in varying degrees of seriousness.

Catalan's poke fun at Spanish.

You can find lots of articles and you tube videos describing the main differences between the two.

Now, being open and friendly is associated with people outside of Catalonia. Open and friendly, at best, equals 'from the south', and at worst, means shallow.

God represents Catholic and at worst, Franco.

Dressing up and a high level of grooming is seen as pretentious, and at worse, pro traditional values of the ruling party of Spain.

Nothing simply 'is'. It's all about identity with who the Catalans are.

How they see themselves is often displayed in what they are not.

As an Australian, with no close neighbouring country, I didn't grow up with a strong sense of national pride. However, we can relate, because we were 'not' British. We had developed anti authoritarian views because of our history of British rule in a penal system. I wonder what country you are from, and what 'not' you are?

Tiffany in Catalonia - 6th of October 2017

6^th of October 2017

I hit my wall today. I’ve been holding up pretty well, and suddenly today I feel like it's all a bit much and I’m not managing my personal health (mental, emotional and physical) very well. I’m in a coffee shop in Mataro beside the sea and I’ve just eaten what can only be described as comfort food.

So, I’m dedicating Fridays for research and writing and today and for the next month or so, I will be looking at Ghosts of Spain by  Giles Tremlett. I’ll be using his book as a means to get a sense of history of what’s going on for Spain and Catalonia. If you are interested, obviously I recommend you just buy the book. But for those of you that want a quick summary of the relevant ideas, this is where you’ll find it.

I can identify well with Tremlett because he has a family in Spain, and as he writes concerning his children  ‘Spain’s future matters to me. It maybe theirs.’  It’s this, that has begun this deep rooted feeling here in Granollers Catalonia. My son is Catalan by heart, and my daughter by birth. This is their country and I am here to defend their right to be heard.

‘Spain is different’ – If I happen to question something about the culture here, or ask, in honest confusion about historic matters that don’t add up to my simple mind, Catalans here often laugh dryly with knowing eyes ‘Spain is different’. It’s a blanket approach to the myriad points that foreigners don’t grasp and it’s a psychological full stop – perhaps even a survival phrase- that stops their own spiral into injustice and repression and despair. I’ve often thought that if some of the things that have happened here, happened in Australia, we’d have taken to the streets in violent  screaming. Australians are not so well known for holding their temper. And it’s my opinion that this shrugging acceptance of corruption and injustice in Spain by the Catalan people rises out of survival. Let’s remember that during the civil war Catalans who stood up for their rights were quite literally put up against a wall and shot. Or perhaps taken out onto a hill and shot. Or just butchered in their homes.

All of the revolutionaries, the ones with courage and conviction died, the Catalans who survived were the other sort. The ones that fled, or the ones that shut up. Now, we have survivors. The Catalans who are with us today developed survival skills, survival psychology of adapt or die. And they have survived by developing a black sense of humour, of speaking quietly (much quieter than the typical Spanish), of saying ‘ba!’ to anything they don’t care about and shrugging it all off.

Now, again, it’s my humble opinion that there has been enough time since the civil war for another generation of rebels, of courageous fighters, of people with conviction and courage to take up where their forefathers left off. To remind everyone that they are still here. To remind people that they really do have a voice and that they will have their say.

And, in a country that deems it illegal to talk about breaking from the sovereign unity of Spain, I think, reckless as it is, this threat of announcing the Independence of Catalonia from Spain is a well thought out plan that does not have the immediate Independence of Catalonia on it’s agenda.  It’s a way to force the Catalan problem into the spotlight. It’s a way to get people like me to start writing to people like you. It’s a way to get Europe involved in and aware of the overwhelming injustices of the Catalan people. It’s a way, for the Catalans, finally, after years of shutting up, to shout at the top of their lungs ‘we are here, and we have a voice, and we will be heard’.

You might think the action extreme. But once you become aware of the history of Catalonia you’ll wonder how they have held their peace for so long. I personally, burn with indignation for them. I burn with indignation when I see the leader of Spain treat them like unruly children who need a firm hand. The Catalans are not undisciplined children, and Spain is not the heavy handed old fashioned father from the  days of old when children were seen and not heard.

All institutions are there for the service of humanity. All laws are there to help us, protect us, serve us. When the law is upheld beyond it’s expiry date as sovereign , to the detriment of millions, we see deeply the treacherous hold power has over these leaders. Let us remember, it’s not human kind we must be afraid of, it’s the institutions that become like gods held high as untouchable and inviolable. People say no one is above the law, and I say, there is not one law that is above a human right. 

Sharpening Knives at the Beach

There's an old man who drives up on his scooter and he sets up his knife sharpening machine from the back of the bike. 
He's doing the knives from the local restaurant,  here at Cala Canyelles. 
Lots of people taking photos of him.  They're stopping on their way to and from the beach. 
He's quite a character,  posing with the knife. 
The machine is making continuous noise. 
Lydia sleeps on. 

After Lunch Nap

View from Pops, Lloret de Mar

We've eaten ourselves stupid. Topped up with Sangria and ready for coffees. Looking out over the sea watching the people promenade. Happy Summer afternoon.

Blues or Whites?

In the Festa Major of Granollers there are two teams. They were created artificially to bring a fun sense of rivalry to the week's party. At the beginning, some 30 years ago, the two teams started with the seed of a coalition of several groups in the city. The Whites have a church and money background. The Blues have a people of the street feel. The problem with Whites too, is it's the same colour as Real Madrid. Sounds strange, but people here have a blood hatred of white in this way. Granollers colours are blue and white, that's why they were chosen in the first place. Two years ago we were watching the tug of war between the two teams. There was an abundance of blues, so Albert was asked to pull for the Whites. We became Whites for this reason alone. And we also wanted to balance out the teams. As you can see from the picture above, there is a predominance of blues lined up for the footballi. We think the Whites need to reinvent their image and gather the new generations into their fold.

Vampire Diaries in Barcelona

Today we participated in the Vampire Diaries Convention in Barcelona. In the distance of this photo you can see Ian and Paul. It was truly a long day.

If you're looking for somewhere close to the Barcelona convention centre, you can try this nice apartment from  Pierre et Vacances Barcelona   Up to five people can stay there, and it has it's own kitchen, so you cut down on expenses! Take a look at some of the photos below.

Jett Wins a Writing Competition!

Today we're in Barcelona with some of Jett's classmates and his teacher to receive a prize for Jett's composition in a literary contest. It's XII Certamen Literari Escolar En Llengües D'Origin. He wrote about his trip around the world, in Catalan.  Three prizes were given for his age group in Catalonia. 

The Clearing of the Square

I don't know the details yet. But today Albert called me from Barcelona and told me that police had surrounded the Catalunya Square and had forbidden more people to enter. They were also, at that time, quietly taking a few people at a time out. They say they are cleaning the square. The last I heard police had begun to hit people who refused to leave, and to shoot rubber bullets. More I don't know.

Protests in Humble Granollers!

How cute! Slogans like 'this is not crisis this is capitalism', 'we are not anti-system, the system is anti-us'and a display of a manifesto for real democracy now.

Finally! We arrive at Montserrat

We arrived in time to take the last bus home. It was a bit cold and we were happy to sit in the bus. Albert even fell asleep on the way home and was in bed, on his birthday on a Saturday night, by 12!!!  (What kind of  party animal has he become?!)

Today, the Cavalry.

Today is the last day of the Roman festival here in Tarragona. We're still in the old football field and we're watching the Roman Cavalry spear cabbage heads. It's rather exciting. It's very hot here and plenty of people everywhere.

My Bank Experience

There is one man serving and 18 people waiting. Actually, the queue is moving. The man serving is fast, efficient and in friendly! I'm here to pick up my bank card. Remember the queue system here begins when you enter the shop and ask 'who is the last one?' Then someone says 'I am'. Then you need to watch that person until it's your turn because if they leave, it will never be your turn. What confusion! But some people like the social interaction.

The View from Our Car

I'm sitting in the back of our car and looking up at the clouds. It's fantastic. All going very well. We're on our way to the beach, up past Sitges for lunch.

Today is the Day Of the Mother of God of Montserrat (La Mare de Deu de Montserrat)

Bit of a mouthful isn't it?  Montserrat is a serrated mountain close by and in honour of this day, I will repost from one of my other blogs.  Approaching the Virgin of Montserrat. 

However, Albert's mother's name is Montserrat and we have a couple of friends also named after the mountain. Typically people made a big deal out of their 'Saint Day' rather than the birthday around these parts, but lately the birthday has taken precedence.   Jett and I popped over for a few minutes earlier to give Montserrat a present and we will celebrate the day on Sunday. Today it's impossible as its a Barca/Madrid game playing.

Anyway, congratulations to our Montserrats!

Photo: Our Montse.

Today is Sant Jordi

Take a look at last years post on the Symbolism of St Jordi.  It's very unusual this year as it falls on the Easter Weekend. The people I have spoken to about it are unhappy about it. They say it doesn't feel right and somehow ruins the day for them. 

Monas in Cardona at Easter

It's Easter Friday. We're on the way to Manresa and we've stopped off at Cardona. It's famous for the salt mines, the castle, and some medieval buildings. The only shop open today was the Easter Cake shop. Here they call it the Mona. Oh, and the Church was surprising beautiful inside!


For last year's Mona post. 

Storm Clouds on the Way

We're driving away from these clouds but they are close on our heels. Lead us onto the blue skies of the south!

We're on a Tourist Bus in Barcelona!

It's fun, though the lady speaking is a bit boring. . .

Listening to Monks Chant

After our lunch we went for a guided visit to the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Poblet. Here is Montse and Jett during the service.