I was recently given a book entitled Manual in Defense of Catalan. It is a short book of the author’s experiences speaking Catalan in his native Catalunya. Virtually all Catalans are bilingual – Spanish and Catalan – they learn both in school. Today, Catalunya is considered an autonomous community within Spain with certain self-governing privileges, somewhat similar to a state of the United States. But, if you ask most Catalans, they feel that Catalunya is and should be its own country, independent of Spain. It has its own language and culture and a history of independence for many years before Spain exerted its not insignificant power and influence to subdue Catalunya…and Franco made sure to repress the state, securing its lack of independence through today.
Spanish speakers who live in Spain, including Catalunya, seem somehow intimidated by the existence of the Catalan language. There is an ongoing dispute among Spanish-only speakers and speakers of Catalan that may be hard for outsiders to understand. The feelings on both sides are very sensitive. There are frequent articles in the news about people getting into shouting matches or even fist fights over who speaks which language where. There are service people who live and work in Catalunya who do not speak Catalan. It’s not a law, after all. And there are customers who prefer to speak Catalan in Catalunya and become irate when they are not understood. There’s always a fight!
Similarly, there are doctors practicing in Catalunya who do not speak Catalan. This can be a problem for children who have not yet been taught Spanish at school, or for older folks who only speak Catalan at home and possibly have not spoken Spanish since they were in school decades before. These situations arise constantly and are the source of much consternation on both sides. But this quote from the book conveys a beautiful sentiment: “hablar dos idiomas no es una guerra, es una riqueza” – to speak two languages is not a war, it is a wealth.
My first notion of how strong Catalans’ feelings are against Spain came when I mentioned an odd fact about one of the Spanish kings to a Catalan friend who was unfamiliar with the point I was trying to make. I made the statement that I knew more about his kings than he did. He very quickly replied, “they are not MY kings.” Enough said. In fact, Catalunya had its own kings for centuries.
The animosity between Spain and Catalunya is real. The Catalans are actually rooting for Spain to lose in the World Cup matches! Even though seven of the players on the Spanish team are Catalan and are on the Barcelona team! If the Spanish team wins, Spain gets all the glory. So, the Catalans hope they lose.
I’ve been learning more and more about the Spanish Civil War and its effects on Catalunya and the Catalan people. That’ll be for another day…
In the meantime, you may have heard that the Pope visited Spain and came to Barcelona for the official inauguration of the last and tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia on the 100th anniversary of the death of its architect Antoni Gaudí. The event was broadcast on television. It was incredible! I think everyone agreed that the production was flawless, beautiful, and inspiring. If you did not see a video of it, please enjoy!,
Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-lGSGOi8I
I’m on my way out … for my annual hot summer visit to Texas! Just for a last fun adventure, my hotel in Paris near the airport, along with all of the hotels in the area, had no electricity! Luckily, the heat wave ended a few days prior, so it wasn’t hot, just dark and without electronics! Yikes! Catch you in September!
Susie's Senior Year Abroad 