Sport is a great phenomenon that strengthens the common spirit of cultures. When sports are played internationally people defend the motherland they belong to.
But what is my motherland? I don’t see Spain as my motherland. Is Russia the motherland of the Chechen people? Is Sweden the motherland of the Sami people? Is Turkey or Iran the motherland of the Kurds?
Several imperialistic countries have taken the land of smaller countries and have tried to destroy these cultures in order to enlarge their own. One would think this was the rule in the ancient times. Unfortunately still today many countries suffer the injustice of such nationalistic arrogance. And one of them is Catalonia.
Spain has tried to destroy Catalan culture for 300 years several times and still today it is trying to do so. During the Franco dictatorship Catalan language was forbidden, it was also forbidden to have a Catalan name, so my parents had to give me a Spanish name instead. Now it is finally changed into Catalan, but many Catalan people died and their official names where in Spanish language. Today there are Spanish politicians that are avoiding the normal development of the Catalan language. They are against Catalan being an official language in the European parliament (a language spoken by 10 million inhabitants!), they want to impede Catalan TV to reach the Catalan speaking citizens of Valencia, etc. Catalan is spoken by 18,5% of the Spanish citizens and yet Catalan language is not allowed in the Spanish parliament.
A huge list of incidents against our culture and language are tangible prove of Spanish nationalism.
I guess it is clear enough why Catalan people cannot be happy and proud to belong to Spain. How can Catalans feel close to a country that is showing so much hatred and aversion towards us?
Obviously the feeling of a motherland for Catalan people is Catalonia. Catalonia is my motherland. Catalonia loves me. And I love Catalonia.
Spain does not love me and therefore I don’t love Spain.
So, Catalans want to be represented by Catalan teams at international competitions. At this moment we don’t feel represented, we cannot participate, we cannot shout for our sportsmen and women. We cannot hear our anthem when a Catalan sportsman wins. And we feel neglected.
If Catalonia were an independent country our people would represent us. And when a Catalan sportswoman would win we would hear our anthem and not an anthem that represents all these people who does not tolerate us and wants us to disappear. Only in some unknown sports we have international teams. But even when we win the international organizations mention Spain, not Catalonia.
16 comentaris:
Si,
Demà se celebra un partit entre el Saint Helens i els Catalans Dragons a Wembley. L'himne d'aquest equip de Perpinyà és els Segadors, i es tocarà davant la Reina i tota la pesca.
Això venint de França, que diguem no és gaire bon exemple de tolerància.
Però... algú s'imagina que es toqués els Segadors davant del Rei de les Espanyes, o tan sols fora de les fronteres administratives de Catalunya (a part de cert pis a Amsterdam)?
Onvoorsteelbaar toch?
Let me make you one appointment...in Russia they KILL Chechens, in Irak they tried to exterminate Kurds...
¿Do the democratic Spanish goverment has tried to do something to the Catalonian inhabitans?...Catalonia is the more independent region in the UE neither the German "Länders" nor Scothland or Gales have either its local police (mossos de escuadra), an administration that ONLY speaks Catalá, 50% of the IRPF of the region total control over education, transports and (recently added) energy.
So WAKE UP, Franco oppresed Catalonia but the Spanish Democratic Goverment NOT ¿why are you speaking as a victim?
"in Irak they tried to exterminate Kurds..."
Didn't you know that 7000 Catalans were brought to the Nazi extermination camps after the Spanish civil war?
"Do the democratic Spanish goverment has tried to do something to the Catalonian inhabitans?..."
YES
HAven't you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIiRFSCgGu4
Catalonia does not have full competence and is constantly being attacked. Obviously not any more with army. As long as Spain is in the EU they will not use the army to oppress us. But they do use other tools to oppress us. I am not playing the victim. It's the reality. It is not true that Catalonia is so independent. We are not allowed to hold referendums, we are not allowed to have international presence, Scotland does have an own presence abroad with their Sports teams, etc.
The Flemish country is far more independent than we are.
Last month the Spanish government admitted that they had punished Catalonia for years by not investing in Catalonia.
WAKE UP YOURSELF!
This is precisely the theme of one of my postings: Spain is hopeless at trying to accommodate Catalonia.
Catalan political parties have tried for over 100 years to “dialogue”, “educate”, “reform”, etc the Spanish political framework to no avail. It is useless. Spain will not stop until Catalonia disappears as a nation, culturally, politically and economically. Independence is the only way out –anything else will result in Catalonia being written off the history books.
I think you should get your fact straight about a lot of things. For example, the Spanish government does not care one iote if Catalan television is broadcast in Valencia. The government of the Generalitat of Valencia does not want Catalan television broadcast in Valencia.
Nevertheless, this position is quite stupid since, in Spain, if you get pay-for-televisin, like Canal Plus, you can watch all the Catalan televison you want all over Spain. As well as Galician, Basque, Andalucian, etc. television.
Thank you. Yes, and the point you are making here is that there is a group of people who have the purpose to damage, erase, destroy Catalonian culture and language. Which is over and over again a painful truth.
I don't think anyone is trying to destroy anything. I live in Spain and I don't see this. I have Spanish friends, and nobody has ever said, lets destroy Catalonia.
I go to Barcelona at least twice a month, and the only people who think as you do, are radical independentists. The rest of the population, from what I gather, does not think like this, and nowehre is this apparent when you walk around Barcelona.
I don't understand why you think somebody is trying to destroy Catalonia's culture etc.
I don't understand how you cannot see this.
Do you ever look at the news? The Spanish authorities have admitted they punished Catalonia for years by not investing any money in Catalonia for new roads, subway, railroads, not even on maintenance. The PP is trying to avoid Valencia to receive Catalan TV, The Spanish government avoiding intercontinental flights to Barcelona in order to have monopoly in Madrid.
In the meanwhile in Madrid the subway and free highways were doubled in 10 years.
Still today there are judges in Catalonia who don't want to speak or listen Catalan while they are getting a special fee because they supposedly have learned Catalan.
The Spanish Government does not want Catalonia to have international presence in sports (while regions such as Gibraltar, Wales and Scotland do).
Telemadrid made a documentary in which they severely criticized our policy on language, saying that Catalan language is imposed, while the only language imposed in Catalonia is Spanish. A child is treated as a terrorist who was asking Dia supermarkets to label their products in Catalan language.
Etc.
Are you sleeping?
Etc.
I am not sleepig, but I think you are hallucinating. I work in the media in Spain, and your views are a gross overexageration of life in Spain and in Catalonia.
And you live abroad and, from what I gather, your parents aren't even Catalan. Amazing. You are a perfect example of someone with an inferiority complex. Your parents immigrated to Catalonia and you grew up denying your parent's culture and embracing the local culture. Well done. I think it was the clever thing to do in order to survive in society, but you have gone one step further and your views are much too radicalised.
You don't really present a balanced or objective view of the situation. I am not saying that what you mention does not exist, it does, but you twist it to suit your argument, and I think that is where you loose all credibility.
Furthermore, you act as though Catalonia is a victim of Spanish animosity. Have you considered the possibility that successive Catalan Governments have helped to create this animosity (if it really exists, which again, I don't see anywhere but in the lower echelons of Spanish society)?
Are we meant to believe that Catalonia is the victim of circumstance and has not contributed to create the present state of affairs?
I think not.
All your assumptions about me are wrong. If you make such assumptions about me without knowing anything about me I understand how you make assumptions about the situation of Catalonia in Spain.
I haven't assumed anything about you yet, except that you are speaking about an invisible problem that only you can see.
You, however, have made many assumptions about me. If you make such assumptions about me without knowing anything about me I see how you make assumptions about the situation in Spain's Catalan provinces.
> the situation in Spain's Catalan provinces.
Oh, yes! Now we can understand aaaaall your posts. Thank you very much!
By the way, isn't a commercial boycott attempt (it was nomore than an attempt) against every Catalonia's located company an attack? Isn't a "Ciudadanos de Segunda" TV doc an attack? If you really don't see the loathing attacks we receive every day, week, month, and year, you maybe need to watch more than to see.
Miquel, most Spaniards in Nazi camps were republicans from all Spain, in your comment you make it seem like the just brought catalans to the Nazi camps after the Civil War, and that is not true. They brought not just catalans but a lot of people from the rest of Spain because of political reasons, being homosexual, gipsies...
Hi Laia,
you are right. Also republicans from outside Catalunya went to the extermination camps. The Spanish civil war was not a war of Spain against Catalonia. But the point is that the guy who won this war was against anything with the "C" of Catalonia. In Catalonia the Spanish civil war was not only a war between different political positions, it was also a war against our culture, our language, our existence. So I do understand your point, but the Spaniards who were republicans and lost the war did not lose their identity too, their language, their culture. They were not exactly delivering as much as we were, were they?
The difference is very clear. The Spaniards were fighting an internal conflict that did not prohibit their literature, their culture, their language, their theather, etc. We lost much more. We lost our language, theater, literature, our identity, we became a culture in agony... we were and still are an occupied nation. Still today if you want a grant for a movie, for instance, it is compulsory to present the text in Spanish language. To write in Spanish to make movies in Spanish is much easyer. They have the money, our money, and give to who they want to give it to: themselves.
It is a very naive thought the thought that there is a Spain willing to live in harmony with us. The Spain of Zapatero has more than proved this.
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