Results

From what I've read in the Catalan and the national press, both sides appear to be trying to portray the results of yesterday's referenda as a vindication of their position. What it has come down to is whether you put more emphasis on the result itself or the rate of participation.

The headline figures show the referenda to have been a great victory for those seeking independence for Catalonia, with a resounding 90% of those who went to the polls voting in favour of independence. Following this success, some political figures are arguing that the government should now allow a real referendum to take place across the whole of Catalonia.

Those on the opposition, however, have seized on the rate of participation. The proclaimed target of the organisers was a rate of 40%, but in the end only 27% of those eligible to vote bothered to do so. The Partido Popular (a conservative party that, although one of the two main parties nationally, enjoys little support in Catalonia) seized on these figures as proof that the referenda had "failed" and declared that "good sense" had triumphed. A spokesperon of the ruling Catalan Socialist Party said that it had been a "stragetic error" on the part of the nationalists, and had proved that few people supported independence.

So who is right? It is probably fair to say that the answer lies somewhere between the two. The rate of participation is certainly lower than had been hoped for, but a few things should be kept in mind:

1) This was an unofficial referendum, which was in no way binding. Thus, a lot of people will have decided that it was not worth the effort to vote.

2) The voting was organised by volunteers and lacked the resources and organisational structures that would be behind any official referendum.

3) People who are undecided or would have voted "no" are more likely to have stayed at home, since it is a non-binding vote and opponents may have wished to avoid legitimising it. This explains some of why more people didn't vote.

Of course, this last point also means that in a real vote the percentage of people supporting independence would be much less than 90%. Given the nature of the vote, howver, the rate of participation isn't bad at all. And as 27% of the people in these areas voted and 90% of them voted yes, it seems difficult to accept the line from the PSC spokesperson that nationalists are few in number. Even if they are currently a minority, they are a sizeable one.

(Incidently, in the town were I work there was a participation rate of 41%, with 98% voting in favour of independence.)

Voting Begins in Independence Referenda

The BBC has an interesting article that gives some good background information on today's consultations.

The first vote actually took place yesterday, in a tiny village called Sant Jaume de Frontanyà. It has 24 inhabitants, of which 21 were eligible to vote yesterday. 19 voted in favour of independence whereas only one person voted against.

Barcelona and Girona are both set to have similar consultations in April next year.

Catalanisme and Referenda

This is a pretty good time to bring up the subject of Catalanisme (that is to say, Catalan nationalism), as this Sunday there will be referenda on the question of independence in 167 different municipalities. As it would be illegal under the Spanish constitution for such consultations to be organised by a public body, they are being run by independent groups and individuals.

The first consultation on independence took place this year on the 13th September, in a small Catalan town called Arenys de Munt. The question put to voters was: “Do you agree with Catalonia becoming an independent, democratic and social State of law, integrated in the European Union?”. With a participation rate of 41% of those eligible to vote, the result was a resounding 96% in favour of independence. In the wake of this, referendums are now being planned all over Catalonia (Barcelona, and also the town where I am living, are apparently set to have one next year). Less happily, there were also some demonstrations by far-right Spanish nationalists groups with links back to the Falange movement, complete with symbols of the Franco dictatorship and fascist salutes.

Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that this was a single vote in a small town (the total ballots cast only numbered 2,671), and the fact that it was a non-binding and unofficial referendum probably means that people who were pro-independence were more likely to take the time and effort to participate than people who were either apathetic or against independence. So this raises the question of how representative of Catalan opinion as a whole the result from Arenys de Munt was.

An opinion poll published in the Spanish-language Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia suggests that it is not particularly representative. According to the results, 35% of Catalans would vote “yes” in a referendum on independence, while 46% would vote “no” – although, interestingly, 53% of Catalans are in favour of these referenda taking place, as opposed to 39% against. Of the two largest political parties in Catalonia, neither is fully in favour of independence. Convergència i Unió, although a Catalan nationalist party, is deliberately vague on the matter so as to win the support of people who do not want full independence, and the PSC (Catalan Socialist Party, linked to the nationally governing PSOE of President Zapatero) is not in favour of independence. The ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) are strongly in favour of independence, but are the third party in Catalan politics and are currently part of the governing coalition with the PSC and the ICV.

So why is Catalonia so divided? There are various factors, but amongst the most important are factors such as language, national identity and immigration. Without wishing to generalise too much (there are, for example, Catalan nationalists who do not speak any Catalan), people who live in rural areas and speak almost exclusively in Catalan are more likely to support independence, whereas people who live in Barcelona and the cities around it and only speak Spanish (many of whom come from families that moved to Catalonia from other parts of Spain in search of work) are less likely to be pro-independence. The Catalan language and a sense of Catalan national identity are strongly linked, and the poll from the La Vanguardia suggests that whereas 80% of those who only feel Catalan and 60% of those who feel more Catalan than Spanish would support independence, 56% of those who feel as Catalan as Spanish and 70% who feel more or exclusively Spanish would vote against. Part of the reason that many in Barcelona and nearby urban areas are not Catalan-speaking and don’t self-identity as Catalan in nationality is due to the aforementioned waves of immigration from outside of Catalonia, and the determined efforts of General Franco to wipe out the Catalan language and identity. As immigration is usually to big cities and it is far harder to impose authoritarian measures in the remote countryside, this has left rural areas of Catalonia more strongly pro-independence.

Thirty-four of the referendums this Sunday are taking place in the comarca of Osona, which includes Prats de Lluçanès (where my school is). I have talked to quite a few people about this, and almost everyone I have asked has said they are in favour of an independent Catalonia. Osona is a very rural area, and Catalan is easily the most dominant language, and I am fairly sure that the overall result on Sunday will be a “yes” to independence. The really fascinating referendum will be when one is held in Barcelona. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how these referendums affect the debate about Catalan independence and, indeed, whether they have an effect on the level of support for it.

Barcelona!

This weekend I spent my 21st birthday in Barcelona with my parents, and I finally got to see the Magic Fountain in action. We were treated to a twenty-minute show of light and music, which finished with Freddie Mercury's "Barcelona". I filmed it on my camera, and have now uploaded it to YouTube. Enjoy!

Madrid

It’s fairly reasonable to say that Catalonia is not “typically” Spanish. Of course, a lot of people around here would contest that it isn’t even Spanish at all. So it was interesting to go to Madrid, a place which certainly can be considered culturally Spanish. It has all the typical food and drink, it has the bullfighting, it has many monuments of the most famous cultural and historical figures of Spain, and Castilian reigns uncontested as the main language. It was certainly interesting to see the differences between Madrid and Barcelona, the former being the centre of Spain (both geographically and politically) and the latter being the cultural and political centre of Catalonia (both as a comunidad autónoma within Spain and as a potential country of its own).

I left the school in Prats this Thursday and went to Manresa and from there to Barcelona to catch my night train. I’ve travelled on such trains before, but this time it seemed even worse than I had remembered them being. I had to share a cramped compartment with seven other people with hardly any leg room and a fairly uncomfortable seat. The result was that I got hardly any sleep, and arrived at Madrid at 7:30am in the morning without feeling well-rested at all. Alas, this lack of sleep was to continue over the entire weekend due to some horrendous snoring by a group of Puerto Ricans in my hostel room and another uncomfortable night train back to Catalonia on the Sunday.



Despite this, I had a very enjoyable weekend in the city. After checking in to the hostel I was staying at (which was very reasonably priced and well-located), I headed for the Puerta del Sol (“Gate of the Sun”), perhaps the most famous part of the city. It is a bustling square with quite a few different notable monuments, including the building that houses the President of Madrid and the local government of the city, a statue of King Carlos III, the (apparently famous) Tio Pepe sign, a statue of a bear with a tree (the heraldic symbol of Madrid), and a plaque marking the centre (kilómetro cero) of the Spanish network of roads.





I had wanted to take a day out of my time in Madrid and visit Toledo, but there were so many things to do in the capital that I decided not to. Plus, I’d like to visit Toledo properly and book accommodation there rather than trying to squeeze everything into a day trip from Madrid. The city has many pleasant parks (the Parque del Retiro being the most noteworthy) and a plethora of interesting plazas and monuments. There is also a large number of impressive museums, such as the art museums of El Prado (with works by artists such as El Greco, Rafael and Botticelli) and the Reina Sofia (with more modern artists such as Dali and Picasso, which I found more interesting), and an impressive archaeological museum as well. The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) was also definitely worth a visit, as was the ancient Egyptian temple that has somehow ended up in Spain. I saw many other sights, but there really are too many things to list.





I also made sure I sampled some of the local cuisine. As well as taking the opportunity to enjoy a bit of sangria, I tried “churros” for the first time, with some melted chocolate to dip them in. Very tasty indeed!



As I said, I enjoyed my time in Madrid. It’s a place with many interesting things to see and do, and it is also a very enjoyable place to just walk around, whether it be through the parks or the vibrant main commercial street that runs through the city (the Gran Via). Nonetheless, the city seemed to lack a certain something which I can’t quite put my finger on. One of the problems is that although it has many great sights, it doesn’t really have a monument that stands out from the rest in terms of reputation and impact, such as, for example, the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Alhambra in Granada. And it just seems to lack the atmosphere and character of Barcelona. I think part of the reason is that Madrid was picked as the capital city of Spain in the 16th century by the Spanish monarchy and it was then expanded and developed very quickly, so lacks the character that you might get from a more historical city which developed in a more “organic” way. Instead, many areas of the city are filled with grand and ornate buildings whose charms are somewhat artificial.

Nonetheless, I intend to return sometime next year. There are still a few things in the city that I didn’t get a chance to see, and as I mentioned I’d love to travel to Toledo, which is only about half an hour away. And although I’ve visited more impressive European capitals (and would say Barcelona, which very much feels like a capital city itself, is a nicer place), it’s certainly worth a visit.

But of course...

When the Spanish Ministerio de Educación said that they would pay us last week, what they really meant was that they weren't going to pay us last week at all...

(Will write a longer post on my trip to Madrid later on!)

Update

I haven't updated this in over a week. In part that is because I just haven't gotten around to it, but it is also because apart from work I haven't been doing much that would warrant a blog post! I am now working extra hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays doing private classes, which means a bit of extra money.

Speaking of which, I have been told by the Catalan Departament d'Educació that the the Ministerio de Educación in Madrid is finally going to pay me this week, and that I will get my grant for both October and November in one go. Great!

Anyway, I thought I might as well do a quick blog post now because I will be away all weekend. After finishing at the school tomorrow I will be going to Barcelona and then catching a night train to Madrid. I'll arrive nice and early (7.30am) and won't be leaving until Sunday night, so I'll have three full days there.

Depending on how much time I have, I'd like to go to Toledo, which is steeped in history and by all acounts a great place to visit. But I imagine Madrid has enough to keep me occupied for the whole time, so I might have to go to Madrid again after Christmas so I can visit anything I miss this weekend and fit in a trip to Toledo.

If nothing else this trip will be a chance to spend a few days speaking Spanish instead of Catalan! My Catalan has been improving since I got here, but my Spanish obviously hasn't improved as much since I get fewer chances to use it. On the other hand youth hostels tend to be full of people from England, Australia, America, etc who all speak English...which is even worse for my Spanish than only speaking Catalan! We shall see.

Busy few weeks ahead. Madrid this weekend, of course. Then I am going back to England the weekend after to visit the lovely folk in Durham, and then the weekend after my parents will be coming to Barcelona for my 21st birthday. All good fun, and then there will only be a couple of weeks left before I head home for Christmas and New Year!