#3: Catalonian People
One very popular misconception about the people of Barcelona is that many people think that they´re...Spanish! This is not true. Although Barcelona is technically located in Spain, it is the capital of Catalunya, the small provence (soon to be country?) located in the upper righthand corner of Spain. In fact, the Spanish-Catalonian feud dates back in history longer than any current separation movement in the world. The reason the Catalans don´t get the press coverage that the Basques, Quebecs, or Irish do is because they are peaceful and have had a history of pacts with the Spanish government. Zapatero, the current Spanish PM from PSOE, or the Socialist party, has devolved a lot more autonomy to the Catalans. Catalan is the official language of Barcelona, not Castellano or Spanish. They(/we) have our own flag, government, and military.
Another clarification to make is regarding this aforementioned language problem. Although I´ve come to Barcelona to learn Spanish, Catalan is actually the oldest of the ´Romantic´languages born from Latin. This means that the Catalan language has been spoken longer than French, Spanish, Italian and Portugeuse. I have been doing my best to pick up as much Catalan as possible. The other night I said Adèu, Bona Nit to my Senora, which means Goodnight and Goodbye and she gave me the biggest smile I´ve seen yet. This is because the Catalan language is one of the most important cultural icons of these people. Under Franco, everything Catalan was repressed and today one can see Catalan Nationalism everywhere they turn.
A final note about the people. Several bizarre things--from an American standpoint--occur here. One, every Barcelonan complains about the heat...everyday you´ll hear ´Hace calor, calor calor´over 10 times. Two, Barcelona has a drought problem in the summer so we´re allowed to only shower once a day for no longer than 5-6 minutes, YET, they water the streets for hours on end everynight...clean streets or clean people, hmm? Third and finally, the people hear are very biased towards anything Catalan and they really hate Spain. This means everything from Soccer to food. The FC Barcelona football team is much more than a team, its emblematic of the Catalonian struggle for nationalism and freedom. Even the patch of the club has the coat of arms of Catalunya and of Barcelona. And finally, Catalonians do not like spicy food. Even the slightest bit of spice that we are used to will generally give you an unhappy Catalonian. Also, one final note, as my history class watched the opening ceremonies to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, my professor was in tears and this was her 20th time viewing it or something like that. The pride and nostalga of the locals of the '92 games is very visible for a number of reasons. In many ways the '92 games were remembered as the most successful games ever. The year 1992 is significant for many reasons, but the city of Barcelona went above and beyond to ensure its memory into the international community, and every citizen of Barcelona participated in one way or another.
Another clarification to make is regarding this aforementioned language problem. Although I´ve come to Barcelona to learn Spanish, Catalan is actually the oldest of the ´Romantic´languages born from Latin. This means that the Catalan language has been spoken longer than French, Spanish, Italian and Portugeuse. I have been doing my best to pick up as much Catalan as possible. The other night I said Adèu, Bona Nit to my Senora, which means Goodnight and Goodbye and she gave me the biggest smile I´ve seen yet. This is because the Catalan language is one of the most important cultural icons of these people. Under Franco, everything Catalan was repressed and today one can see Catalan Nationalism everywhere they turn.
A final note about the people. Several bizarre things--from an American standpoint--occur here. One, every Barcelonan complains about the heat...everyday you´ll hear ´Hace calor, calor calor´over 10 times. Two, Barcelona has a drought problem in the summer so we´re allowed to only shower once a day for no longer than 5-6 minutes, YET, they water the streets for hours on end everynight...clean streets or clean people, hmm? Third and finally, the people hear are very biased towards anything Catalan and they really hate Spain. This means everything from Soccer to food. The FC Barcelona football team is much more than a team, its emblematic of the Catalonian struggle for nationalism and freedom. Even the patch of the club has the coat of arms of Catalunya and of Barcelona. And finally, Catalonians do not like spicy food. Even the slightest bit of spice that we are used to will generally give you an unhappy Catalonian. Also, one final note, as my history class watched the opening ceremonies to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, my professor was in tears and this was her 20th time viewing it or something like that. The pride and nostalga of the locals of the '92 games is very visible for a number of reasons. In many ways the '92 games were remembered as the most successful games ever. The year 1992 is significant for many reasons, but the city of Barcelona went above and beyond to ensure its memory into the international community, and every citizen of Barcelona participated in one way or another.
posted by mattdoeseurope at 10:08 AM
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