The Emperor’s New Clothes: Catalan nationalism

I was asked the other day by a Spaniard for my opinion of Catalonia’s ‘statute’.

(If you need any reminding, this is the bid drawn up by Catalan  politicians for ‘nation’ status and greater control of their taxes so this rich part of Spain pays less to poorer regions. To boot, they also want more control over the police, the judiciary, the prison service, ports and airports. If they get their way Catalonia, will administer European Union funds and Madrid would have to ask permission if international issues affected the region.)

I was diplomatic and tried to explain that to most foreigners, even those who live in Catalonia and are more than aware of nationalist sensibilities, this region is just another part of Spain, not a nation in itself.

What I really wanted to say, however, was this was to me just the latest episode in a modern version of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic The Emperor’s New Clothes.

This is the tale of the vain emperor who is so obsessed with his appearance that he lets a couple of conmen make him a suit out of thin air.

But no-one has the courage to pipe up and say how stupid he looks parading through the streets naked in his ‘suit’.

*quote1*It takes a child to point out the obvious.

It seems the same has happened in Catalonia; the nationalist mania has got such a hold on the political scene here, that some Catalans cannot see how ridiculous they appear to the outside world.

Just a few examples to back this up: the linguistic Thought Police of Catalonia’s Generalitat or the regional government have banned star Catalan writers like Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of The Shadow of the Wind  from appearing at the Frankfurt book fair – a major literary showcase – because he writes in Spanish. Yet Zafon’s book is about Barcelona and he grew up in the city himself.

Major fashion designers, who for years have put the Barcelona Fashion Show on the map, like Lydia Delgado, will not be allowed to exhibit as – wait for it – they do not live in Catalonia.

Thousands upon thousands of Catalan books are produced each year but never bought, to keep the ‘quota’ of books up and the language supposedly alive.  Who pays? In many cases, the taxpayers.

Perhaps most importantly, many public sector jobs in Catalonia require applicants to have Level C in the Catalan language. It is a complex examination which does not have an obvious equivalent.

This seems perfectly sensible when applicants want jobs in areas where the day-to-day language is Catalan. But what about the Escuela Official de Idiomas, the excellent public language school in Barcelona? In one case, a Jordanian Arabic teacher lost out to another applicant from Tarragona, in Catalonia, because she did not have good enough Catalan – essential, of course, for teaching Arabic.

Now before you protest, I am all for preserving a national identity, language and heritage.

*quote2*I should know – my family is from the West coast of Scotland, where Gaelic and many other traditions associated with it are fast dying out.

And I know very well that there are sound reasons why Catalan nationalism has been on the rise since Franco’s death almost 30 years ago.

The dictator’s ban on Catalan and the region’s culture provided the seeds on which today’s nationalism have thrived.

But things here have gone from the reasonable to the ridiculous.

Graham Keeley

[November 2005]

[Copyright Expatica]

Subject: Spain; Catalan nationalism