Jimmy Burns's Blog, page 4

December 23, 2017

Duelists in El Clasico

If there was an enduring image of today’s El Clasico it is  that of Lionel Messi celebrating his penalty. He spreads out his legs, pumps his chest  out and raises head and arms to the fans like Moses displaying the most important commandment.


That the stadium, happened to be Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu  and the fans in teir vast majority home-grown and visceral tribal opponents of  FC Barcelona made the gesture defiant in itself. What made it cheeky was that it broke with Messi’s usually more modest grsture to his late granny in heaven and instead caricatured Cristiano Ronaldo’s favourite goal scoring pose, designed to draw attention to himself.


Lest we forget there has been a lot of goal scoring  between the two players over time,  quite unprecedented in fact. Its taken years  of rivalry for the two not only to be on another planet when it comes to goal scoring in all competitions, but also to  break practically every statistic known, but in doing so, to converge  in their self-belief.


Prior to today’s  encounter, Ronaldo trained alone for two days just to get fit-so much did he care about it. But if he had just  equalled Messi  in numbers of Golden Balls  won- five each now-  Messi was damned if that was going to leave him trailing , not least  when it came to an El Clasico performance in enemy territory.


Thus a strange osmosis took place in this game of two halves. Ronaldo was the key danger man in the first half, running poor Sergio Roberto  ragged  trying several shots at goal in  the first forty-five minutes..


As for the first  goal of the match,, it was the kind that a motivated   FC Barcelona should and did take, emulating the hosts, with a lightening counter-attack started with Busquets passing to Rakitic  who sprinted  into space in the middle of the  pitch.  He then beat  Modric and then just as  Varane tried to close him now , leaving  Suarez unmarked, Rakituc passed to the  Uruguayan who slammed it into the net from  12 yards. The goal seemed made to look so simple by a Real Madrid  that looked ludicrously exposed.


The third goal in extra time should never have been allowed. A repay showed the ball and Messi across the right hand touchline.


But  it was game over by then , well won by a Barca team that while still far from the brilliance of the Guardiola years had Iniesta ceacelessy marshalling the troops and Messi running around ,in selfless support, and a permanent threat to the men in white.


It’s rare to see Ronaldo and Messi in direct physical contact with each other. But Ronaldo stole the ball from Messi’s feet just in front of the  Real Madrid goal, and from the same  position headed off a Messi corner . On a third occasion Ronaldo blocked a pass from Messi that had it reached its destination might have opened  up another opportunity at goal.


This was a game with several chances missed by both sides with one each by Ronaldo and  Messi saved by some brilliant goalkeeping by ter Stegen and Navas respectively.


Not the greatest or most passionate of  Clasicos  with Real Madrid fans abandoning the stadium before the end so as not delay their lunch much longer (kick-off was I pm local  time in order to placate those wanting to watch  the game in Asia, gamblers many of them I presume ).


It was a game  that nonetheless  showed elements of a duel between the two best football players on earth and that,  I guess,   in itself may have satisfied part but not all of the estimated half billion global audience.


Given that this  was a Clasico played  just two days after the  politically highly charged Catalan elections, it was a football match strangely showing little evident signs of  its politics.  There were very flags of any description, and  whistles and boos for the visitors  and Viva Espanas diminished as the game wore on.


There were no huge bust up with the referee, or between the players. In the end of wasn’t Ronaldo who threw a hissy fit, but Isco who was evidently furious with Zidane for leaving him on the bench and bringing on Bale , along with Asencio and Nacho,instead.


By contrast Barca’s achievement seemed all the greater given  that it had nowhere near Real Madrid’s strength in depth- but it not a memorable performance by either team.


It was as if the players deep down were looking forward to their two weeks Christmas  break, and didn’t want to spoil the season of good will by turning the match into a battle zone. Even Real Madrid’s Carvajal’s  red card for handling Barca’s Paulinho’s shot at goal seemed paradoxically gifted- for it led to Messi’s penalty.


 


 


 


 


The post Duelists in El Clasico appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 23, 2017 10:26

December 22, 2017

Tomorrow’s unmissable El Clasico

 


Doubt it not – tomorrow Saturday’s El Clasico – Real Madrid ‘s Spanish league encounter with FC Barcelona is already much more than a football game. With the star studded teams in two of the best clubs  led by the two best players in the world-Messi and Ronaldo- and followed by billions of viewers around the world , this is anticipated as one of the great unmissable sporting spectacles of the year.


But this  historically politically charged occasion between two great rivals is likely to be played with added drama and tension, coming in the midst of Spain’s biggest political crisis in its 40 years of democratic rule.


The disputed  results of local  elections in Catalonia last Thursday night have left Catalan society deeply polarised between  parties wanting independence from  Spain led by the outlawed former president of the Catalan regional government  Carlos Puigdemont   , and those who defend the unity of Spain led by the charismatic and youthful young woman leader of the centrist Ciutadans ,(Citizens Party) , Ines Arramidas.


Visitors FC Barcelona   face  a hostile reception in the Spanish capital from local fans when players step out into Real Madrid’s impressive Bernabeu  stadium at one o’oclock pm local Spanish time, the start hour picked so as to attract a maximum  TV and internet Asian audience.


Both teams have everything to play for with fans focused on the most spectacular rivalry between two players in the history of footbal.l Both FC Barcelona Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano  Ronaldo have been breaking all time goal  records over the last decade, and have each won five  world player of the year awards  known as the golden boot.


FC Barcelona are anxious to make up for the humiliation of last season when Real Madrid won both the Spanish League and the European Champions league. But Real Madid are currently trailing FC Barcelona in the Spanish  League by 12 points and both teams are in the last sixteen of this year’s  Champions  League.


Bad blood has already been spilt with FC Barcelona announcing a few days ago that it will not  line up –as tradition demands- and applause its rival for winning the recent World club competition organized in the Midde East, on  on the rather spurious grounds that is it is  not a competition  that FC Barcelona played in this season.


As always Real Madrid fans and newspaper have accused FC Barcelona  of playing Catalan  politics  against the Spanish government in Madrid. Barca, as it is popularly known, has for much of its modern history been more than just one of the world’s leading football clubs. It is a social, cultural and political phenomenon — mes que un club, as its motto goes — and its sense of identity is framed by Catalan nationalism. Now the polarization in Catalan society and Spain as a whole over the issue of independence is threatening to throw the club into disarray.


 


The club has come a long way since its foundation in 1899 by a group of foreign expatriates living in Barcelona. Anti-Madrid sentiment flared in the year of the club’s foundation when the Spanish empire lost the last of its colonies in the Caribbean. And its early years coincided with the first great surge of political Catalan nationalism as the region began to agitate for greater autonomy.


In later years, FC Barcelona became known as a Catalan team — and suffered the consequences whenever the Spanish state moved to suppress the rights of the Catalan people.


During the Spanish Civil War, the pro-independence deputy of the Catalan regional parliament, Josep Sunyol — then Barca’s president — was executed by General Francisco Franco’s forces near Madrid, and many of the club’s members were politically persecuted by the Francoist regime that ruled between 1939-1975.


Many Barca fans are overwhelmingly pro-independence — as is evident by the Catalan flags they wave and their chants during home matches at Camp Nou stadium but many also voted for Ciutadans, considering themselves Catalan and Spanish and huge supporters  of the Spanish national team as well as of their local club.


The transition to democratic rule recharged Catalan nationalist aspirations and, for the club, an era of football excellence associated with the Dutch-born player (and later coach) Johan Cruyff. His arrival in Barcelona in 1974 was a defining moment that cemented the club’s political and cultural trajectory. In those years, Barca became a universally respected sporting institution at a hugely significant moment in Spanish history.


During Cruyff’s first season, Barca played football not only with an enormous self-confidence but also with particular vengeance against the one opponent that had always mattered, beating Real Madrid in its own Bernabeu stadium 5-0 in 1974.


Cruyff’s contribution to Real Madrid’s defeat, as the New York Times’ correspondent wrote in its aftermath, did more for the spirit of the Catalan nation in 90 minutes than many politicians had achieved in years of stifled nationalist struggle. Indeed, Cruyff — nicknamed El Salvador — was never just a footballer.


At a time when Spain was still ruled by a repressive dictatorship, Cruyff brought much needed social and cultural fresh air from his native Netherlands. His defiance of the Franco regime’s prohibitive laws on the use of the Catalan language — he registered his son with the Catalan name Jordi — came to symbolize the sense of imminent liberation that democratic Spaniards were feelings in the dying days of the old dictator.


 


The late Johan Cruyff both played for and managed FC Barcelona | Shaun Botterill/Allsport via Getty Images


As a player, Cruyff went on to give fans like myself many more hours of sheer delight, as a new, post-Franco Spain took its place among the democratic nations of Europe. But it was his second coming to FC Barcelona as coach that would prove more successful and far-reaching in sporting terms.


If Cruyff had done nothing else, Barca’s victory in the European Cup final at Wembley in the summer of 1992 would have earned him a significant place in the club’s official history. Thanks to  “dream team” that Cruyff cpached and Dutch footballer Roland Koeman’s winning goal  Roland Koeman’s winning goal, Barca became European champions for the first time — and the first Spanish champions since Real Madrid won the title more than a quarter of a century before.


It would take several more years for Barca to catch up with Real Madrid in terms of national and international achievement, but it entered a new golden period under Pep Guardiola, a Catalan player-turned-coach who took his inspiration from Cruyff. Guardiola — who, after his successful time at Barca, moved to Bayern Munich and is now at Manchester City — is one of several celebrated Catalan nationalists associated with Barca that supported theOctiber 1 referndum and independence  outlawed by Madrid.


Barca player and Spanish national Gerard Pique— also known as the husband of pop star Shakira — is also among the most well-known supporters of the Catalan cause, and is booed and whistled at by Spanish unionists whenever he plays for Spain.


Many Barca fans, too, are overwhelmingly pro-independence — as is evident by the Catalan flags they wave and their chants during home matches at Camp Nou stadium. They call for independence on the 17-minute mark of each half of a match to symbolically mark the year 1714, a key year in Catalan nationalist mythology in which Catalonia lost its autonomy to Spain in the War of the Succession.


The club as an institution has a fan base that extends across borders, but its location in Barcelona makes its susceptible to local politics. Last month it was among at least 4,000 signatories of the National Agreement for the Referendum, a group comprising political parties and civil society organizations in favor of the Catalan independence vote.


 


It has never shied away from flying its nationalist colors, but speculation that Barca might quit or be forced out of the hugely popular Spanish Football League is unlikely — at least not immediately.


For all its Catalan identity, FC Barcelona has become a major global business venture, its sponsorship and marketing revenue boosted by its rivalry with Real Madrid, both within the Spanish League and the Champions League. The popularity of star players like Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta — who are non-political but who command high salaries and fuel huge broadcast fees thanks to this kind of exposure — also make it unlikely the club could lose its position.


Neither would it leave of its own volition. Playing in a minor Catalan league means players of Messi’s caliber would flee the big club, and those losses would have a severe knock-on effect, diminishing the club’s interest and value.


About 70 percent of Spanish club football’s commercial value is tied up in the enduring rivalry between these two super clubs and their non-Catalan superstars.


Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu told the club’s recent annual general meeting that he wants to stay in La Liga: “We will never put the club nor its presence in any competition at risk. That’s why, to all the socios [members], I say that we want to continue playing in La Liga and, as of today, our participation is guaranteed,” he said, adding it was “mutually beneficial” for both the league and Barca to continue to maintain their link.


For now, with the outcome of the Catalan crisis  remaining uncertain in the after math of the December 21 regional elections,, there is no strong pressure for FC Barcelona to leave the Spanish League.


Most football analysts note that neither Real Madrid nor FC Barcelona want the Catalan club expelled from La Liga, as about 70 percent of Spanish club football’s commercial value is tied up in the enduring rivalry between these two super clubs and their non-Catalan superstars. No matter what happens politically, it’s likely Madrid and Barcelona won’t score an own-goal by severing their ties. (This is an updated version of an article that appeared last month in Politico. )


Jimmy Burns is a journalist and author of three best-selling football books, “Hand of God;” “Barca: A People’s Passion;” and “La Roja.” His dual biography of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be published next year.


 


The post Tomorrow’s unmissable El Clasico appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 22, 2017 11:06

Catalonia’s Democratic Deficit

 


Nothing quite like a Catalan regional election to show the world what a huge democratic deficit prevails in that part of Spain.


High on my list of failed characters is Carlos Puigdemont, a man who would have been disciplined and almost certainly sacked as a senior executive of  any transparent business  or the leader of any truly democratic party, but resurrects because he stands for a movement that believes only in its own narrow nationalist interests and has projected himself, quiet falsely, as the martyr of a noble cause.


He did not win the Catalan elections. The most voted leader in Catalonia was Ines Arrimadas  whose Ciutadans party was the only one to see its  electorate support increase substantially from the last election .  Puigdemont’s claim to power, made in a ‘victory’ speech lacking any semblance of statesmanship,  rests simply  on opportunity and self-interest that ignores the votes of the majority party.


But worse is Puigdemont’s utter lack of remorse or contrition for having contributed to the absolute mess Catalonia  is in socially and economically- a society utterly divided, and a huge fall off in investment and companies operating in Catalonia-the consequence of his decision to defy Spain laws and declare independence unilaterally, something no reasonable Scott or Basque Nationalist , let alone true anti-Brexit European would ever dream of.


By declaring last night that the “The Republic of Catalunya has won”, Puigdemont seems to expect that Spain’s justice system will simply accept that as a fact  and allow him back into Spain free of charges of sedition and be crowned  President again. His premise is false so that such an outcome may be  unreal. For the courts to declare him  innocent would be for them to accept he has been a victim of political persecution by the ‘ illegal’ state of Spain-unless he admits his was an illegal act originally.


The fact remains however that Puigdemont has  found the  victim card a political gift that has historically played well within Catalan nationalism. He now claims that of course Arrimadas  only won what she won because it wasn’t a level playing field, when he knows that had he and other politicians  not been prosecuted, they may have well have lost their majority of deputies , as well as votes.


Meanwhile the great loser of the Catalan elections is the  Spanish prime-minister Mariano Rajoy  who took the gamble of calling the Catalan elections, and can now claim zero credit. His Partido Popular  sank to a derisory minimalist vote, just above the animals rights movement, not because many supporters voted tactically for Arrimadas, although some may have done so , but because an overwhelming majority of Catalans-right, left and centre- feel unrepresented by Mr Rajoy’s PP and because Ines Arrimadas , a young face, without a past, and  with a fresh message capable of reaching beyond partisan or nationalist interests, represents to many the only voice of reason and compassion capable of countering the demagoguery of Puigdemont and partners.


Last night’s result gave a signal  that Mr Rajoy  has no legitimacy to lead, let alone broker any kind of  a deal in Catalonia   that can serve  the interests of the whole of Spain, and Europe.


For now we have the spectacle of both My Puigdemont and Ms Arrimadas claiming they have won, despite  each knowing that it is only half the truth.


Apart from claiming rhetorically  that they speak for the interests of all Catalans, they have inhabited different ideological and political planets . Arramidas is as  viscerally opposed   to Catalan nationhood as Puigdemont is to having Catalonia part of the Spain as defined by the current constitution. They need to develop a shared space station. Politics is the art of the possible.


In the  cold light of this morning I am struggling to see the Catalan election  result as anything but a disaster for Catalonia and for Spain. The priority must be to avert the situation  from spiralling into confrontation. There is a need for soft diplomacy and statesmanship which have been lacking until now. Puigdemont and Arrimadas need to defuse and dialogue, while in Madrid the PP should  call for an extraordinary party conference to elect a new leader capable of helping forge a new consensual  policy towards Catalonia that is in the best interests of Catalonia and Spain.


My lament is that the Catalan election campaign failed to produce the equivalent of Gordon Brown’s speech on the eve  of the Scottish referendum when he appealed to the common good.


As the son of a Scot  and a Castilian who has visited and lived in Catalonia  childhood and counts Catalans among my many Spanish frends, the other night I dreamt I was on  platform with Ines Arrimadas as she was making a speech passionately  along these paraphrased lines. I wasn’t and she didn’t but there is still time.


“This is our Catalunya. Catalunya  does not belong to the No campaign. Catalunya does not belong to the Yes campaign,” he said. “This is not their flag, their country, their culture, their streets.”


“There is not a   cemetery in Spain   that does not have Catalans, along with Castilians, Basques, Aragonese, Andaluzes, Gallegos,Asturians, and Cantabrians side by side. Our parents and grandparents suffered in one way or the other and made sacrifices but they and us built the  peace and prosperity of modern Catalonia  in  Spain,  in Europe together. What we have built together by sacrificing and sharing, let no narrow nationalism split asunder ever.”


 


The post Catalonia’s Democratic Deficit appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on December 22, 2017 03:44

October 27, 2017

The Catalan Tragedy

 


The Catalonian UDI declared by pro-independence members of the Catalan parliament  who command a slim majority of regional deputies, would  be a farce if it were not so tragic.


Don’t be taken in by anti-system youths euphorically waving  Catalan Independence flags and emotional memories of Franco’s repression and comments about this  ‘day of liberation.’


Spain has had forty years of democracy. It is not run by a dictatorship. It believes in the rule of law and has every right to defend it.


The UDI was declared with scant regard for the opinion of over 50  per cent of the Catalan population who did not vote in the referendum on  October Ist because it was unlawful and because they do not want to separate  from Spain.


The UDI is a violation of parliamentary legality  and Catalonia’s own statute of autonomy.


The UDI is in defiance not just of the democratically elected government of Spain but of all the major opposition parties represented in the democratically  elected Spanish parliament.


The UDI has no  political credibility let alone legality within the European Union.


THE  UDI counts on the  support of  much  less than half the voting population in Catalonia who voted in an unlawful and politically manipulated referendum.


The UDI as   democratic  as  a Latin American  military coup ,  a populist fascist or communist uprising, an  African bogus election, or a fundamentalist  breakaway Islamic state.


The UDI  reeks of the kind of intolerant fanatical nationalisms and anarchy that in the past provoked wars.


It is also a monstrous act of self-delusion given that Catalonia has neither the currency, business support nor security apparatus, let alone international complicity, to self-govern as an outlawed state.Only Putin and the next active cell of Islamist terrorists must be relishing this moment of apparent disintegration.


Catalonia’s UDI  is act of folly carried out by a cabal of utterly irresponsible self-serving power intoxicated  and in some cases corrupt politicians, driven by their agitprop supporters who vote with their feet, and think that politics is resolved by pulling down a flag and putting up another one or by the numbers of militants you can mobilise on the streets.


My heart goes out to my Catalan friends who are against Independence  but must now fear  their world will fall apart as they are caught in the cross-fire of those who ignored them for too long both in Barcelona and Madrid. They are watching the attempted destruction of  the multinational pluralistic, tolerant outward creative society that was once Catalonia. What a terrible  tragedy  for Catalonia, and Spain.


The post The Catalan Tragedy appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 27, 2017 11:33

October 21, 2017

Modern Spain’s Unchartered Territory

The phrase Direct Rule has a certain resonance  for a British and US media sensitised by the not so distant memories of Northern Ireland where the British government sent in the army to try and maintain law and order at the height of the Troubles.


Its use to describe the next stage of the Catalan crisis may be convenient short hand but it is not  a phrase that the jurisprudential Spanish prime-minister  Mariano Rajoy has opted to use. Instead the phrase has been Article 155, as incomprehensible  on a first hearing, as Article 150 was when  British MP’s finally sat down to  discuss Brexit.


Article 155 which gives the Spanish government the right to take unspecified  measures to restore an  autonomous government to lawful conduct not only has never been used before, but it is also so broadly  framed as to give the central government considerable flexibility to go in as hard or as soft as it chooses.


Nevertheless beyond dark memories of the lead up to the Spanish Civil War, there is no case history to draw on, and the government is entering  unchartered territory which, quite apart from the  legal challenges it might throw up, is a potential political minefield.


One of the ironies of the current crisis -not always explained  by those in the  international media too easily seduced by  in the emotionally-charged rhetoric of the Catalan separatists – is that Catalans , far from the being  repressed people controlled from the centre, are part  of a virtual  federal system with more than 90 per cent of its administration  in the hands of the Catalan regional and  even more devolved layers of local government, greater selfgovernment  than most other regions  enjoy in Europe


Catalonia’s  autonomy may be a source of grievance for radical pro-independents, but as it stands it has been secured over years of skilful wheeling and dealing with Madrid by less radical Catalan nationalist politicians, with today only nine of cent of Catalan public sector workers employed by central government.


Autonomous  rule extends across the health service, education,  local media including the well funded and Catalan nationalist  TV3, and the police force where the Catalan Mossos  de Escuadra have grown from 15,300 in 2009 to 17,000, compared to the national police and civil guard  local presence which fell from 6,500 to 5,900 during this period and just over 2,000 army personnel currently.


While in Northern Ireland direct rule was imposed drawing on a highly organised military contingency, on a province with far less locally administered resources than Catalonia, it was also done in the midst of a violent sectarian terrorist campaign.


Spain’s pro-independence  campaign has been largely peaceful until now, but Catalan Nationalism remains a highly volatile issue, and Mr Rajoy is caught between  rock and hard place as to how to deliver  Article 155.


While’s Catalonia’s  current autonomous  status is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution , any move by Madrid to replace management levels of the regional  administration with officials designated by Madrid, will be seen by many Catalans  as an attack on their democratic institutions  and way of life, and risk boosting  the pro-independence campaign if nothing else out of a sense of self-preservation.


This risk is recognised by the opposition party the PSOE  which,  while in favour of  Article 155 , is strongly of the view that  it should be limited in its scope and be focused  on organising new elections as soon as possible in the hope that a new more pragmatic, less radical  Catalan  autonomous government can  be formed.


In recent weeks the Spanish media has been filled with memories of the early 1930’s when an autonomous  Catalan government briefly declared a unilateral independent Republican  state of Catalunya only to be intervened militarily  by a democratically  elected government. The president of that government , the Spanish Republican Manuel Azaña later blamed Catalan separatists for dividing Spain and fuelling the later Spanish Civil War.


Much as some journalists have a tendency to see Spain thhough the prism of the Spanish Civi War , history has moved on.  These days, Mr Rajoy -no dictator if not a great statesman either-  is under pressure from hardline right wingers within his own party  and the leader of the centre right opposition grouping Cuidadanos to ‘punish’ the current  Catalan government  for its ‘rebellion’ against the Spanish state, and do whatever it takes to impose its authority, abiding by  the Constitution, democratically  approved in the 1970’s by a clear majority of Spaniards.


To some extent Mr Rajoy already has an important foot in  the door. While  Catalan companies continue to exit the region in increasing numbers and local  hotel receipts plunge because of the political instability , Madrid is fully in control of the  main purse strings, including payments such as salaries of public sector workers  and subsidies for local special projects in  addition   to the powers of taxation it already had.


By contrast Catalonia  has been in  political  free-fall for months, if not years, , is heavily in debt, has no currency of its own, and no Central Bank,  and its access to credit is via Madrid. The region is today  a shell of an  autonomous state and the nationalism of its many citizens remains a  live wire and wont easily be defused.


It  is far from  clear how the Mossos de Escuadra will react to being intervened, since their rank and file is divided about where the allegiance should lie, in the heart of  Catalan nationalism  or under orders from Madrid. As it is  the extra 6,000 police dispatched to Catalonia to reinforce security, still leaves Spanish police outnumbered by Catalan police.


As for the army, Spanish voters are hugely sensitive about the involvement  of armed forces publically, given that the depoliticisation  of the military was one  of the key policies of the post-Franco’s transition to democracy.


The security organisation  in  Catalonia, part of Spain which is not part of the EU but also a highly valued NATO member,  so controversial  on the day of the ‘illegal’ Referendum on October 1ts, may once again  be challenged by a growing  campaign of civil  disobedience, including street demonstrations  and lock-ins . God forbd there is no further Islamist terrorist outrage.


Rajoy and the King of Spain, are not alone in believing  the fate of Spanish and European democracy is being played out in the streets of Barcelona and Catalan separatism cannot, must not be allowed to pursue  its relentless anti-system unilateralist  strategy. But Mr Rajoy will be well advised to act in way that is seen  measured and proportionate , or seen that way by the civilised world inside and outside Spain.


 


 


 


 


The post Modern Spain’s Unchartered Territory appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 21, 2017 02:47

October 11, 2017

The Catalan Show

 


Last night’s prime time show in the Catalan parliament served as a reminder of the seemingly  dangerously uncompromising nature of the current Spanish crisis, even if  it  seems to have  temporarily pulled back from the brink.


If there were highlights  from recent episodes of this seemingly  enduring melodrama  to  be drawn from previous episodes I would identify the following:


 



The unnerving site in early September of a small majority –less than the two-thirds required by the Catalan Statutes of Autonomy- of pro-independence  deputies  in the Catalan parliament bulldozing through their unilateral plans for a referendum  in which the result would be binding with a simple majority  and without requiring a minimum  turn out . The referendum was illegal according to the Statutes of Autonomy and the Spanish Constitution..

 


 



The large numbers of Catalans who turned up and voted for the referendum on October Ist, despite it being in clear breach of Spanish constitutional law, the Statutes of Autonomy and the guidelines of the Council of Europe for any  referendum in a EU member state.

 


 


An objective reading of the turn out and the result would suggest a large number of Catalans who do not want to be part of Spain, but well short of a clear legitimate mandate for independence, with Catalans showing their opposition to it  by  voting against and a majority staying away.


 


I am not alone in this interpretation.  Quite apart from the views of the elected Spanish government and  majority of the Spanish parliament, Mr Puigdemont’s has failed to secure any international support for the idea of a unilateral declaration of independence  based on his  referendum or its result.


 



Last Sunday’s demonstration in Barcelona by those who want Catalonia to remain part of Spain showed the growing strength of feeling of many Catalans who feel unpresented by Mr Puigdemont and other pro-inpendence politicians.

 


 


While  Catalonia is seemingly polarised between those who want Independence  and  those who don’t want it , there is I believe  an important constituency  of voters across Spain that would welcome  a new constitutional pact that would keep  Catalonia within Spain.


 


In his speech to the Catalan parliament  , Mr Puigdemont last night  described the October 1 referendum as a defining moment in  Catalan history and said  he  assumed the  responsibility of his offuce as President of the  Catalan government by  presenting the  ‘mandate’ that Catalonia become an independent state.


 


He went on to say that he would suspend implementing a Unilateral  Declaration of Independence to give time for a dialogue towards an agreement that would take into account the results of the referendum .  This was enough to have his more radical supporters feeling betrayed and abandoning their rally outside the parliament building in protest.


But the apparent false hood of his opening premise of  political legitimacy to go  ahead with independence sooner or later  on the basis of the referendum result also unsurprisingly  failed to convince all those opposed to the very idea- a majority in the Spanish parliament.


Puigdemont thus emerged from the evening, more demonised than ever by his opponents, and losing the support of some of his supporters  whose hopes he had raised of an immediate UDI . He is tainted now potentially as  Catalonia’s equivalent of the Grand Old Duke of York who as the old nursery rhyme goes, marched his men all the way to the top of the hill only to have them  march down again.


Like a Netflix series, this saga may be  far from over.  But last night the tide seemed to be turning against Catalonia becoming independent any time soon  and with growing calls for election to reestablish  a lawful  vote as an essential instrument of any serious democracy.


Without dialogue or votes, Catalonia may be condemned  to fighting out its future in the streets- a scenario that would be truly tragic.The show is over.


 


 


 


 


 


 


The post The Catalan Show appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 11, 2017 03:13

October 6, 2017

The centre cannot hold

REVIEW IN THIS WEEK’S THE TABLET BOOKS

Books > The centre cannot hold

THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD

05 October 2017 | by Jimmy Burns

The centre cannot hold

The Struggle for Catalonia: Rebel Politics in Spain

Raphael Minder

(Hurst, 344 PP, £15.99)

Tablet Bookshop price £14.40 • Tel 01420 592974


Few local festival rituals in Catalonia are as popular as the castell, the human tower. A large group of male and female volunteers – from a minimum of 60 to maximum of 600 – link arms to create the pinya or base; others clamber on to their shoulders, creating diminishing layers, until only children can climb on top; once one child has reached the apex, he or she steadies himself or herself upright, and raises a hand, steady and defiant, a signal that the castell is complete – before it is carefully dismantled to avoid anyone falling. As Raphael Minder notes in his incisive, highly readable and timely account of Catalan political culture, the castell took an increasingly symbolic significance in the weeks leading up to last weekend’s referendum, with a growing number of Catalans believing their grass-roots separatist movement could draw on the values of the castells – “força, equilibri, valor i seny” (strength, balance, courage and common sense) – to create an independent state.


Minder, a Swiss-born former Financial Times correspondent who now covers Spain for The New York Times, brings years of object­ive reporting to inform a thoughtful, balanced analysis of an extraordinarily complex issue. He draws on scrupulously non-partisan historical research and hundreds of interviews across the political and social spectrum to leave the reader in no doubt of the dangerously widening gulf between the ruling centre-right Government in Madrid and the radicalised Catalan nationalists.


Writing before the dramatic events of 1 October, Minder concludes that while the creation of an independent Catalan state may not be a pipe dream, neither is it inevitable, “particularly since Catalan society has often shown itself be more inclined towards pragmatism rather than hothead idealism”. 11 September 1714, celebrated by millions of Catalans as their national day, marked a crushing defeat rather than a successful revolution. Troops in Barcelona under the control of the Archduke Charles of Austria fell to the besieging army of Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain. Yet the importance of 1714 resides as much in the 14 months Barcelona held out under siege, as in the repression that followed under the Bourbon monarch, ancestor to the current king of Spain. As Minder points out, heroic resistance is as much part of the Catalan ­mystique as suffering and endurance.


Politics in Catalonia in recent decades had been on a far less extreme level than in the Basque country, where more than 800 people were killed in the separatist campaign waged by Eta which only finally ended in 2011. By contrast, an incipient violent Catalan separatist group underpinned by a Marxist-Leninist ideology called Terra Lliure failed to generate popular support. Since its campaign petered out in the early 1990s, Catalan nationalism has expressed itself in peaceful civic protest, an increasingly restless elected majority in the regional government and the growing politicisation of such assertions of cultural identity as the castells and support for FC Barcelona. Local politics draws on a mytholo­gised history, from the popular movements that flourished in the fifteenth century to the worker militias memorably evoked by George Orwell in Homage to Catalonia. The scars of the Spanish Civil War in a region that was the last to surrender to Franco – despite the support he enjoyed among many Catalans, not least Catholics – remain deep.


Minder shows how the post-Franco settlement allowing the Catalans limited autonomy gradually fell apart, with the king and the Catholic Church declining in influence and separatists and hard-line centrist politicians in Madrid mirroring each other in their inability to dialogue and make concessions. The mounting confrontation was fuelled by the inability of a majority of Spaniards to agree on how much control over its affairs should be devolved to its economically strongest region. Minder quotes with approval the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, who in 1932 argued that Catalonia “is a problem that cannot be resolved, but can only be steered”.


As Minder illustrates, Catalonia has shown itself capable of peaceable accommodation with the rest of Spain at the same time as proudly preserving its individual language and culture, not least the one-off wonder of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and the enduring religious iconography of Montserrat. The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona are still remembered as the best-organised and most popular in the history of the Games, and the iconic photograph taken at the time of Catalan nationalist and Spanish politicians in a rowing boat together represented a high point of democratic solidarity in the post-Franco years. Since then, there have been several shipwrecks, not least the the Spanish Gov­ern­ment’s use of the courts and the paramilitary Civil Guard to try to prevent the referendum vote taking place, which has stirred emotional memories of past repression.


A crisis that could have cataclysmic consequences not just for Spain but for Europe has been allowed to fester because of insufficient political will over several years to defuse tensions, and a failure to seek compromise and the common good. Minder is unsure whether the fragile castell of Catalan rebel politics will disintegrate in tears. This is a cautionary tale about the consequences of bloody-mindedness and intolerance that should be required reading for anyone interested in the future not only of Spain, but of Europe.


The post The centre cannot hold appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 06, 2017 11:58

October 5, 2017

Puede Catalunya aprender algo de Escocia?

 


Vengo de visitar  la capital escocesa de Edimburgo, una ciudad elegante, relajada y acogedora del patrimonio mundial, que me ha dejado impresionado  por la tranquilidad y el civismo del proceso politico  de Escocia en comparación con el desastre que ha llegado a caracterizar la cuestión catalana en España.


En el impresionante e histórico castillo de Edimburgo, una de las atracciones turísticas más populares de Escocia, perdura una sensación de identidad cultural que es británica y escocesa.


Visitándolo recordé el lema “Mejor juntos”, que los unionistas usaron con éxito para ganar el “no” en el último referéndum legal sobre la independencia escocesa.


Nuevas tensiones entre el partido nacionalista escocés gobernante  en la región y el gobierno conservador en Londres han sido sembradas por el voto mayoritario del Reino Unido a favor de Brexit.


Pero las demandas nacionalistas escocesas se mantienen dentro de la ley y se canalizan a través del discurso político y la negociación, y no se caracterizan por la desobediencia civil, el unilateralismo y la represión.


 


Mientras que las figuras de dos de los héroes nacionalistas escoceses  más famosos l de William Wallace y Robert Bruce, están en la entrada del castillo de Edimburgo (aunque ninguno de ellos haya vivido alli), también se da una enorme reverencia en el mismo lugar a  la más reciente memoria de Soldados escoceses en regimientos de la Casa Real que murieron por el rey y la patria en dos guerras mundiales.


Una vez más no pude dejar de reflexionar sobre cómo la raíz de los problemas catalanes y españoles es la ausencia de una narrativa histórica consensual, compartida y vinculante, y cuán distantes parecen las guerras de Escocia con Inglaterra en comparación con la apertura en Cataluña de viejas heridas y prejuicios de la Guerra civil española y el franquismo ..


En Edimburgo, nuestro guía hablaba inglés con un acento escocés distintivo (en Escocia, a diferencia de Cataluña, donde la mayoría habla catalán, sólo una pequeña minoría de escoceses, menos del 2 por ciento de la población habla gaélico).


Sin embargo,el guía  mostró sus distintas raíces escocesas vestido con un faldón y mostrando un brillo travieso en su ojo al contarnos con detalle la violencia escocesa usada contra  el inglés y viceversa en las batallas pasadas para conquistar  el castillo que data de la época medieval. .


La actual realidad política sigue siendo definida por el “no” , resultado de un referéndum sobre la independencia, cuyos términos fueron discutidos democráticamente y pacíficamente por el primer ministro británico David Cameron y el líder del SNP y el líder del partido nacionalista escocés Alex Salmond.


Los escoceses, que votaron por mayoría para permanecer dentro de la UE, ahora están incómodos con Brexit pero no están presionando para otro referéndum de la independencia todavía y tampoco Londres tiene prisa para concederles el privilegio.Mientras tanto, una narrativa histórica consensual se encuentra en el Palacio Real dentro del Castillo de Edimburgo donde esta la Piedra del Destino. Para que no nos olvidemos, antes de que la mítica piedra regresara a su lugar de descanso natural, este antiguo símbolo de la identidad nacional escocesa fue robada  por el rey Eduardo Ist de Inglaterra para reforzar su propio trono, provocando la furia de los escoceses. A partir de entonces se utilizó en las ceremonias de coronación de los monarcas de Inglaterra y Gran Bretaña. Pero en 1996 la reina Isabel, en  un acto de reconciliación, accedió a que la Piedra regresara a Escocia, con el acuerdo de que se devolvería temporalmente a Londres para ser usada cuando coronaran a su sucesor.Por ahora la reina Isabel, gracias a este y otros gestos de amistad, sigue siendo una figura muy respetada en Escocia por  un amplio espectro de opinión política como en Inglaterra, en contraste con el desafío que el rey Felipe de España enfrenta al ganar el respeto y la lealtad de los pro –independientes y  catalanes republicanos que no quieren nada que ver con una monarquía borbónica.Hay que señalar que los escoceses  tuvieron que ser seducidos de cierto modo  para llegar aun acuerdo  el estado británico. En l  coronación en 1952, había escoceses que se opusieron a ella porque era coronada Elizabeth 11 a pesar de  ninguna Elizabeth antes ella había gobernado como reina de los escoceses. Vale la pena recordar aquí que James  VI de Escocia, se convirtió en James I de Inglaterra en la unión 1603 de las coronas. Cuando su línea de herencia fue sustituida  por Guillermo de Orange, este fue  visto por muchos escoceses protestantes, aunque con menos entiasmo por los católicos.De hecho, William nunca visitó Escocia, ni su sucesora la reina Ana, durahtecuyo reinato se llego la unión de los parlamentos inglés y escocés en 1707. El rey George 1V visitó Escocia 1822 más de cien años después del  Acta de Unión entre las dos monarquías.El rey George  era impopular en Londres. Pero su visita a Escocia, organizada por el muy admirado romántico poeta escocés y novelista histórico Sir Walter Scott, fue un gran éxito. Mientras se encontraba en la terraza del castillo de Edimburgo, el rey dijo: “Debo alegrar a mi pueblo”. El historiador Sir John Plumb comentó más tarde que el rey Hanoveriano George mostró la forma en que la monarquía debe seguir para sobrevivir en una era democrática. Fue la reina Victoria quien durante su largo reinado imperial, construyó un vínculo especial con los escoceses. Le encantaba Balmoral, el castillo escocés comprado para ella por su esposo el príncipe Alberto y disfrutado por sus sucesores. Una vez viuda, escandalizó parte de la sociedad londinense desarrollando una estrecha amistad romántica con su acompañante personal, un montañés escocés llamado John Brown, historia inmortalizado en la película Mrs. Brown.Entre los hijos  de la reina Elizabeth, es la princesa Anne que es identificada lo más a menudo posible con Escocia. Una visitante regular y entusiástica y patrona de los deportes y artes escoceses, es bien conocida por su apoyo al equipo escocés de rugby y felizmente canta el himno nacional escocés cuando asiste a los juegos internacionales. Ella apela a los escoceses comunes como la más  normal y corriente de los Royals, una candidata para el título oficioso de princesa de los escoceses.Si muchos escoceses mantienen cierta ambivalencia hacia la monarquía británica, no se han rebelado contra ella ni tienen planes de declarar ninguna declaración unilateral de independencia. La monarquía no era un problema en el referéndum legítimo de Escocia, a pesar de que el Partido Nacionalista Escocés (SNP) tenía muchos partidarios a favor de una República particularmente entre los católicos de clase trabajadora.Si muchos escoceses mantienen cierta ambivalencia hacia la monarquía británica, no se han rebelado contra ella ni tienen planes de declarar ninguna declaración unilateral de independencia. La monarquía no era un problema en el referéndum legítimo de Escocia, a pesar de que el Partido Nacionalista Escocés (SNP) tenía muchos partidarios a favor de una República particularmente entre los católicos de clase trabajadora.La política actual del SNP es que la reina seguiría siendo jefa de estado en una Escocia independiente, aunque probablemente sería llamada Reina de los Escoceses para subrayar la idea de que la soberanía pertenece al pueblo escocés.  Significativamente el canto del poeta Robert Burns  a la hermandad contó con el acuerdo de la Reina, y fue cantado en su inauguración del Parlamento escocés en 1999. Aunque hay republicanos en el SNP, y de hecho no hace mucho tiempo desde que el partido favoreció la idea de una república escocesa, la política actual es que la reina permanecería jefa de estado en una Escocia independiente. (Probablemente sería renombrada Reina de Escocia para reflejar la visión nacionalista de que la soberanía pertenece al “pueblo escocés”). “Lo bueno de no tener una constitución escrita es que nos confundimos, nos comprometemos y nos adaptamos”, dijo un amigo de Escocia, el periodista Robert Powell. En otras palabras, el dar y recibir en lo político y los estadísticassx son lo que importa en una democracia decente.Robert y yo visitamos juntos el nuevo edificio del parlamento escocés. Fue diseñado como un “espacio democrático abierto a las ideas y que crece fuera de la tierra”, por el catalán Enric Miralles, quien murió de un tumor cerebral en 2000 cuatro años antes de la inauguración de su obra maestra. Construido a partir de una mezcla de acero, roble y granito, y inspirado  en el paisaje local y los barcos levantados de la costa de Escocia, el complejo edificio fue aclamado en la apertura como uno de los diseños más innovadores en Gran Bretaña.A pesar de que la amenaza del terrorismo ha significado desde entonces un aumento de la seguridad, es más accesible al público que las tradicionales Cámaras del Parlamento en Westminster, sus miembros menos abarrotados.

El parlamento escocés estaba medio vacío y sumergido en un debate relativamente incontrovertible sobre una cuestión de igualdad de remuneración cuando la visitamos, en marcado contraste con la atmósfera volátil que ha caracterizado al parlamento catalán últimamente, donde los partidos independentistas en el gobierno regional han abiertamente desafiado  la Constitución española.


A los escoceses les gusta verse a sí mismos como más igualitarios que los ingleses y los nacionalistas creen que podrían construir una sociedad mejor y más justa si fueran independientes. Pero no hay indicios de insurrección contra el Estado británico, como lo demuestran algunos de los elementos más radicales de Cataluña en su confrontación con Madrid.


El parlamento escocés descentralizado se encuentra al final de la avenida conocida como la Royal Mile y junto al Palacio de Holyrood donde la Reina se instala cada año, organizando cenas y una fiesta en el jardín como una forma de mantener un contacto más cercano con todos sus temas . También pasa sus vacaciones en el castillo de Balmoral, la casa escocesa de la familia real desde que fue comprado para la reina Victoria por el príncipe Albert en 1852.


Una gran cantidad de pompa y circunstancia rodea la presencia real en  Escocia desde  los regimientos militares hasta  la Compañía de Arqueros (el guardaespaldas oficial de la Reina en Escocia), pero lo importante es que la familia real británica en su fase moderna ha desarrollado una importante actividad política, cultural y el compromiso social con el pueblo escocés que parece haber neutralizado los antagonismos históricos entre Londres y una de sus regiones en lugar de inflamarlos. Por su parte los nacionalista escocéses y el gobierno británico se han comportado con un ethos democrático que está luchando para prevalecer en Cataluña.


 


The post Puede Catalunya aprender algo de Escocia? appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 05, 2017 08:01

Can Catalonia learn something from Scotland?

I was in the Scottish capital Edinburgh, an elegant, relaxed ,  welcoming world heritage city, earlier this  week  and was struck by the peacefulness and civility of Scotland’s devolutionary process compared to the shambles that has come to characterize the Catalan  issue  in Spain.


In the impressively  located and historic Edinburgh Castle, one of Scotland’s most popular tourist attractions,  there endures a sense of cultural identity that is both British and Scot.


Visiting it I was reminded of the  “Better together”, slogan which unionists  used successfully to win the ‘no’ vote in the last legal referendum on Scottish independence .


Fresh tensions between the  regional governing   Scottish national party and the central government’s ruling British Conservative have been  sown by the UK’s majority vote in favor of Brexit.


But Scottish nationalistic demands remain conducted within the law and channeled  through political discourse and negotiation , and not characterized   by civil disobedience,  unilateralism and repression..


 


While the figures of two of Scotland’s most famous national heroes and once outlawed rebels ,William Wallace and Robert Bruce,  straddle  the entrance to Edinburgh  Castle,(even though neither actually ever lived there), huge reverence is also given to the more recent memory of Scottish soldiers in Royal regiments  who died for King and country in  two World Wars.


Again I couldn’t help reflecting on how at the root of Catalan and Spain’s problems is the absence of a consensual, shared and binding historical  narrative and how distant seem Scotland’s  wars with England compared to the opening in Catalonia of old wounds and prejudices from the Spanish Civil war and Francoism..


In Edinburgh , our guide spoke  English with a distinctive Scottish accent ( in Scotland unlike Catalonia where a majority  speak Catalan,  only a small minority  of Scots –less than 2 per cent of the population speak Gaelic. ) .


He was  nonetheless showing his distinct Scottish roots  dressed in a kilt and showing  a mischievous  glint in his eye  as he gave us  graphic  accounts of the violence Scots used on the English and vice-versa in past battles for the Castle dating back to medieval times. .


Present date political reality remains defined by the ‘no’ result of a referendum on independence, the terms of which were democratically  and peacefully  discussed and agreed to by the British prim-minister David Cameron  and the SNP leader and Scottish nationalist party leader Alex Salmond.


The Scots , who voted by  a majority to remain inside the EU, now are uneasy with Brexit but they are not pushing for  another independence  referendum as yet nor is London in a hurry to grant them the privilege.


Meanwhile a   consensual historical narrative is to be found in the Royal Palace within Edinburgh  Castle  where lies there  the Stone of Destiny . Lest we forget, before the mythical stone’s return  to its natural  resting  place, this ancient symbol of Scottish national identity  was taken by King Edward Ist of England and built  into his own throne, much to the fury of Scots.


From  then  onwards  it was used in the coronation  ceremonies for the monarchs of England and Great Britain. But  in  1996 Queen Elizabeth , as an act of reconciliation, agreed to have the Stone  returned to Scotland, with the agreement that it be temporarily returned to London  to be used when crowning her successor..


For now Queen Elizabeth , thanks to this and other gestures of friendship, remains a highly respected  figure in Scotland across a broad spectrum of political opinion as in England, in contrast to the challenge Spain’s King Felipe is facing in winning the respect and loyalty of  pro-independence  Republican Catalans who want nothing to do with a Bourbon monarchy.


Not to say that the Scots have not had to be won over to their  current accommodation with the British state . On her coronation  in 1952, there were Scots who objected to her being crowned Elizabeth 11nd  as no Elizabeth  before her  had ruled as Queen of the Scots. Worth here recollecting that James VI of Scotland , became James I of England in the 1603 union of the crowns. When his Stuart line was thrown out by William of Orange, the incomer was welcomed by many Protestant Scots, although less so by Catholics.


In fact  William never visited Scotland , nor did his successor Queen Anne, who saw through the union of the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707. King George 1V visited Scotland n 1822 more than one hundred years after the Act of Union between the two monarchies.


King George was unpopular in London. But his visit to Scotland, organized by the much admired romantic Scottish poet and historical novelist Sir Walter Scott ,  was a huge  success. As he stood  on the terrace of Edinburgh Castle the King said, “I must cheer my people.” The historian Sir John Plumb later commented  that  the Hanoverian King George showed the way the monarchy must follow if it was to survive in a democratic age.


It  was Queen Victoria that during her long imperial reign, built up   a special bond with the Scots. She loved Balmoral, the Scottish castle bought for her by her husband Prince Albert and enjoyed by her successors.  Once a widow, she scandalized part of London society by developing  a close romantic friendship with her personal attendant ,a Scottish highlander called John Brown  as immortalized in the film Mrs Brown.


Among the current Queen’s children,  it is  Princess Anne who is most often identified with Scotland. A  regular and enthusiastic visitor and patron of Scottish sports and arts, she is well known for her support of the Scottish national rugby team and happily sings the Scottish national anthem when attending international games. She  appeals to ordinary  Scots as the most down to earth  of the  Royals, a popular choice for the unofficial  title of Princess of the Scots.


If many  Scots retain  a certain ambivalence towards the British monarchy , they have not rebelled against it nor do they have any plans to declare  any unilateral  declaration of independence. The monarchy was  not an issue in Scotland’s lawful  referendum despite the Scottish  Nationalist Party (SNP) having many  supporters in favor of a  Republic particularly among working class  Catholics.


The SNP’s  current policy is that the Queen would remain head of state in an independent Scotland although she would be probably be called Queen of the Scots to underline the idea that sovereignty belongs to the Scottish people. . Significantly  the singing of the poet Robert Burns ode to brotherhood counted on  the agreement of the Queen , and was sung at her  inauguration of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 .


Though there are republicans in the SNP, and indeed it is not long  ago since the party favored the idea of a Scottish republic, the present policy is that the Queen would remain head of state in an independent Scotland. (She would probably be re-styled Queen of Scots to reflect the nationalist view  that sovereignty belongs to “the Scottish people”.)


 


“The great thing about not having a  written constitution   is that we muddle along, we compromise and adapt,” a friend in Scotland,  the journalist Robert Powell told me.  In other words political give and take and statesmanship are what matters in a decent democracy.


Together Robert and I   visited  the new  Scottish parliament building  . It was designed as  a democratic  “space open to ideas and growing out of  the land “ , by the  Catalan  Enric Miralles who died of a brain tumor  in 2000 for years before  the  inauguration of his masterpiece.


Constructed from a mixture of steel, oak, and granite, and drawing its inspiration from the local landscape and upturned boats of Scotland’s coastline, the complex building was hailed on opening as one of the most innovative designs in Britain.


Although the threat of terrorism has  since meant security being stepped up, it is more accessible to the public than the traditional Houses of Parliament in Westminster , its members less stuffy.


The Scottish parliament was half empty and immersed  in a relatively uncontroversial  debate over an issue of equal pay when we visited it,  in stark contrast to the  volatile atmosphere  that has characterized  the Catalan parliament of late, where pro-independence parties in the regional  government have openly defied the Spanish Constitution. The Scots like  to see themselves as more egalitarian  than the English and nationalists believe they could build a better and more just society were they to become independent.


But there is no hint of insurrection against the British state as some of the more radical elements in Catalonia are demonstrating  in their confrontation with Madrid.


The devolved Scottish  parliament is located at the end of the  avenue known as the Royal Mile and next to  The Palace of Holyrood where the Queen takes up residence every year, hosting dinners and a garden party as a way of maintaining closer contact with all  her subjects.


She  also spends holidays at Balmoral Castle, the Scottish home of the Royal Family since it was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.


Quite a lot of pomp and  circumstance surrounds  Scotland’s Royal presence  from kilted military regiments to the Company of Archers  (the Queen’s official bodyguard in Scotland,) but the important point is that the British  Royal family in its modern phase has developed   an important political, cultural and social engagement with the Scottish people which seems to have defused historic antagonisms between London and one of its regions rather than inflaming them. For its part Scottish nationalist and the UK government   have behaved with a democratic  ethos which is struggling to prevail in  Catalonia.


 


 


The post Can Catalonia learn something from Scotland? appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 05, 2017 08:00

October 1, 2017

The Spanish Government’s Own Goal

Few images circulating globally from earlier yesterday (October 1)  seemed to risk being  more damaging to the Spanish government’s attempts to woo over a majority  of Catalans to its concept of a lawful constitutional democracy than that  of helmeted Civil Guard officers using a hammer to break a window and a lock cutter to break open a door at  a sports centre near Gerona.


Tougher tactics  have been used before by British and other European  police including Catalonia’s own force the  Mossos D’Escuadra to deal with violent protestors, criminals, and terrorists.


But this was a non-Catalan police force ordered by Madrid  to act against a peaceful civil protest expressed by Catalans claiming to exercise  their right to vote for or against independence. The action, followed by other examples of heavy-handed tactics by the Spanish national police, and magnified by wide coverage in the international media,  has  played into  Catalan nationalism’s historic  sense of victimisation  at the hands of Madrid.


In the town of Sitges,just south of Barcelona,  yesterday  morning the majority pro-independence local town council gave the green light to activate various voting centres around town. I watched hundreds of civilians, growing in number in response to the news coming in from  Gerona,   lining up to vote in various polling stations,  with the only security presence that of  two Mossos  d’Esquadra assigned to each. During the day I interviewed Catalans who were voting yes; Catalans  who were voting no; and Catalans  who were not voting because they thought the referendum a sham. and did not agree with the way the Catalan government was radicalising politics.


Looking and acting very much in the style of the traditional  community based English village ‘bobby’, the most senior of the two Mossos d’Escuadra read out an official order declaring the referendum unlawful before asking everyone to abandon the vote and to be allowed in the premise to withdrawal of  the ballot boxes This was rejected by the crowd, and the peaceful voting was allowed to go on.


A similar pattern was repeated in other voting locations around Catalonia in what the Mossos claimed was proportionate policing as compared to the tougher tactics used by other forces.


When the Mossos  did put on their riot gear and adopted a  less passive attitude was when they moved in to  separate a group of extreme right Spanish nationalists who had briefly clashed violently with pro-independence radicals and anarchists in Barcelona’s iconic popular square,the Plaza de Catalunya, itself another disturbing image of how emotionally charged  the Catalan issue has become.


Later the Madrid headquartered Spanish Federation refused a request from  FC Barcelona  that a League match scheduled for the afternoon be cancelled  in solidarity with the injured victims of the police violence used against Catalan voters. Instead the match against Las Palmas was played bending closed doors.The club denied reports that the main reason was because of  security concerns that the  match might be disrupted by angry pro-independence  fans .


It was surreal to be among a few dozen journalists allowed to watch the match live.  A heavy sense of mourning as well as defiance seemed to hang about some of the players as they pursued a 3-0 victory amidst the cavernous silence of the 98,000 seated Camp Nou .


Fourty years ago I sat in the same stadium and watched the stadium filled with Catalan and Basque flags for the first time since the Spanish Civil War as Johan Cruyff led out Barca and Iribar, Athletic Bilbao.  Catalonia’s  exiled regional president Josep Tarradellas was on his way back to Spain after  striking  a pact with Spanish prime-minister Adolfo Suarez .  Spain’s transition to democracy twould include a new constitution giving Catalonia and other regions of Spain autonomous powers  under the unified nation state headed by the Spanish Crown.


Fourty years on, the empty Camp Nou stadium testified the extent to which many Catalans feel that Spanish democracy, as interpreted by the current centre-right Popular Party government in Madrid, has failed them.


After the match against Las Palmas , the  Catalan nationalist   player who plays in the Spanish national squad Gerard Pique made   an emotional statement in support of  the people of  Catalonia  and in  denunciation of police tactics. Yes, FC Barcelona has a civic conscience. Barca es Mes que un Club.


So where does this leave Catalan  politics?


In desperate need of statesmanship in Madrid, moderation and pragmatism in Barcelona,  and the kick-start of serious  political dialogue that a majority of Spaniards can support and which can connect  with Catalans who have a strong sense of  their  cultural identity  but do not necessarily want to be independent from Spain.


The current polarisation between the Spanish right and Catalan nationalists  will only lead to increasing violence. Pehaps its time for an external mediation to identify Spain’s common good lies in dealing with Catalans  with more respect , and that includes engaging with those who did not vote today because they thought it unlawful and those who voted because they thought it their right.


 


The post The Spanish Government’s Own Goal appeared first on Jimmy Burns.

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on October 01, 2017 14:51

Jimmy Burns's Blog

Jimmy Burns
Jimmy Burns isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.
Follow Jimmy Burns's blog with rss.