Are We On The Verge of Living in a New Country?

I have finally decided to shake off the cobwebs of this blog site and write a blog regarding the recent events in Barcelona and Catalonia.  Although I have lived in Barcelona for over 3 1/2 years, I feel that I have taken a crash course over the last few weeks on Catalan and Spanish sentiments and the rocky history that has brought them to this moment.

Writing in English, my intended audience is for my American and English-speaking friends.  However, all are welcomed to read and reflect on the tumultuous times in Catalonia and the rest of Spain.  Although some of you may have seen recent news about the violence that occurred on Oct 1, the day of the planned referendum, when many Catalans went to voting centers to express their opinion about whether to remain within Spain or to separate and become a separate country as well as the violent response from the Spanish national police to prevent this voting to occur, that is just the tip of the iceberg.  This is a very complex topic and no one can fully summarize everything that has led the country to this point.  I will try, but some of my Catalan and Spanish friends may be dissatisfied with my observations and views, probably from multiple sides.  I welcome constructive criticism as long as it does not become a personal attack.  I am here to learn and grow in my understanding of this tense and explosive situation.  Please be part of my retinue of teachers on this topic.

Before I go any further, I need to say how shocked, horrified and saddened I feel about the violence and suffering that occurred on Sunday, Oct 1, as thousands of people went out to vote peacefully at their polling stations and many were met with plastic billy clubs and rubber bullets as well as roughing up civilians.  It was deplorable and shocking and was a disproportionate response to the peaceful civil disobedience that was displayed by thousands of ordinary citizens.

I say civil disobedience because the Constitutional Court of Spain (Tribunal Constitucional de España), the highest body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government, declared that the law passed by the Catalan government, Referendum 1-O (Oct 1), was unconstitutional and thus illegal.  However, the pro-independent politicians, who have a slight majority of seats in the Catalan Parliament, and many Catalan citizens ignored that ruling and voted anyway, or at least tried to.  This is a very brief summary of what happened on Sunday, Oct 1 and what brought them to this violent collision.

Sources

First, I should let you know what have been my information sources.  I have read many Spanish and English articles from various newspapers (I do not know Catalan well enough to be able to read Catalan newspapers) and have listened to news reports and analysis on different local and national TV stations.  Also, an invaluable source for me has been a recently published book written in English on Catalonia's relationship to Spain and quest for independence called Struggle for Catalonia by Rafael Minder, published Sept 1, 2017, which captures the historical and recent events in this region putting it in context up through February 2017.

Finally, I have read many, many Facebook publications and commentaries from my Facebook friends and their friends' responses and reactions.  Facebook may not be as accurately factual as other sources, but it certainly helps me feel the emotional pulse of the people here and other parts of Spain.  This is not only a battle of ideas and votes, but also a battle of deep-seated emotions that are very real and also makes it very difficult for one viewpoint to listen to a different viewpoint.  I find that there is some truth to most points of view, but many times they are one-sided and ignore other facts that may not support their arguments. I will try to be as objective as I can be and any inaccuracies that you may find here were unintended.  Please let me know about them.

Recent Events In Brief

This is a rapidly changing environment.  Within the last 4 weeks we had the Catalan Parliament with a slight majority of seats of those who want independence from Spain (heretofore called Separatists) pass a law of referendum for Oct 1.  They bypassed parliamentary rules and did not allow input or modifications to the draft before passing it.

The central conservative government of Spain responded and tried to stop the referendum by having the Constitutional Court rule against the law.  Then the High Court of Justice of Catalonia made various rulings placing high fines on the politicians who were organizing the referendum and arrested some of them claiming that they had broken the law.  The Justice Department (La Fiscalía) ordered the Catalan police (los Mossos) to impede the referendum and tried to switch the head of the regional police to a high ranking officer in the paramilitary national guard (La Guardia Civil), which in the end did not happen.  The Mossos raided a printing shop and confiscated millions of ballots.  The national guard also raided and searched for evidence in the headquarters of various Catalan ministries.  They also tried to find and confiscate the ballot boxes for the referendum, but were unsuccessful for the most part.  The central government also called up the Guardia Civil and the National Police from the other parts of Spain, boarded them on ships and docked those ships at the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona.  La Fiscalía ordered that the Mossos seal off the 2,300 plus schools that typically are used as voting stations by 6 am Sunday morning, Oct 1, the day of the referendum.

From my perspective, the Catalan government (El Govern) was prepared for the central government's actions.  When they confiscated the ballots, El Govern had a website for people to print their own ballots.  It seems that they had purchased from a Chinese factory plastic, translucent boxes and had them shipped to France and then transported them to Catalonia, put the Catalan governmental insignia on them and announced two days before the referendum that these would be used as ballot boxes.  Some citizens decided to camp out at the schools and set up cots to sleep there the weekend of the referendum and some brought their children.  El Govern also had a website for those who were unable to physically show up at the voting station to be able to cast their vote online, which was subsequently taken down by the central government.

October 1 arrived.  The Mossos did not seal off the schools.  For the most part they backed away from following the central government's orders.  As a result, Spain's government ordered the Guardia Civil and the National Police with their billy clubs and rifles with rubber bullets to deboard their ships and shut down the referendum.  At the same time, thousands of Catalan citizens, young and old, went to their polling stations to cast their votes.  Organizers for the most part were able to set up their ballot boxes and welcome the voters.  It was a day for an inevitable collision on the streets and in the voting stations between the Spanish authorities and the citizens of Catalonia.

That day physical violence occurred and blood was spilled.  No one died, but there were over 800

civilian injuries with at least 2 in serious condition.  It was also reported that police agents had over 400 injuries.  The videos of police brutality of civilians have gone viral.  From news reports and videos on Facebook, one gets the impression that it was a day of total warfare,  In reality, many people were able to wait in line peacefully and cast their vote and not encounter any confrontation.  However, the violence that occurred was very real and many felt that their right to vote was brutally violated.  The central government justified their actions by saying that the response was proportionate and necessary to stop an illegal referendum.

The results of the referendum is that 90% voted for independence, 7.8% voted against with the rest of the ballots being blank or void.  About 40% of the electorate voted.

Political and Technical Issues with this Referendum

The central government has always been against a referendum that asks the citizens of a particular region whether they wanted to separate and become their own nation.  The government claims that it is unconstitutional and it is true that the Spanish constitution of 1978, agreed upon by all Spanish regions a few years after the dictatorship of Franco, makes no provision for secession.

As a result of the intransigence of the central government to negotiate with the Catalan autonomous government, when the elections of 2015 voted in a slight majority of pro-independent politicians in the Catalan Parliament with the promise of giving voters the opportunity to vote for independence within 18 months, the game of cat and mouse between these two governments began in earnest.

"Yes, Hello New Country"

The separatist politicians developed a detailed plan for independence and to enact a binding referendum.  They voted and passed the Law of Referendum less than a month before the date of the referendum to give the central government as little time as possible to react.  They ramrodded the law through parliament, ignoring parliamentary procedures and did not allow opposition parties to voice their views or make amendments to the law.  The new Catalan law states that there is no minimum percentage of the electorate required and that a simple majority is all that is necessary for El Govern to declare unilateral independence from Spain within 48 hours after the referendum.

Due to the Spanish government's opposition and intervention to the referendum as well as the short time frame that the Catalan government gave to prepare, there were few guarantees preventing voting irregularities.  There have been reports of voters voting multiple times at different voting stations.  There were no voting booths to ensure privacy.  There were no official international observers to independently confirm that voting followed international procedures.  Also, some voting boxes were confiscated by the Spanish government.

Besides these issues, my personal concern with this referendum was that it was not organized by a government that represents all Catalans and that truly wanted to know what the vast majority wants for their region. Rather, this organized effort was biased from the start in favor of independence and made every effort to have a referendum that would legitimize the government's goal of making Catalonia independent from Spain.

Battle of Ideas and Identity

Although the current Catalan government may have failed in guaranteeing an accurate and unbiased vote in this referendum that represents the entire population, they and past governments have certainly won the battle of the minds and hearts of many Catalan people.  The Spanish government's violent response on the day of the referendum also has moved more moderates into the Separate's camp for independence.

Before the referendum, the latest figures for independence from the Catalan government's own surveys showed a little less than 50% in favor.  Before 2010, that percentage was lower, but has grown as a result of decisions by the Spanish national courts, one of those being the decision to strike down a law passed by the Spanish Parliament in 2006 that gave greater autonomy to Catalonia.  Another court decision more recently struck down the Catalan law that prohibited bull fighting in Catalonia, saying that this was a national heritage that should be preserved in all of Spain.  These and other actions by the Spanish courts have alienated a growing number of Catalans by ignoring or overriding Catalonia's self-rule.  Additionally, the economic crisis that hit Spain in 2008 and the subsequent government cutbacks due to the country's growing deficit and their obligation to strictly stay within the budget parameters of the European Union, greatly contributed to the unrest in Catalonia and their already distrust of the central government.

The Spanish conservative government also has contributed to alienating many Catalans.  Led by Mariano Rajoy from the People's Party (Partido Popular), this government consistently ignored the petitions from the Catalan government for more advantageous fiscal treatment. Later the government decided to stop doing politics at all in Catalonia, basically abdicating its influence, which was already waning in this region.  In 2016 Rajoy campaigned and won national reelection partly because he promised to quash any Catalan attempt to break Spain's unity.  They have also been accused in recent years of trying to suppress the Catalan language in public schools.

The Spanish and Catalan Flags Combined

This has all led to more and more Catalans identifying less and less as being Spanish.  Many do not feel they are represented by the central government nor do they believe that they are listened to or respected by them.

Self-Determination

It is important to note that although the last Catalan government survey figures showed less than 50% supporting independence, it also revealed that a large majority believed in being given the opportunity to decide for or against independence through a referendum.  The Catalan government has encouraged that view by associating the referendum with the idea of basic democratic rights claiming that the right for self-determination is the foundation for a democratic state.  And that a country that does not allow a region to vote on their right to decide is therefore not democratic and hence must be a more dictatorial and/or fascist state.

"To decide is a democratic right."

Some have argued that the international right of self-determination as defined in the U.N. only applies to colonial countries and thus Catalonia would not qualify, unless one would go back over 300 years when the Bourbons conquered Barcelona and stripped the city of its laws of self-governance.  However, since the death of Franco, Catalonia has been part of the modern democratic country of Spain, first as a region and later as an autonomous community.

Personally, in the case of Catalonia, based on their history both ancient and recent, I believe they should have the right to decide in a referendum that has all the protections and guarantees of any modern democratic election.

Get to the Point

You might say that most of these viewpoints are mute today.  When the Spanish police on Oct 1 came in and destroyed public property and bashed the bodies of peaceful civilians, a line was crossed that can never be erased.  Most residents are outraged by these actions although there are some that applaud the work of the national police and believe it was justified. Regardless, many more minds have changed in favor of independence.

I haven't even addressed the question of how an independent Catalonia might work or what it might look like or whether it is even feasible without impoverishing the population, for at least a period of time.  But that's the subject of another day.

What happens next?  It's anyone's guess, but most likely Carles Puigdemont, the president of Catalonia, and the Catalan Parlament will probably declare unilateral independence within a week.  Spain will probably escalate the tension by taking away autonomous rights of Catalonia as allowed by the Spanish Constitution and they might arrest the President and some members of Parliament for acts of sedition.  Autonomy may not be granted again until a new parliament is elected.  Citizens will express more outrage and there will be more protests.  Up to now, the independent movement has been peaceful and non-violent.  I hope that will not change.

I sincerely hope that more rational minds will prevail and that the escalating tensions on both sides will step back and come to the table with maybe different leaders representing them to finally talk and negotiate and especially listen to each other in order to find a way through this complex and vexing political situation.

As Bette Davis said "Fasten your seatbelts.  It's going to be a bumpy night."

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Wow!  It's been more than 4 months since I last blogged.  But alas, I'm still here and I'm still in Barcelona.  I just didn't feel like I had anything new to write.  Until now that is.  So let me tell you what's been going on for the last month or so.

The Fall -  Broad Brush

The major news about the Fall was that I started to take Spanish again.  I felt that although I was

My language school

pretty fluent, I still struggled being around my Spanish friends in a group setting.  One on one I was fine.  But in a group was a different story.  Also, I am not one to hold court and have funny stories to tell, even in English, so getting two words in edgewise was difficult enough and then trying to follow the conversation that many times bounced all over the place was also a struggle.  So how could I overcome these challenges?

I began to realize that many foreign residents work in a Spanish speaking environment, and/or had a Spanish partner or lived with Spanish roommates.  These are great opportunities to naturally improve one's language speaking skills, and more importantly, think consistently in the language.  I had none of that as a retired person with an American partner living in another country.  In fact, there are many hours of the day where I am not in contact with anyone speaking in Spanish and sometimes one or two days a week not speaking in the language.  Chris and I speak with each other each day in English, which is great, but I also need Spanish speaking opportunities on a daily and even hourly basis, which I was not getting.  Don't get me wrong, each week I meet up with friends for dinner multiple times, go to the movies with local friends, go to the Barcelona Shambhala group weekly, and do all-day hiking trips with Spanish friends once or twice a month.  But for me, with my language learning capacity and my age, I saw that I needed more.  And for better or worse, many adult learning classes offered by the city are in Catalan, so it is not easy to find other avenues to get more Spanish interaction other than TV or radio.

There are a multitude of Spanish language schools in Barcelona.  But I learned that those who are accredited through FEDELE, an association for schools teaching Spanish for foreigners, have higher quality instruction.  I visited 3 different schools with that accreditation, two of which required me to take their placement test, and both of them put me in level C1, which is Superior (there is only one higher level, C2, which is almost a native Spanish speaking level).

The one I finally chose was BCN LIP (Barcelona Language Immersion Program).  I decided to do only two hours two days a week in the afternoon, although one could do up to 4 days a week.  I found that the classes were small, the teacher skilled, animated and friendly, and the materials very useful.  I only did two months to test out the program, but in the end I was very satisfied.  However, I realized that although I did not get lost by only going two days a week in a class that met four days a week, I could see that I was missing information that would have been helpful for me.

I have now signed up again in January for 3 months in a C1 level class that meets in the morning and I'll be attending all four days each week.  I'm looking forward to it!!

A question you might have is what am I doing with the Catalan that I started to learn last year?   The simple answer is that I have put it aside for now.  If I were living in Girona or in a smaller town, it would be necessary to learn Catalan to really be integrated in the local life.  But I find that in Barcelona that is not necessarily the case.  I also found that learning Catalan while my Spanish was still like wet cement caused me to mix up Spanish with Catalan.  So, for now, I decided to improve my Spanish.  I am not abandoning learning Catalan.  I just need to postpone it until a later time.

The Winter Holidays

Dinner near Reedville, VA with Carol and Dave

It's been two years since I returned to the U.S. so I thought it would be good to go with Chris back to my home country.  We spent almost 3 weeks there.  It was great!  We got to see many friends (I wish I could have seen more!), visit with my niece in the DC area, spend almost a week in Chris' home town visiting with his mom, his family and his friends there, and even got to go to NYC for 3 days to take in the Christmas festivities there.

We also got to see our good friends Carol and Dave and stay in their beautiful home in Reedville in the Northern Neck of Virginia.  They also were very generous in allowing us to stay in their small condo in Arlington, VA, which is right next to a DC metro station.  Because of that we didn't need a car while we were in DC.

It was a great time.  It was especially good to spend all that time with Chris. But I was looking forward to getting back to Barcelona.  It's hard to describe, but the pace of life, even in a large city such as Barcelona, is different and I find more enjoyable than in the DC area.  I really do feel at home here and am glad to be back.

Visa Renewal Time

My current visa will expire on March 11.  I can submit my visa application two months before the expiration date, which I did on Jan 12.  This will give me another two years to live here.  This will be my third visa.  A non-lucrative visa, i.e. a visa which states that you have your own means to live comfortably without having to work, generally starts off with a 1 year visa.  You can renew it two more times for a two year period each time.  After that, you would apply for a long duration visa, which lasts for five years.

Waiting for my number to come up....

For me, I spent the month of December preparing my documents, which consisted of getting the most recent copies of my government pension statement, my social security statement, a letter from my federal health insurance company stating that it covers me in Spain, my retirement savings investments and finally my property record showing that I own my condo here free and clear.  Other than the final document, all the others needed to be translated by a certified Spanish translator.

I thought it was going to be easy submitting these documents.  A few months ago I got a digital signature from the Spanish government to install on my computer so I could submit these documents from the comfort of my home computer.  But after spending 3 hours the morning of the 12th trying to upload these documents without success, I finally went to one of the government offices to submit it in person.  This too took another 3 hours.  But it's all done.  Now I need to wait up to a month to find out whether they approve the visa.  I don't think there will be any problems, but you never know.

Best of All, Chris is Moving Here in June!!!

The best news of all is that it has been definitely decided that Chris will be moving to Barcelona this

summer.  He is now gathering the information that he needs to apply for a year long student visa.  He will spend next year studying Spanish in the same school that I am attending.  He visited it when we got back to Barcelona just a couple of weeks ago and he really liked the school.  The upcoming summer will be hectic:  Chris will move here at the end of June and then we will go for a week to southern Spain, probably staying in Málaga and driving to some of the other cities in Andalucía. Then Chris will be in the U.S. for almost a month and will celebrate with his mom her 85th birthday and will be doing the flowers for the daughter of a good friend.  He'll be back at the end of July and I'll be leaving a few days later for a three week retreat, most probably.  Finally, at the end of August we will both be together again and settle in Barcelona making our love nest here.

The longer term plan is for Chris to get a job in Barcelona but having Spanish under his belt will be very useful for him, both for his future job and his social life here with our Spanish friends.  I am very much looking forward to our new life together here!