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Unknown to each other, three SR contributors ended up in the same city on the same day attending the same event. What do they remember of the occasion?
[1]
The human chain that links us
Steven Mallon
[2]
The unifying force missing
in Scotland
Douglas Marr
[3]
But all is not radical sweetness
and light
Brian Fitzpatrick
Photograph by Douglas Marr
It is 11 September 2013 and in Catalonia hundreds of thousands of its citizens and sympathetic foreigners gather together for the ‘Via Catalana’, a human chain stretching all the way from the most northern tip of the country to its border in the south. Yet another visible expression of the will of the people in this ‘region of Spain’ to be an independent country.
This time last year we saw over 1.5 million people take to the streets to ask for the same thing – to be the next new country in Europe. Just a few weeks ago more than 100,000 people gathered in Barcelona’s holy of holies, Camp Nou, again to join together to show the world that their ambitions for their country persist, in spite of the clear, if bungling, opposition from Mariano Rajoy and his government in Madrid.
This day serves as a reminder to Catalans of when they lost their independence in 1714 and their country was gobbled up by the Spanish king, Felipe V, who later took vengeance for holding out against his forces. Speaking Catalan was banned and the people were oppressed. So today, at 17.14 exactly, people gathered together and joined hands in an act of hope and defiance against what many see as an occupying force. A human chain of aspiration and determination. This is a people who will not go quietly and for whom the warnings from the Madrid government and elderly generals will not dissuade them from achieving their goal of full independence.
There is an amazing photography exhibition currently showcased in the city photo archive showing scenes of Barcelona from 1939 to 1945. The photos give the official view of the story with the dictator, Franco, pictured as a benign, grandfatherly figure smiling over an adoring people. The reality was very different and Catalan people once again experienced the repression of their language as well as a forced ‘rechristianisation’ of the region by the Roman Catholic Church, that does rather appear to have been in cahoots with Franco.
Fast forward to 2013 and yet again the Catalan language is under threat by the government in Madrid, which is trying in a ham-fisted way to impose a new law to make only Castillian the official language used in schools in the region; and again the Roman Catholic Church is asserting its power in an attempt to change the way that religion is dealt with in schools. History does indeed have a habit of repeating itself here, as the people know only too well.
Having been on the streets today with the people holding hands in an unbroken chain stretching for 400km, I found it hard not to wonder whether something similar will ever be seen in the independence debate in Scotland. Unlike Catalonia, we have the luxury of a date for a referendum. We know we have the chance, the right, to decide. For the people here, that is still just a wish.
The movement for independence in Catalonia seems much more romantic to me than what I see unfolding in Scotland, albeit from my distant perch. Here, it really is something that many ordinary men and women want, regardless of their political convictions. Here I am aware of talk in civic organisations where they are already planning for the scenario of an independent Catalonia. The idea, it seems, is owned by the people and not by those who might see themselves as their political masters.
On a visit to Scotland this summer I was impressed by just how little engagement there seemed to be with the independence issue. The information appearing in the press seems pretty pointless and I didn’t find anyone who was fired up about the issue. Believe me, I did try! Every week in Barcelona someone I meet asks me about how things are going in Scotland. There is an intense interest here in what is happening there. If the people of Scotland vote yes, then the people of Catalonia believe they have a better chance of seeing their hopes becoming real.
In the meantime I wonder if we will ever see something similar to today’s human chain in Scotland? Could we see hundreds of thousands of our people stretched out across the border, staking our claim to our own country and our own future while still holding out the hand of friendship and hospitality to our neighbours? I fear that, without such romantic gestures, the independence debate in Scotland will remain just that, a debate. Here in Catalonia, the people are getting ready and perhaps they have history on their side when you consider that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania took part in a similar demonstration to today’s back in 1989, before winning their freedom from the former Soviet Union.
Regional president Artur Mas tells the New York Times: ‘The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause. We seek the freedom to vote. Every individual has a right to expect this from his government, while also sharing equally in the benefits. In Europe conflicts are resolved democratically, and that is all we ask’. Madrid may be minded to ignore this sentiment but it will do so at its peril.
I hope that in the coming months we will see some new life infuse the debate in Scotland.
Steve Mallon is originally from Glasgow, is a former teacher and currently lives in Barcelona where he is a consultant, business coach and an occasional writer
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