An adaptation of a fragment of the book “Despullant Espanya” (Undressing Spain) by Víctor Alexandre (pages 41.-45) published permanently at www.racocatala.com/cat1714
Catalan people are not Spanish, for the same reason that Spanish are not Catalans. It seems unbelievable that such a simple thing is so difficult to understand! It is truly exhausting to have to repeat always the same truths on an on. But hopefully this is not the result of a bad education, but just the social and political strategy of forked tongues, specifically designed to clean people’s brain.
Despite some are fully conscious of this perfidious strategy, most we have suffered brain-wash without our own awareness, by avoiding our own responsibilities to our nation, whether in the sphere of language, identity or institutional rights of the Catalan country. However, for those few who are aware, they consciously spread their hatred against Catalonia all around. Luckily, these twisted individuals are very easy to identify since they consider the idea of the unification of Catalan Countries as a stupid and outdated idea while they cannot stand any demonstration to support our independency, our language or our institutions.
We should understand them, though, since they are not Catalans they must be superior to us and are in power of the universal truth? These Spanish offenders look at Catalans as if we would be an “enfant terrible” in front of the fatigued tutors. Yet it is surprising that they are promoting modernity and universality now, but keep most people submissive to their “established order”, so devoted to the system divinities, so much suspiciously defending the values of a Spanish monarchy that was re-implemented by the fascists at the end of last century. It is honestly surprising so much genuflection and fervour to obtain the monarchic benediction.
No, Catalonia is not Spain. And if Catalonia is not Spain, Catalans are not Spanish. Catalans, as the noun indicates, are simply Catalans, nothing more. And if this obvious fact must be a reason for conflict, then let it be. But what we cannot do is to renounce to everything we are just to avoid confrontation, but they are the ones generating the conflict as they are compelling us to stop being what we are to become what they are, so that we forget our name, our language and our history. No thanks, we do not want to be Spanish then.
And it is not correct the interpretation of saying that one can be Spanish without stopping being Catalan. So to say, some people believe one can be both things at the same time, as an Extremaduran is also Spanish and a Berliner is also a German. No! It’s not correct because the root of such reasoning is based on the supposition of belonging to a nation: if Catalonia and Extremadura are both in the Spanish estate, why Extremadurians are Spanish and Catalans are not? It is very simple why, because Extremadura is not a nation inside the Spanish state. Extremadura IS Spain. However, Catalonia, it’s a different nation, though still under Spanish administration, but it’s a totally different country. Therefore it is childish to defend the concentric Spanish identity with the statement of “patria chica”: a Spanish-Extremadurian from Badajoz-de la Puebla del Prior. This retroactive reductionism can also be applied to Catalans: a Catalan from Empordà-Figueres at Sant Llatzer street; or to Germans: German of North-Westfalia at Bonn at Goethestrasse. None of the two latter examples contain any incongruence, as they involve one unique nationality and identity. Having been born at street Sant Llàtzer at Figueres, the capital of Alt Empordà, a Catalan region, are not identities on their own but elements configuring one concrete identity, that in this case, is a Catalan one. We cannot confuse one extremity with one identity, as we should not confuse reality with fiction.
[…] Thus, it is clear that you cannot be Extremadurian and Spanish at the same time then. But Spanish From Extremadura, Catalan from Figueres or German from Bonn. Otherwise we should ask those who say that being Catalan and Spanish is the same thing, why one person cannot be from Badajoz and from Figueres and from Bonn at the same time? No, you cannot be born in two different places at the same time. And further on, we should not confuse the enrichment that other cultures offer us, with the total annihilation of our personality as a nation.
And what about Europe? If one can be Catalan and European at the same time, why cannot you be Spanish and Catalan and European, or Catalan, Spanish and European? Here the equivalence is also wrong. What is Europe but a union of identities? Like the United States, for example they are a unique identity, But they are not the only identity in Northern America or the whole continent. In Europe it happens the same. Europe is a continent and we are inside it. Geographically, both Finnish and a Portuguese are Europeans, but they have different identities and nationalities, right? As it is different a person from Quebec from a person born at Uruguay, though they are both Americans. To this point most people would say: then being American is an identity. No, this means confusing the continent with its contents. To start with, what does it really mean to be American? What type of information is given when someone says “ I’m American”? If we do not dare asking anything else, we should look then at the persons physical features, the language and accent they speak. But getting into to the clichés could only lead us to further misunderstandings: nor all blondies with clear eyes are northern-Americans neither all south American look like Pancho Villa or Salma Hayek.
And the same happens with an Asian or a European, what brings us to the same point: we must not confuse the configurative element of an identity with the identity itself. In other words, Catalans do not have a triple identity (Catalan-Spanish-European), neither have Spanish a double identity: Spanish-Europeans. All of them and all of us, we have one unique identity: we are Catalans and they are Spanish. And since both Catalonia and Spain are IN Europe, therefore both nations ARE Europe.
Those who impose the Spanish identity, aside of unconsciously exhibiting reactionary ideas, are only projecting a totally outdated image of Spain. An image somebody introduced into their brains and now they cannot imagine it any other way. Like an act of injustice lasts among time only if it is hidden behind normality.
Mr. Salvador Cardús has described it with a lot of accuracy: “this is the drama of Spanish, that they cannot imagine a Spain without us. They can’t imagine there would be a “missing piece” because their identity image adds us, if not as Catalans, as mere individuals. If they could just imagine an identity on their own and have a name for their particular reality, like the British do. British perfectly imagine themselves without the Scottish or the Northern-Irish. Because being Scottish is not being British, but nothing happens, right? However, when a Spanish says, “we are Spanish”, his mental representation of this political reality contains everything that person believe is a whole”.
Catalonia Direct
Col·lectiu Emma
Catalunya Oberta
The New York Times
The TIMES
May 3, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Catalunya no es Espanya! Greetings from Croatia!
June 27, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Put your words where your mouth is at.
Would you put the sword to your throat or
would you rather destroy a catalonian male.
If you new you had a American that is made
just like you.
How would you cry out for your movement or
cause.
Tell me what you want to hear
I think your putting fear in the place hope
should be.
Catch the spirit of change.
I’m getting older.
Catalina Forever,
Super Terrado
November 4, 2012 at 10:53 pm
Hey,
Like the british: iberians, meaning spanish, catalans, portuguese, bascs and all the minorities.
Being from a nation long striving to unite itself on the basis of its language and sense of belonging (and that still stands divided by borders drawn by others), I can understand this desire. Still, honestly, I think that a segregation will cause some period of administrative, economical problems. You will even have to get a different country code in the phone book – confusing stuff… Not everybody who says you shouldn’t separate is an agent of a conspiracy. I really fail to see what’s the source of the energy behind this drive for separation. In the end, your situation is completely different than those in the past, where the minority was overwhelmed and suppressed, often by force. And just the same, I see no reason why a people who are the vast majority in a region shouldn’t be able to govern themselves, in order for the vote to carry wait of the majority of their region…
Still, your examples from Europe are limited the division of the rest of Europe is just radical as the one in Spain. Just like you, so should the occitans divide from the frankish(?), the two nations in belgium(?), even between the germans there are differences. So is Switzerland divided by 3-4 cultures which are different, Italy with 2 different nations. What about the religious groups? (they are rather significant). What about the newer groups that migrated to Europe, shouldn’t they be allowed to identify as nations? It would be fair to let everybody make that determination, as a group, for themselves.
This fragmentation scares me. Its not far from WW2 and the scars aren’t healed, not by far – they are older than that. I don’t think Europe can handle it. And if one group does it, it will increase the resolve of others, IMO, to do the same. On the other hand, as the EU evolves, it should be (I hope) easier for each group to identify themselves as their own culture, without having to make an extra effort for it and so will the boundaries of governance change accordingly to the realms of each culture. But I hope this will be done by further dissolution of former/old/unnatural borders, not by creating new ones (this being my biggest fear, isolationism as a result of a new gained independence) – even if there is good reason behind a creating a new catalan border (is a separate flag that important to you people? you should have it if you decide yes…). I mean, no one should have to go through what the bascs or the irish have done for the sake of ensuring the right to decide their future for themselves, but please think if this is really that important to make? You know you are a distinct group and so do most people visiting you, but are there real advantages in a separation? Other than a need for independence which is centuries old (because when you separate from the spanish, you will still be in the EU, there still will be a voice other than that of the catalans)… I’ve read the article to find such arguments, and didn’t find them.
My reasoning comes from the fact that history taught me that the things we came to appreciate in life originate from our diversity, the cultural diversity in particular. The more diverse a region was, the more art & science it produced and the more unique it was. The more isolated a region became, the more it was prone to decadence over time.
No wonder the spanish feel they would be at loss without you, you were there before them and thus give them a sense of belonging in the iberian peninsula. Well it works only as long as you are still part of their history (its the same in France with occitans and the northern frankish occupants). There is more strength and beauty when standing united, if done in good will.
Salut!
November 15, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Dear Adi,
I read your words and it is clear to me you are speaking from fear, not from freedom perspective. The will of the Catalan people is to obtain self-determination through a democratic process. Preserving identity does not mean the EU is going to fall apart. I believe in a Europe and in a world that allows all the voices of all nations to be heard, then we will be more free and this will unify nations having a common goal of understanding. The Catalan people want to divorce from the Spanish state ever since we were conquered in 1714.Now we just find the right conditions for us to make it happen.
On the other hand, it is doubtful that European leaders would allow any self-determination process to happen within a war state, especially in Western Europe: there are too many economic interests involved. Furthermore, please take into account the UNO, the EU and other organizations were created after the WW2 to precisely avoid another WW to happen ever. Please do not use history to justify your fear. We must learn from the past for the better, and use it to grow and provide a better future to our children.
Let’s build a Europe where all nations can have their own language, identity, history etc. Spain so far is a state which during and after dictatorship has plundered my country both culturally and economically, and have promoted censorship and non -democratic ways, like Mr Vidal Quadras now vice-president of the EU who dared asking his EU colleagues to support the army intervention in Catalonia to stop a democratic process for a referendum. Pitiful, especially now the EU has received the Nobel prize for preserving peace in Europe…
Visca Catalunya Lliure!
DJxCatalonia
May 25, 2014 at 6:26 am
The silliest article I have ever read. The Catalanes are like the other Spanish. They have the same genetic make up hon. Therefore they are spics like the other spics, sweeite. This is why the Catalanes are Spanish.
The spics all have celtic iberian, roman goth blood and some have arab, jew, and berber blood. The Catalanes have this ethnic make up.
The people in the South of Spain were under moorish rule much longer and are a little different to the others, but all have celticiberian, goth roman, and possibly arab, jew, or berber blood. It is for this reason that they are all Spanish, duh!!!!
Also, the people in Catalan area have been speaking Castilian for at least two thousand years. After all, it is the Castilians who had the cojones to start the reconquista and help the catalanes throw out their moors. They had to teach the catalanes theri language, intermarry with them , and lead them to get them to stand up against the moors and free their area from them. It is for this reason that all catalanes learned Castilian and castilian became the language of the cultures, the leadership, and of the learned.
Castilian is just as much the heritage of the Catalanes, in terms of their language, culture and blood as catalan.
Please remember that it makes no sense to push catalan language in cataluna in the schools. The reason is that the world language and thus the important spanish tongue is definitely Castilian. IT is the language of all of the great literary spanish folk. No one has written any great literary work in catalan or euskera. It seems asesine and completely senseless for the catalan government to push this insignificant language onto the poor catalan people.
Also, it is not at all fair to use public money to push education in catalan region in catalan an dnot in Castilian. Castilian is the language that the education shoudl be in because the people have Castilian blood and heritage and because it is the world language. Castilian is their heritage as much as Catalan is. It is insane and stupid to expect the poor Catalanes to learn two Spanish languages when they also have to learn English to succeed. Since Castilian is their heritage as well, why ask them to learn the insignificant minority tongue that is not important in this world.
I am not saying that Catalan should be defunct. It has value because it is one of the tongues of the precious celticiberians whom the romans call spics, or hispanics. It is so similar to Castilian I hear that Castilians understand it. It seems petty of the Catalanes to push this one and not the important Spanish tongue. To tell the truth, it is asenine.
I also think it will only aelinate other Spanish people. It is an obvious effort at dividing the spics. Someone out there wants the spics to form little countries. Similarly someone wanted the American Indians to be divided as well and look how they all turned out.
The spics should stay together!!! There is strength in numbers and the spics are all wonderful. They have a wonderful culture in Spain. The mixture of celtic iberian, roman, goth, and maybe some arab, berber or jew thrown in (some have semitic blood but not all) is awesome. The separatist Catalnes shoudl stop admitting their self hatred and stop pretending that they do not have this genetic mix, which makes them Spanish. It is time for them to stop trying to deny reality!!! and to start finding true self esteem like the other Spanish.
Again, this article is beyond dumb.
May 26, 2014 at 6:27 pm
I usually thank people’s comments, but yours I only publish it so I can properly reply to such a dumb-ass like you. It is my pleasure to prove you wrong with proper evidences. I can realize by the way you write that you lack a lot of knowlegde first on the English language (what is asenine??? check your spell in a dictionary please), and second of general European history. But that is not the worst, the worst is indeed your obtuse approach to the matter based on your own ignorance and arrogance, of course.
For your information spic is an offensive slang word that refers to anybody from southern countries, is not even related only to the European continent. And based on your assumptions, not only Catalans and Spanish share genetic history, but also Portuguese, Italians, South French… when you talk about south Spain ethnic origins, how does that relate to the current Catalan issue? These are two very different matters, I bet most of the audience will agree. And since when an ethnic group or race is linked to states or countries? Since when the ethnic group of a population defines what could be a state or not? It is obvious your are more than racist with these comments. Or are not there in France, USA or Australia people of different races living in the same country?
Let me illustrate you please: the reasons why as of today countries like Catalonia or the Basque country are within Spanish or French states are related to other historical events, only for the last 300 years, and not related to the middle ages and the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Precisely in those times all the kigndoms in the Iberian Peninsula were founded Asturias, Navarra, Basque country, Castilla-León were born of the Gods and Visigods reconquering territory from the Muslims. For the case of Catalonia, it was the French who helped the people in the area fight against Islam in order to create a Hispanic mark that would serve as a contention territory for potential Muslim attacks into France. Since the Catalan count defeated the Muslims in several strategical occasions, the French king Charles II invested him as a king with several counties, including the one of Barcelona, for as long as he would be loyal to the French crown and Cristian Pope against any future threat. These are proven historical facts that you can find easily online, starting for Wikipedia. Thus the Castilian people were never part of the creation of the Catalan nation, but France.
Another point that I will explain you, hoping you are able to absorb the knowledge and that your brain does not explode of so much truth together, is about linguistics.We call Romanic languages those which were generated from the mix of Latin and local languages. There is French, Italian, Catalan, Romanian, Portuguese and Spanish in the same language family. These languages have evolved differently but due to geographical proximity they have influenced one another forever. No Spanish in the middle ages dared to come to Catalonia to teach us Spanish, since Catalan was indeed the language used for the first time in the whole Europe to write for the kings courts Jaume instead of Latin. The first written official document found in Europe in a Romanic language was in Catalan. And for your information, in Catalonia we are happy to be able to speak more than one language, we are not a shame to speak Spanish, or English or any other…
Please bare in mind that the national identities existing within the current Spanish state have existed over 1000 years and Catalonia fell into Spanish domination when the Bourbon dynasty took power over the Iberian Peninsula around the 1700s. Since then, we have suffered social and economical plundering since then in multiple revolts and wars and dictatorships. Now in this 21st century Catalonia is meant to be free to build a brand new country which actually will truly re-activate South Europe economy and force the Spanish central government to restructure a financial corrupted system that is negatively affecting all the Spanish, helping them to also cleanse corruption at all levels of the judicial, parliamentary and economical state powers.
You are only the prove of easy manipulation due to your own ignorance. I motivate you to read history, and to read more of the published articles in this blog so you can learn some truths. However, I kindly ask you not to write any further comment in my blog, since it contains so many orthography and grammar mistakes in English and provides no proper historical evidences. I will leave this here as an example of how anti-democratic, ignorant and racist your are with your judgements
July 16, 2015 at 7:56 pm
Dumb ass, watch the novie ISabel made by the Spanish government You will see that the king Fernando was out in Catalunya being a king. This was way before 1700’s, hon, This means that the Catalanes were under the rule of Castile or Aragon way before sweetheart and were speaking Castellano if they wanted to have any kind of important job, dear.
There is no doubt that the stupid, rural folk only spoke Catalan, duh. However, the educated people who wanted to serve Fernando spoke Castellano as well, this was the language of the smart back then, unquivocally. This was way before 1700, sweet pea.
People can read history and can see that Castellano has been the langauge of the educated in Catalunya since the REconquista and the Catalanes were not the ones who led the reconquista. The Catalanes were always one of the spots that were really weak and that had to be defended, again and again,
You have to understnad dummy, that the Romans called everyone in the iberian peninsula hispanic, sweetpea. Everyone. Before the Romans came, everyone in the Iberian peninsula was celticiberian, which most definitely is our ethnic group, pea brain, Iberian is an ethnic group and Celtic is an ethnic group. Why do you think that the Spanish airline is called Iberian? Why do you think that all of South American is sometimes called Iberian America? duh.
We are an ethnic group, everybody in Iberia, dumb ass.
Thus the Catalanes who are form “la Marca Hispana” which means the end of hispanic country are also hispanic and yes are spics, dear. There is nothing wrong with being a spic, hon, it is just an abreviation of Spanish.
Get your history straight and watch Isabel Real History is in there, in the movie about the Queen Isabel and the creation of Spain, but I suppose you are not interested in the truth,
By the way, if I have mistakes in my English, is because I have not spellchecked, dear.
Yes, everyone thinks the Catalanes are insane and stupid and inferior for trying to learn their own dialect at the expense of Castellano, the language of the learned, of the world and of Cervantes. Everyone in all of Europe thinks this, especially the Germans. I have talked to many people about this who thinks that he Catalanes are just spics who do not like themselves.
I have to agree.
Honestly, I want Catalunya to leave Spain. They were never truly worthy of being a part of us, they were always so weak, and needed so much protection, either from the French or the other Spanish. They should just go. I know that the real reason they want to go is because they do not support the Southern Spanish. Whatever, they should never deny being a spic because they are as celticiberian as the rest of the Spanish. If they do deny that they are a hispanic as defined by the Romans and are La Marca Hispana, then they are pathetic, poor Catalanes, the spics with no pride!!!!.
August 28, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Please note dumb ass is a silly person who, like you, bases her knowledge in a movie!!! I don’t think you ever got a proper history class, something obvious from your assumptions of an Iberian ethnic group or that king Fernando of Aragon and Catalonia let the people from Castilla take over his kingdom. There is historical proof of all the contrary: actually Isabel and Fernando agreed to rule their kingdoms separately, though Isabel used to consult with Fernando, as he was a very good international diplomat. And there were more than one ethnic group even before the first visits from the Phoenicians to the peninsule! Catalonia needed no protection from French or Spanish ever, but we were defeated and betrayed by both and plundered by the Spanish. I agree though we should leave Spain, because we are worth being FREE. Thankfully not everyone in Europe thinks like you, I know it because I travel through Europe and talk to people from all over the world who are horrified by the actions of Spain against Catalonia since Franco’s dictatorship at least. I feel really sad for you, I recommend you to go to a psychologist.
For your information, both Microsoft word and Open office offer free of charge writing applications with spellcheck, but maybe you are too dumb to use them?
Next time you think of leaving a comment in this blog, please document yourself properly and do not insult me or Catalonia with your ignorance.
P.S: Just and addendum, for your information, a translator from a university in Andalusia published a report last year about Cervantes writing originally in Catalan witch clear evidence, thus the language of the “learned” (do you suggest other languages of the world are inferior to Spanish? OMG!)is a bad translation of old Catalan… I invite you to investigate online, doubting you will know how to find trustful information on your own.
June 17, 2014 at 11:03 pm
Leon and Castilla was always stronger , this is why you speak our language and not the other way around. You know what, just get out. You will get none of our support. By the way, this is what those who want to break up the Celitciberians want… After all, Catalanes have the same celticiberian, roman, goth, and yes arab blood that some Spanish have. They are the same ethnically. This is why we should work together. This is why the Catalanes are Spanish. It would be stupid to think otherwise. It was Leon, Castilla, Aragon and France who protected la Marca hispana. They were always a bit weaker than Leon and Castilla. but let them be on their own. They have just as much Castilian blood as Catalan, but let them seccede with their insignificant language, in which no world literature has ever been written………..whatever……They obviously were never the smarter of the spics…..
October 7, 2017 at 7:07 pm
From Texas: I support you! Two good things will come from this. 1. Spanish politicians might stop robbing Spaniards blind and 2. Catalans will have full rights to be who they are, something they’ve been wanting for over a century. They are economically strong and Spain doesn’t like them, anyway, save for the wealth of the region. So, why not? I just hope the rest of Europe supports them.
April 5, 2011 at 12:55 pm
And the drama of Catalonia is to deal with the outdated Spanish administration! As they have proved they cannot do any better by now, they should seriously consider how they are going to deal with all their problems without the Catalan economical support!
November 17, 2012 at 10:15 am
Thanks for re-linking my post in your blog! Gràcies!
Freedom x Catalonia! Visca Catalunya lliure!
DJxCatalonia