Note: This article was originally published in 2013. Prices, opening hours and dates may have changed since.
It’s been a month and a half since I left Germany, a few days after my arrival here I have my first blog entry for that Costa Live Magazine published, in which I made fun of Paella Essende, Sangria-drinking Spaniards, prudish Germans and other clichés. The admonishing index finger promptly appeared a day later in the form of an email in the editor’s inbox and kindly pointed out to me that I had overlooked a tiny thing in my small but dogged battle against prejudices – it’s not Spain at all on whose ground I am, but Catalonia And so all the wind was taken out of my sails from my entry. Of course, it was clear to me from the start that the country where I would spend the next three months is called Catalonia. I had just heard that I might bite on granite with my already fragile Spanish skills here. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I saw Catalonia as a corner of Spain quite naturally and that I am only now gradually getting creeped up by the feeling of being faced with a much more complex and serious problem here.
Am Wednesday September 11th, 2013, the Catalan national holiday is celebrated like every year – only this year will be something special, because people are not only concerned with expressing love and connection to Catalonia, but also about setting a new sign in the struggle for state independence.
As long and bitter as this fight may be, it is a peaceful one at the same time. That’s why on Wednesday people from all over Catalonia will find each other and shake hands with each other. 400 km The resulting chain of people is to measure for a long time and connect both borders of the country – to be expected up to Two million participants. But what is behind this event?
Catalonia’s claim Independence Doesn’t come by accident. In 1939, Franco won the Spanish Civil War, marking a turning point – both the Catalan language and the culture are banned into exile for the following years. It was not until 1977 that the state was able to regain limited autonomy and was promised a provisional general (government) and in 1980 the first free elections took place. Nevertheless, Catalonia is tied to the Spanish government in Madrid through numerous financial and political shackles – a very explosive topic, especially in times of crisis. The human chain on Wednesday will primarily not be about governmental demands – it’s all about them Cultural Identity a nation that was robbed again and again.
at the latest in the outlook on the National holiday This week it’s also easier for me to understand, which is why I keep coming across people here who prefer to communicate with their hands and feet than to speak a word of Spanish and why the Bavarian coach Pep Guardiola, from which sentences like: “If we Get up early and work hard, we are an unstoppable nation.” is now celebrated as Catalonia’s hero. Even my Hometown of Berlin Not unaffected by the cohesion of the Catalan residents – at 5:00 p.m., a much shorter, but all the more solidarity chain will come together on the Gendarmenmarkt.
Although I shy away from taking a position on such a multi-layered topic (I don’t have any in-depth knowledge for that), I hereby apologize for all the small and larger mishaps and blunders I’ve already fallen into – these are probably, still Much more than a lack of humor and punctuality, the much more significant distinguishing features of a German in a foreign country.
