Back to Barcelona

We moved back to Barcelona yesterday. I wouldn't wish the moving itself on my worst enemy but Barcelona still has a magical hold on me that has made the boxes fade into the back corners of my brain (until they arrive in a few months). This new blog will be where I share my observations of the Catalan independence movement, as well as what I learn about both electronic and paper publishing—and anything else. My credentials for such a blog are a bit spotty, in my opinion. I'm no politician or journalist, just a computer book writer with a love for Catalonia. But I've been an avid observer and sometime participant for the last 25 years, and can speak the languages well enough so that folks often can't tell where I'm from, so I'll do my best to give you an accurate idea of what's going on, day by day.

What is happening today? Basically, everybody's in a tizzy because the President, in an interview on Thursday, said that if Spain didn't allow Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence, he would interpret the next Catalan Parliamentary elections—scheduled for 2016—as a plebiscite, that is, as if it were a referendum. I still haven't had a chance to listen to the interview personally—such are the effects of moving to a new country—so I'm wary of making any pronouncements. Nonetheless, it's clear that he got a lot of people very worried, not with the plebiscite, but rather with the bit about 2016.

Most of what I heard on Twitter and in news reports were reactions from people—including ERC president Oriol Junqueras, and Carme Forcadell, president of the ANC—saying 2016 was way too long to wait, and that a referendum must be held in 2014, with or without an agreement from Madrid. Others complained about tipping one's hand to Madrid: if they know you won't press the matter, do they have any incentive to negotiate?

But could it be some curious double-cross? Protracted negotiations right now would make independence harder, not easier. If Spain rejects a referendum outright, as they did with the fiscal pact in September of last year, it just might make it easier for Mas to move. Hmm.

The strength of next week's Catalan Way, in which hundreds of thousands (a million or more?) Catalans will join hands for Catalan independence may also push the question as the massive Sept 11 march did last year.

Last Saturday in New York City, I took part in one of the more than one hundred segments of the Catalan Way outside Catalonia. We practiced in Central Park and then walked down to Times Square to hold hands there. But once we arrived, the police balked and said there were too many people to join hands, and that we could climb those big bleachers at 47th street instead. We did, and it was pretty impressive, but the fact that we didn't actually get to hold hands, and have each and every one of us feel a part of something bigger was surprisingly disappointing to me. The Catalan Way is not just about getting together in the same place to shout for independence, it's about physically joining hands and feeling the strength of a shared cause.

I think Wednesday's Catalan Way from one end of Catalonia to the other will be much more powerful than people realize yet, because we will join hands.

Meanwhile, I have to get back to paperwork, getting my phone to work, and other mundane tasks. I hope you find the blog useful. Feel free to let me know what you might like to hear about, and beware that from time to time, I may throw in silly pictures of my cats, like this one of Momo who discovered his new sink:



Or this one of my book, What's up with Catalonia? at Laie bookstore, among the other books on Catalan politics:



Or this one of the Portal de l'Angel (or Angel's Gate) a pedestrian shopping street just waterward* from the main square which is always bubbling with activity:



This afternoon as I walked by there was a large circle of people surrounding some pretty impressive breakdancers:



And also a small group of booths selling ceramics and glassware (I got a new mug):



I took a very crowded bus home.



*Everything in Barcelona is oriented around the sea. Buildings are on the waterward or the mountainward side of a street. Directions often include "up" and "down" which mean away from the sea and toward the sea, respectively. And it's wonderfully easy to orient yourself when you get out of the metro. It's not San Francisco, but it's still pretty obvious which way the slight incline is going.