Posted on 09/27/2015 9:25:44 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Voters in Spain's Catalonia region cast ballots Sunday to decide if pro-secession parties will get a majority in the regional parliament and a mandate to push for independence or whether they will fall short in an outcome that would probably quell secessionist fervor for years.
Secessionists have long pushed for an independence referendum, but Spain's central government refused to allow it - saying such a vote would be unconstitutional. So the pro-independence parties pitched the vote for regional parliamentary seats as a de facto plebiscite.
"Today is a great win for democracy in Catalonia," said Artur Mas, Catalonia's regional leader, after he cast his vote. "We have surpassed all the obstacles placed by the Spanish government. Now, Catalonia faces its own destiny."
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I was in a small village in the north, between Pamplona and Legrono, and was explaining to the inn keeper my plans to rendezvous with my family after in Barcelona.
I just recall the inn keeper, an attorney by training, shaking his head and saying, "Barcelona...is not Spain."
They don’t speak Castillion Spainish in Barcelona, they speak Catalon.
I’d like that headline to read that Texas pushes for its independence from the Union.
They do speak Spanish -Castillian in Barcelona, as there are plenty of non-Catalan immigrants from the rest of Spain there, as also many foreigners who rarely speak Catalan. It is a fairly cosmopolitan place.
Catalan is also a fairly recently revived language. A hundred years ago it was mainly spoken in rural villages, the cities being mainly Spanish speaking. It’s only recently that its been revived as a vehicle for nationalism.
A great-uncle came from Barcelona in the 1920s, with impeccable Catalan ancestry, and he spoke no Catalan. That’s how it was.
Part of the Catalan nationalism thing is a reaction to foreigners (Spanish from elsewhere as well as non-Spaniards such as Eastern Europeans, etc.) swamping the locals.
Me too!
(and you from the People's Republic of Austin... :-) )
Haven’t changed my screen name but lucky to have changed my location to the Hill Country. I put 100 miles between me and Austin.
Lucky you!
I love the Hill Country, don’t get there often enough.
My uncle, a sheriff’s deputy in Bandera County, taught me to ride and shoot back when I was about 6 on his ranch outside Tarpley.
I live in Medina- just up the road from Tarpley and Bandera- and feel blessed.
Ah, you are indeed blessed!
I live up just a little ways south of the Red River, Denton County.
Isn’t Catalonia the more conservative, productive part of Spain? Like Northern Italy / Milan in Italy?
Catalonia was a part of Spain beginning just before Columbus’ trip to the New World, and only became an “autonomous region” after the death of Franco.
I’ll be swamping the locals there next week! Barcelona is such a classy place.
Not in the American sense.
More libertarian than conservative with a deep ideological divide.
The Catalan leftist only need only a few more votes to form a government.
Catalonia was part of the Crown of Aragon, under a Trastamara dynasty, which became part of the Kingdom of Spain when Ferdinand and Isabela married and united their lands.
Most of Spain’s regions however were under rather loose Royal control, with nearly all government being local and any contributions to the monarchy a matter of local deals. The attempt by various Spanish central governments to impose common governance was the cause of many rebellions and civil wars.
A bit. The Catalans and the Basques - their neighbors on the North-West - were the more industrial parts of Spain and still are mostly.
A few brief additions of note ...
Catalonia has its own language that was suppressed during General Francisco Franco’s 1939-75 dictatorship.
The name Catalonia dates back to the 10th Century, so this identity is nothing recent.
Catalonia was swept into a “greater spain” when King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and Queen Isabella I of Castile married in 1469. Political power gradually centered on the Spanish crown, at the expense of Catalonia.
Catalonia revolted in the mid-1600s.
Since 1978 Catalonia has achieved more autonomy when it was defined as a “nationality” in the Spanish Constitution, but of course is subject to Spain’s power.
The economy is robust and is the strongest in Spain.
Best I can do as a summary. There is an extensive history going back through all Europe’s history, which has no exterminated the language, independence or culture.
I’m rooting for them.
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