Catalonia - view from Madrid

The president of Catolonia has now taken back his illegal declaration of independence. If he didn't, he would have been arrested or the government would have sent in the national guard. Anyway, now he wants to negotiate over the next two weeks. Here in Madrid, everyone is annoyed with Catalan, there are Spanish flags hanging everywhere which mean that they want unity. Most people here think Catalan is acting very stupid. I don't usually contribute my opinion about it because I don't know enough about the history. But my roommate sais that Catalan is not perfect, they are not innocent either. I don't even want to know!

No, no backing from the Russians yet as far as I know, but they do have the much coveted blessing of Nicolas Maduro, which is hilarious if nothing else... Puigdemont was caught trying to beef up the armament of the Mossos d'Esquadra last month in anticipation of the arrival of more Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional from the rest of Spain. What would happen if today's Spanish commies were armed? I suspect they might possibly shoot themselves. Compulsory military service ended years ago and very few of the youth know how to manage a firearm.

I am a descendent from Spanish immigrants. I was in Barcelona in 2012. No sign of trouble then. I was in Madrid last year. Everything seemed fine and calm. This independence outburst took me totally by surprise.

It must be something to do with this guy who’s in charge in Barcelona because it didn’t seem to be that big of an issue to the people of Catalonia or Spain when I was there. Although I’m sure in the area are there has always been a feeling of separateness. Stephen Maturin was from Catalonia. And he felt very separate from Spain, even though he was a fictional character. The Catalonians do have a separate language. But they have been part of Spain for hundreds of years. Spain used to be a number of different monarchies just like Italy. Spain was united during the time of Ferdinando and Isabella. Italy was united under Victor Emmanuel II. Can you imagine Italy breaking up now?

I think the king of Spain is to be commended for taking to television to bring sanity to the situation. I suspect that has a lot to do with Catalonia backing down.

I noticed today during that Atletico Madrid-FC Barcelona game, most of the Madrid fans made a point of displaying the Spanish flag. They roundly booed Gerard Pique, who has been outspoken for Catalonian Independence, every time he touched the ball.

Interesting comments, tx. She also said they hate tourists there - they gum up the works, make the lines long, get drunk. Having lived in a tourist area/ ski area after college, I can totally understand this. And yet, the tourists bring the money and the JOBS. You have to be polite, imho.

What would happen if today's Spanish commies were armed? I suspect they might possibly shoot themselves.

These eunuchs/castratos would probably display them in museums as examples of man's inhumanity to man.

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