Clicking with Catalans...my confession.
Do you know that I am the proud owner on O (that´s zero) Catalan friends? Why is that, I hear your electronic impulses bleep, like one of those 60s-sci-fi-film-spaceship-dashboard-indicator-switches. Well, that is because:
A. Barcelona is a city full of foreigners. I suspect that Barcelona is actually devoid of Catalans altogether.
B. I can´t speak Catalan.
C. Catalan people stick to their own, especially in Barcelona where they view foreigners as dirt despite the economy´s reliance on tourism.
D. The thing is, I just don´t get on with them! Bring on the Basques, I say (and I don´t mean those funny things you wear around your waist). The few Catalans I did get on with have disappeared again, and they just don´t seem to bother properly if you are foreign. I feel terrible bitching about the people of the fine place I live, especially as many in rural areas are lovely, but I can´t help feeling this way!
So without further ado, I shall introduce my mind-bending Catalan paining that I can only describe badly because of the constant strife it causes me; my opinion.
Background on Catalan History
Having housed the proto-Iberian tribes, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and then the French, Catalunya has seen a lot of battle. From the beginning, Barcelona was a trading centre, destroyed and built up countless times, and always jealous of its wealth. This is part of the charm and problem of the place. The cities are testament to the completely different cultures that moved through them, however intruders are not really welcome. The more recent mauling at the hands of Franco has added to the general feeling of guardedness, and you also have to take into account that Catalunya represents 20% of GNP for a region that is only 6% of Spain's land mass and 15% of the population. They make more money so they pay more taxes...
Everything else
Catalan people are proud and firey. And proud of being firey. They are stubbornly proud of who they are, something which has helped them withstand countless encursions. They laugh quickly and get angry quickly. They love entertainment and food. They are generous, especially with food. But not with money. Buy them a drink, they will not buy one back. Buy four drinks, they will not buy one back. You will have to ask them to (this is the norm). Do, because they won´t hesitate in splitting all charges (even for petrol for a journey they were making anyway)with you. I suspect this is related to the whole pay-more-tax-than-the-rest-of-Spain-and-see-less-of-it mentality.
Catalan people also have a unique sense of timing. They are late for everything, and generally stay for a few minutes before losing interest and moving on. While everyone is welcome to join them and it cuts out a lot of boring rubbish, they miss a lot of the good stuff too. Like the end of a song, or a free pint. On the other hand, if you are unfortunate enough to be waiting in a queue they can take for ever. And everyone behind you will tut and glare impatiently as though it is your fault if you are at the front of the queue.
And in a queue even the person in front of you will turn to stare, despite the fact that they probably look odder than you do. They are demons for the auld fashion here. The flavour of the stare depends on who you are dealing with, except in the bank where the flavour is always 1000W melt as everyone goes about their daily chat about life with the teller who is pleasant and strangely like a councillor you once had.
If you need something official done, not only will you have to go to 7 different buildings, but you will end up where you started with a totally new set of instructions. Difficulties will diminish invertly according to level of social status, money, or relation to the clerk. Alternately you can try raising your voice which also proves successful.
If someone shouts at you, you will have to shout back even louder, or else you will lose. It doesn´t matter who is right as they won´t listen anyhow. This applies to arguments as well as parties, as both are done at ear-drum-splitting levels. The exception is with the police. I find that if you cry or go crazy they react better, i.e. not at all, or with kind words.
Seperation is a delicate subject at the best of times. People seem to be totally for it or totally against it. Whilst Catalunya has prospered under Spain, I can understand the general feeling that it would have prospered anyhow as it has in the past. The tax thing is a bit of sour grapes but not unjustified. But in general I am of the opinion that if a people feel like a seperate nation, then they should be a seperate nation. Happily, the Catalans seem to be firmly in control of their cultural identity and working on what it is they really want.
Catalan culture itself is alive and well. The language has been reestablished by simple hard work. Human castle-building, dancing and Catalan music are seen during all festivals. There are festivals for everything and celebrated by everybody with everyone welcome. There is a fine tradition of demonstrations which I envy and suspect may be also due to their French history. All walks of life and belief are thriving, from Anarchists to Mormons. In all aspects relating to culture with perhaps the exception of desecration of buildings, I am impressed. Not necessarily by the quality, as the dancing bores me and some of the music is truly tortured, but then again the paintings and architecture are awe-inspiring.
I guess at the end of the day it´s really only Barcelona that does my nut in. Sorry lads, but that confession has been a long time coming.
posted by Green Glass Beads @ 04:19
3 Comments:
you're not the only one~
i say make friends with the other ex-pats, and perhaps after a few years the locals might warm up to you, that is if you master catalan perfectly :)
or if not you can always go to sevilla, they're friendly there!
good luck!
Well written
- The lines are the worst, especially in the mercados when the little abuelas cut in front you. The line actually isn't a line, it's a big amorphous mass shouting "quien es el proxim!" i guess that's part of the "charm"
- The bureaucracy … I guess you're talking about getting the work papers. A nightmare, and yeah no one gives you the same directions anywhere … how very true
- I like what you wrote about how catalans are proud of being fiery. It's to such an extent that this stance seems contrived. I see a lot of unjustified finger pointing, but then, what do I know, I've only been here for 5 years out of the last 30 since Franco's regime went kaput. I have a feeling a lot of these gripes were just waiting for a populist like carod to come and voice them. He expresses a common sentiment, albeit not that of non catalans. The whole controversy is tiring me out too
Most of you came to the city as mere spectators. You do not make much effort to integrate, You would like to have the goodies of BCN without the hassle of having to learn the local culture, just the nice weather, good food the proximity to sea and mountains without this nuisance called Catalan people. And that’s fine with me as long as you do not try to impose your ideas on me. When I lived in Barcelona, quite some time ago, I always dated foreigners. I always liked to become an international person and it was very practical because it helped me learn 4 of my 9 languages, but it is true that I was the odd one and that foreigners liked to hang around among themselves because of two reasons, one, the unacceptable substandard command of English by the people in Catalonia and Spain in general, second the absolute lack of interest by many foreigners to understand what is going on in Catalonia.
I agree with you that bureaucracy in Catalonia is bad. I have sent many letters to the local government pushing for improvements, I feel ashamed. On the other hand the huge influx of people from all over the place, makes it quite difficult to organize it well. Anyway, I apologize for the inconvenience, no excuses.
Finally Barcelona is not a true reflex of what Catalans are. Barcelona is a melting pot where some elements do not want to melt. I cannot recognize at all some of the characteristics that you mention about Catalans. If you want to know what real Catalans are, you need to go to the countryside in Girona or Lleida and decide there.
I also found a little bit strange that an Irish gives lessons of national identity. I just want to remind you that 80 years ago, you would have had a British passport, maybe you still have it if you are from Northern Ireland.
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