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Putting aside the trial of the separatist leaders, there is much else to clarify, especially re foreign perception of events in #Catalonia and #Spain and the class divide. A few thoughts - thread begins here / abro hilo (en inglés).
As the generations that lived through WW2 and the post-war reconstruction begin to disappear forever, Europe is once again at something of a turning point, socially and politically.
The last thing a forward-looking Europe needs now is a resurgence of petty regionalisms and ethno-nationalisms. It has too much else to deal with, what with an immigration crisis, a decaying America, a disoriented and departing UK, and a resurgent Russia.
In this context, the recent movement towards Catalan independence is completely senseless. Naturally, the EU doesn’t want to know about it. It would weaken and hurt Spain, yes, but it would also massively weaken and hurt Catalonia, both socially and economically.
It seems to many foreigners that support for independence in Catalonia is very strong. But it is still, even now, only around 47%. It appears to be greater as the forces in favour of independence are largely middle class professionals in fields such as education and the media.
There remain 53% of those living in Catalonia opposed to independence. There is little to no support for independence among the poor and/or working class of Catalonia - precisely those who have, over the decades, contributed so much to the construction of modern Catalonia.
Nor is there much support from the top end of business (they’re not stupid). Independence would leave #Catalonia much poorer, but like the utter debacle of #Brexit, the cheerleaders would keep on cheering in their provincial way, even as the awful new reality dawned.
Most foreign correspondents do not describe how working class Catalonia is opposed to independence because they appear never to meet or speak with the poor or working class. They speak mostly to leading political-cultural-legal figures and interpret reality through that lens.
How one of the wealthiest and most privileged areas of Europe has managed to portray itself, at home and abroad, as an oppressed nation, under the heel of a relentless fascist state, is bewildering. Even more astonishing is how many have fallen for this.
But fallen for it they have. True to their nature as a movement led by middle & upper class professionals, Catalan separatists have mounted a highly skilled PR campaign in the international press. This, it must be said, they have done much better than the Spanish government.
All too eager for stories of oppression and conflict, much of the foreign media in London, New York and elsewhere have uncritically run with the PR script delivered by media-savvy separatists.
As a bonus, this narrative allows a free kick at Spain, so often treated with condescension by those clinging to antiquated clichés, and unaware of the huge social changes, for the better, that have swept through Spain in the last four decades.
I often disagree with veteran hispanist Stanley G. Payne, but his description of the Catalan independence movement as “a rebellion of the rich against the poor” is spot on. It is dismaying to see international media give frequent support to a brazenly selfish movement.
This is about a privileged regional elite, whose world began to be threatened a few years ago with the exposure of rotten corruption at the core of Catalan institutions, attempting to shore up their status and privileges, and bringing their friends with them.
There is next to nothing in the prospect of independence for working class Catalans who, when they make clear their desire for a pluralistic Catalonia within a united Spain, suffer terrible abuse from local separatists.
This thread does not want to suggest that the Catalan pro- and contra-independence debate is solely a matter of class divides. It is of course much more complex. But this is an important dimension seldom explored by the foreign media.
Disclaimer: I too am a middle class professional. Aware, I hope, of the dangers of nationalism, and the fundamental selfishness of all fanaticisms, wherever they might reside.
Ends ~
