On my trip to Barcelona, besides seeing La Sagrada Famlia and El Parque Guel (Gaudi's Architecture), I've learned that there is a strong desire for people in the region on Cataluna (or Catalunya in Catalan), to secede from the rest of Spain. To me, it's interesting and I will soon do more research on this topic. For Catalunya, it will be great for their economy, cultural/ national identity, etc., for the rest of Spain? a dire situation. Here are some articles about Cataluya's independence (by the way, they are in Spanish or Catalan so you might want to copy and paste them in google translator):
es.globedia.com/consecuencias-independencia-catalana
http://blogs.publico.es/dominiopublico/53/dependencia-o-independencia-de-catalunya/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgetGqQe9co
Indeed! This is a very interesting topic that non-Spanish people should be aware of. Spain is definitely not as they show it on TV. It's not all about bulls and flamenco, and there is definitely not an unified Spanish sentiment. Spain is a multilingual and multicultural country, but the Catalan sentiment is not dual. The Spanish culture as we know it from outside is a total different world. This is not only in terms of culture, but also in the Catalan economy, education, religious observances, holidays, political and philosophical ideologies, and almost every aspect of society. Here are some more links in English related to this topic (there's one where you can actually listen to Catalan rock!)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HIo7br7cI4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OrAboPReA4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqD-D3ssHhk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw0GaYm6LD4&feature=related
- Maria M.