Let’s hope.

There is a lot of tension these days. I am from Barcelona and first of all I feel Catalan. But I also feel something else, something bigger. The Mediterranean culture is so similar in most of the countries that surround this sea. I can’t imagine myself feeling different than that.

I feel so proud to explain my friends what the “Castellers” are and what they represent for Catalans, the history behind the Catalan institutions, the multicultural society that lives in Barcelona, the beautiful corners that one can find in the “Costa Brava”, how impressive and unique is the volcanic region of “La Garrotxa”, the crazy and highly cultural contributions of Dalí and Gaudí to the global architecture and painting. And more and more, I could continue for hours. But at the same time, I feel absolutely proud to show them how a proper Spanish “Tortilla” must be cooked, what a paella is and when is the best moment to enjoy it, how good the wine from La Rioja is (it’s amazing). I feel proud to show them how plural and big Spain can be in ideologies and different environments. I am always very happy to explain that all the center of this country is placed on a big hill of about 600-800 m above the sea level, isn’t it impressive? “La Meseta”. It gives the perfect environment to breed the most quality pigs in the world. They are the ones in charge of creating such a wonderful appetizer called “Jamón de Bellota” (not to be confused with typical ham or prosciutto).

Having said that, I can’t imagine myself feeling different. I understand that as I like saying that I come from the country of the “Castellers” and the “Jamón”, there are other people from different regions of Spain that like to say that they come from the country of the “Tortilla” and the “Sagrada Familia”, for example. It makes a lot of sense to me. Does it have to change if there is a different political relationship between Catalonia and the rest of provinces of Spain? Of course not! And with that I am not saying that I would vote YES in an hypothetically Referendum. I have to find myself in front of a ballot box. Then my heart would decide. One can not always vote with the rationality when it comes to the land where you were born, it is impossible. I am trying to say that the political relationship is nothing else than that, politics. And I am starting to realize that I don’t like how politics are nowadays. These nights I’ve been thinking a lot about that. What would the true Greek democrats say about what we have done? To give an example, what would they say about the political situation in the so-called democratic country of Turkey? Maybe we just need to recognize that democracy is no longer what it was supposed to be in this modern era. This way it would be easier to stop crashing with the law every time that someone wants to do something that goes against it. We have a phrase in Spanish that literally says: Done the rule, done the trick (or cheat). Which means that once the rule (or law) is written, there is a way or mechanism to avoid it. For example, we can’t travel with more than 10.000 € in cash by plane because it is illegal and it can mean that you are moving money between countries for illegal purposes. What if I transport 9.000 €? What would police do? Police can do nothing. They would ask me a lot of questions. They will try to know what is the money for, where do I come from, why do I need so much money, what is my occupation, but nothing else. They can’t arrest me for that. This is a trick done for a rule.

I am not saying that laws are bad, of course not. They are good and necessary. But they evolve, they adapt, they die and they resurrect, but they move on as the society does. Otherwise the society can find itself crashing against a big wall of illegalities that is impossible to overcome. After what we saw the 1st of October (1-O) in Catalonia, it is very clear that this crash is not nice. I am not saying that people should or shouldn’t have been there trying to vote. I can’t believe in the illegality of the will of millions of people. I believe more on the duties of the rest of the people to try to understand and help this will, which of course can be out of the actual legality.

All this reflection made me think if I am a “patriot” or a nationalist person. I don’t think I am exactly none of both. Maybe half of my feelings are defined as nationalist, but the other half is something else. I won’t tell you what because not even I know it. This tension in Catalonia made me feel contradictory feelings for these 5 days. At the beginning I was furious. I wanted all the Spanish police, who in my opinion had behaved as barbarians, to leave Catalonia and never come back. I started to love as much as I could the Catalan policemen (the Mossos) who, in my opinion at that time, behaved like what they are, humans. Secondly I felt that the Catalan government was the most irresponsible of all because OF COURSE they knew that by asking people to go to vote in this Referendum the police would act repressing these citizens, as they did the in the 15-M movements in 2011. How can these politicians convince their citizens to go to random schools and, at the same time, ask them to defend their votes physically? On the other hand, these politicians voted peacefully as they are protected by their own bodyguards, of course. I didn’t like this feeling. I deeply respect all the Catalan institutions. In Catalonia a lot of people respect them above Spanish ones. Maybe because of proximity or historical reasons. After this feeling I felt that the Spanish government had ordered these police to do what they did, so they were the true responsible of this violence. I wanted all of them to resign from their positions (I still want that). They absolutely avoided their duties with the Catalan society to propose a logical political solution for a 7-year protest. People were protesting in favor of independence every year, every 11th of September (11-S), in every election as well. Something was going on. Catalans are wise, like most of highly educated societies nowadays. Of course a lot of them can be manipulated by the media or by the political speeches of our “leaders” (this happens in ALL countries), but most of them are absolutely concerned of the pros and cons of their acts, as I am too. Two days ago I changed again my mind and I started to think that Mossos, this “beloved” Catalan police, didn’t behave as they should neither. I couldn’t avoid to stop some tears fall from my eyes. As any other police body, they are the ones that must always follow what the law (again the god damn law) and the judge orders say. Not all of them did. As not all of the Spanish police turned crazy and started to give brutal beatings to families and citizens. The ones that did it must be judged and removed from the police body, they are not psychologically prepared to be part of what they represent.

Now I am in a less “warm” moment, in “cold” as we say. I think we should all peacefully discuss about it. The term “in cold” means that all the excitement of that dramatically tense situation is gone and it can be analysed from a more calmed and rational point of view. We should discuss for hours, days, weeks, months. All the required time to try to get an agreement. We are patient. We can’t believe that after 7 years of huge protests we will solve this problem in 2 weeks. Yesterday I was very negative about this agreement, because again, it relies on our politicians. They are the people to whom I put all the weight of the responsibility of what happened the 1-O. I didn’t believe that these disrespectful people, who only look and take care for their own interest, would be able to keep calm, reduce their ego, and sit down to talk. But today I am positive. There is always time to be positive and have hope. Let’s use this hope to believe that they, or the new politicians that may appear, will be able to solve this problem discussing and finding binding bridges between their legitimate political aspirations.

Until this time comes I suggest you to go to Barcelona. Visit the medieval village of “Pals” in Girona. Lose yourself at the Madrid’s neighbourhood of “Malasaña”. Sunbathe in the natural and desert-like environment of “Cabo de Gata” in Almería. Surf in the brave waters of the beaches of Donosti (San Sebastián). Walk on the ancient walls of the old city of Ávila or along the medieval streets of the former Spanish capital of Toledo. Eat a real Paella at the “Malvarrosa” beach in Valencia. Party as you never did in the hidden Mediterranean corner of “Cala Rajada” in Mallorca. Explore the flat and pure natural environment of the Ebro delta in the south of Tarragona. Hike around the Romanesque villages and churches of “Boí Taüll” in the Catalan Pyrenees of Lleida. Try to be a real Castilian knight entering the impressive “Alcatraz” Castle in Segovia. Eat the best meal of octopus that you had ever tried in Galicia. Think on how our ancestors, centuries ago, were able to build the houses of the cities of Ronda in Malaga, Cuenca in Castile and Castellfullit de la Roca in Catalonia on that sharp rocky and steep cliffs. Discover the natural and uniquely peaceful environment of “Doñana” Natural Park and the village of “El Rocío” in Huelva. Enjoy in the crazy and huge alternative-indie-rock music festival of “Viña Rock” in Villarobledo, Albacete. Feel like in the top of the world on the small 358 meters tall mount “El Toro” in Menorca. Cycle along the magical mountain of “Montserrat” or the rocky “Pedraforca”, both in the Barcelona province. Spread your mind entering to the huge Cathedral-Basilica of “El Pilar” in Zaragoza or the mixed Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. Learn from the Roman and Greek empire observing the perfectly-conserved city of “Empúries” in Costa Brava. And more, and more, and more. Because all of this experiences will truly enrich you more than defending politicians as if they were fighting for your own ideas and wills.