Catalonia

I recently traveled to join my wife in Catalonia, the autonomous region of Northeastern Spain.  Most of the original Catalan region lies in Spain, with a small portion in France.  Present day Catalonia was settled by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and occupied by the North African Moors, and many other groups of people throughout history.  Catalonia emerged in the 12^th century as France relinquished control of the region to the King of Aragon.

I love traveling to Europe.   There is so much diversity of history, geography, culture and language, within close proximity.  I always thought it would be great to be a European and spend every weekend in a different location, all within several hours of home.  Additionally, how cool would it be to wear a mustard colored shirt with red pants and be considered fashionable?

Catalonia is known for its artists, architects, great food and geographic beauty.  The language of Catalan is similar to Spanish, French and ancient Latin, but it is a distinctly different language. The people we met were incredibly friendly.  The only unfriendly person I ran across was at the airport in Mallorca and due to some confusion, I had security called on me.  This was not the first time and it won’t be the last time that security officials have helped to clear misunderstandings.   But the people were great.

Catalonia has been autonomous, yet part of Spain.  Following the Spanish Civil war, Franco suppressed the Catalonians and attempted to eliminate their culture.  After Franco’s death in 1975, Catalonia re-emerged as an autonomous political region.  Today the Catalonians are debating separation from Spain.  Their region has contributed more to the past economic success of Spain and they feel they haven’t received an appropriate level of benefit.  Now with Spain in economic peril, some people prefer to leave the nation and their less prosperous regions.

It is common to see graffiti that debates the question of national separation.  People fly the Catalonian or Spanish flag in support of their position of separation or continued unity.  My wife and I walked through the large plaza called Placa Catalunya and found a full scale separation rally, with thousands of participants,and unfortunately violence.  This issue is highly important to the people of Catalonia and will play out over the next few years.

Catalonia is a wonderful place and I will write more about it.