I don’t have any commentary on this right now, but this article talks about the protests happening in Barcelona right now. The picture in the article was taken about 5 minute walk from our front door.
BBC News – Barcelona: Angry crowd pursues Catalan MPs
I think that these protests and the increased sightings of dreadlock mullets go hand in hand. (you may only get that joke if you have been to Barcelona)
So, it’s has actually happened. Smoking has been banned from inside of most restaurants in Spain. (Also from playgrounds in outdoor areas as well). I had heard that the ban was going to take place, but I was skeptical because the 2006 legislature didn’t really seem to be effective.
World Cup 2010: Spain’s success puts nationalists in the shade | World news | The Observer
This is a great article that gets at some of the tension in Catalunya in regards to being a separate independent country and in whether or not to support Spain’s national futbol team. There is a long and interesting history of why this is an issue, but I won’t go into that.
After the win over Germany the other night, I was surprised at how few people were out celebrating in Barcelona (To later find out that people were on La Rambla…which is also interesting because it’s a total tourist spot, but it would be cool if it were taken over with a city wide party!). It’s not crazy after a win here like in Madrid or other cities without separatist tendencies. But as this article talks about, we are seeing a change. And if Spain wins the match in a few hours, I’m wondering how many more steps people, especially the young, will be more ok with identifying with Spain as a whole. Spain has never been to a World Cup final. Had never won anything big until Euro2008 and the wounds that divide this country are still fresh…relatively speaking.
I think that this article is getting at something. There could be a change on the horizon. What if the young Catalans (think 18 and younger) are more ok with celebrating Spain than the generation before? Would a ‘Spain’ victory in the World Cup dull the edge of a historically separatist culture? Could it unite people?
There is a part of me that wishes that it would. One half of me would like to see people here more unified and less angry about the past. Just yesterday there was a massive protest by the Catalan Nationalistic Party (the group that wants Catalunya to be it’s own nation-state) on Passeig de Gracia. Hundreds of thousands of people were out with Catalan flags. On my walk home from a meeting I saw people burning a Spanish flag.
I thought, “That’s kind of disrespectful…” The atmosphere was intense. People were angry. At this point in the protest it was mostly 20-somethings with probably a bit too much angst. I wonder what they would be passionate about if they didn’t have this? If there was no more fight.
But there is another part of me that loves the revolution spirit of people here. It’s been within a generation that they’ve even been allowed to protest like this. After learning more about the history of the region, and it is recent history, I understand why they want to be separate from Spain. They are basically a people who were conquered in the past and no longer want to be captive to Spain now that we live in a different time.
It’s a very interesting and complex situation. I’m glad to be here during this time as I feel like it could be a breaking point…if Spain wins. So I’m understanding as to why the Catalans have a hard time supporting the national team (even though 7 of the team’s players are from Barcelona’s team).
But we’ll see what happens in the next 10 hours…it could shape the sentiment of the next 10 years.
I just hope that the beginning of this next decade will be good too!
Disgruntled Oakland Raiders fans post billboard asking owner Al Davis to hire GM – ESPN
Al Davis has done a fabulous job of preparing the Raiders to establish a new legacy when he’s no longer running things. I am a not a Raider’s fan at all, but still feel for fans who’ve had to put up with his selfishness and lack of wisdom.
Just to add some sort of relevance to this post…This situation reminds me of what happens at churches when new leaders aren’t developed and the church slowly loses relevance. The only difference is that these fans don’t just leave and start rooting for a new team and talk bad about the team they left! If only churches could have more healthy debate (key word healthy), but I guess that would require shaking up the current hierarchy that exists in many of the families of God…
Here is another bad piece of press for the Vatican…but the problem is that it is true. If this tradition of the Church is ever going to regain ground in our culture it will have to start operating with more authenticity.
BBC News – Vatican ‘snubbed Ireland church abuse inquiry’
We’ve started a new blog that will specifically talk our ministry and life in Barcelona! It’s cleverly entitled:
Add it to your Feedburner too.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Manchester | Footballer puts wind up referee
This is just too funny not to post…A soccer player in England was given a yellow card for ‘unsporting behaviour’, which is another way of saying that he farted while the opposing team was taking a penalty shot. The ensuing shot was missed…but because of the ‘distraction’ another shot was awarded and made. Neither the fart or the missed, then made, penalty kick effected the outcome of the game. But it did help effect the wallet of the club that was fined 90 pounds for the three yellow cards it was given during the match. Apparently, this referee doesn’t take kindly to crop-dusting the pitch. (link has additional content that is not really ‘proper’…as if this post is.)
I’m not even going to try and make this into an analogy for anything…it makes enough noise on it’s own.