Re: [文化] Catalunya is NOT Spain
http://0rz.tw/P9Ppz
FourFourTwo Blog
Confessions of a Correspondent
The real-life tales of a football writer
Spain win highlights Catalan divide
Tuesday 13 July 2010 10:02
by Andy Mitten
Over a million people took to the streets of Barcelona at the weekend.
A million. Television estimated the figure even higher at 1.4 million
as it beamed globally images of the main streets of the Catalan capital,
full of people waving their red and yellow flags, singing songs and
smiling for the cameras.
The recently departed Barcelona president Joan Laporta was even among
the crowds, yet had you worn a Spain shirt to join the mass, your life
would have been made very uncomfortable.
Catalans were not on the street to celebrate Spain winning the World Cup
for the first time, but to protest against restrictions put on
Catalonia’s new autonomy charter by Madrid. Some Catalans want full
independence from Spain, others more autonomy. There are many shades
of grey in between.
The protest took place the night before the World Cup final. Spain’s
victory also brought people onto the streets to celebrate, but nowhere
near as many as a day earlier. It also depended on which Barcelona
neighbourhood you were in. It’s not divided on religious lines like
Belfast, Beirut or Baghdad, but some areas are almost 100% “Spanish”
and others almost 100% “Catalan.”Many people are happy to be both,
but areas with a high Spanish population saw parties every bit as
passionate as in Madrid, Valencia or Seville. And remember that
outside of the Spanish capital, Real Madrid’s second strongest
paid up supporter base lies in Barcelona’s suburbs.
There is a strong economic argument for the Catalans, with wealthy
Catalonia subsidising poorer areas in southern Spain – much like
wealthier European countries supported Spain as it boomed for two
decades until 2008.
So what has this got to with football?
The two are intrinsically mixed, though to what degree depends on whom
you ask. After finishing his second term in office, Laporta now has
political ambitions. A staunch Catalanista, he said last year that
he saw the Spanish national side no differently from the English or
French national side, that he felt no emotion if they won or lost.
Extremists go further and actively celebrate Spain losing, but they
are in the minority.
Barca are often seen as the standard bearer for Catalonia, yet if
Catalonia gained full independence or a relationship with Spain similar
to Scotland and England, international laws mean that Barca would have
to play in a Catalan league. Catalans point to AS Monaco playing in
France’s Ligue 1, but authorities have made clear that this is the
exception.
That would mean saying goodbye to El Clasico and the Primera Liga losing
its status as the first or second best domestic league in the world.
Catalans had better not look at the example of Yugoslavia, which once
had a league containing half a dozen giants, but where Red Star Belgrade
now play against village sides as the different Balkan countries have
their own leagues.
In Catalonia, the league would be made up of Barca, average crowd 79,000;
Espanyol 31,000; Gimnastic Tarragona 6,000; Girona 4,000; Lleida 3,000;
Barca B 1,500 and many lesser teams from Palamos to Terrassa - you get
the picture.
Ultra nationalists feel that Catalonia takes in Valencia, parts of
southern France and the Balearic islands. The feeling is seldom
reciprocated.
Catalonia wants to be recognised as a nation, in the same way as
Scotland or Wales. Such is the wealth of football talent, their
national side would still be one of the best in the world.
From a population of seven million (of whom around two million are
not from Catalonia or are second or third generation Spaniards
working in Catalonia - part of Franco’s push to dilute Catalanism
by shifting population), Catalonia could field stars of magnitude
from Valdes, Puyol and Pique at the back, through Xavi, Busquets
and Fabregas in midfield, to Bojan up front.
http://cms.442.haymarketnetwork.com/contentimages/blog/CatalanXI.jpg
Potential Catalan XI
There’s plenty of back-up from emerging Barca stars and established
Primera Liga regulars like Espanyol’s Joan Verdu and Moises Hurtado.
Their current coach is Johan Cruyff, the Dutchman who inspired Barca’s
current style of football, which in turn inspired Spain to become world
champions by beating Netherlands.
Catalonia would have a great side, but the domestic league would be
weaker than Holland’s.
Another player who once would have made the team was Dani Jarque –
the one Andres Iniesta referred to with a message “Dani Jarque always
with us” when he scored in Soweto.
Jarque was Espanyol’s captain until he died in horrific circumstances
nearly a year ago. Espanyol were on a pre-season tour of Italy and
Jarque was on the phone to his girlfriend, who was seven months
pregnant, from a hotel room near Florence. Jarque then suffered a
heart attack and died. His desperate girlfriend raised the alarm,
but club doctors and Italian paramedics were unable to revive him.
Iniesta – not himself Catalan, coming from Albacete, between Madrid
and Valencia but further south – played in the same Spain Under 19
team as Jarque and they won the European championships together. They
were close friends and while Barca marked his death fittingly, wearing
armbands as a mark of respect in one game and sending their top brass
to Espanyol’s stadium, it was Iniesta who was closest to Jarque.
Jarque was a Catalan from Sant Boi on the outskirts of Barcelona,
whose population grew from 10,000 in 1940 to its current 80,000
because of immigration from other parts of Spain. There were huge
celebrations there last night, with fans singing Viva Espana.
Confused? You wouldn’t be the first.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 111.240.217.60
推
07/20 13:50, , 1F
07/20 13:50, 1F
推
07/21 02:36, , 2F
07/21 02:36, 2F
推
07/22 13:58, , 3F
07/22 13:58, 3F
討論串 (同標題文章)
完整討論串 (本文為第 3 之 3 篇)：