Chaos in Catalonia. Rubber bullets in Barcelona. Guardia Civil being shipped in.
Not so long ago I heard Catalonia, and Barcelona in particular, referred to as yet another province of Andalucía. Masses of Andalusians, finding no work in their own bit of Spain, migrated to Catalonia, and again Barcelona in particular, because there was work to be had. So a question springs to mind: how Catalan are the Catalans? I wonder about the people of Scotland in the same way.
In an age when people have moved around within their country, be it Spain or the UK, how much regional identity truly remains? I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me but I still wonder how deep regional roots go. I sort of regard myself as a Mancunian but I was not born here. My son calls himself as Londoner. When there have been terrorist attacks or riots he has declared his distress at what is happening to "his city". And yet he was born in Greater Manchester!
While all this stuff is going on in Barcelona, I would like to know what is the situation in other towns and cities and villages of Catalonia. And probably in those places the people have deeper Catalan roots.
It's a truly complex situation and one I find really disturbing. I can't help feeling that the Spanish government has seriously mismanaged the whole thing, possibly pushing more people to vote for independence. Apparently polls suggest that most Catalans are happy to remain in Spain but when repressive measures are taken the imp of the perverse gets going and voting is affected.
So here I am bemoaning the fact that my country wants to leave Europe, in fact thinking that we really should be working towards a world government, while other places are wanting to split off into ever smaller units. City states, here we come!
Manchester is also full of police. There are barriers around the Midland Hotel, which I presume is where most of the visiting Tories are staying. Anti-nuclear, anti-Brexit, anti-May protests are going on around the Conservative Party Conference. Friends of mine are there but I have opted out. Instead I shall stay home and invite the family round to eat with us.
Yesterday evening my granddaughter and I marvelled at the already large police presence. As we were warned, our bags were searched before we went into the Bridgewater Hall for the Suzanne Vega concert. And then we just forgot all things political, sat back and enjoyed the music. This despite the exhibitionists in the row in front of us, by the looks of them three generations of men from the same family, who were possibly enjoying making sure they were seen to be enjoying the concert than actually enjoying it. If you see what I mean!
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