Posts tagged spain
The Trendestrian
Spotting Unexpected Trends Around Me
A Battle Won! (but not for the souvenir industry)
Catalunya won its battle against bull-fighting yesterday as the government finally banned it. People have been rallying against it for a while. Just last week I saw this stand in Borne by the city hall building. This opposition to bull-fighting is one of the things that differs between this region of Spain and others.
As an outsider here, one question that popped to mind is what’s going to happen to all the bull-fighting souvernirs one sees displayed along the Ramblas? What was once a symbol of a cultural pastime is now only a memory. Who’ll buy a bull statue now that the story is lost? Or will it become a kitsch collector item - something that will get more valuable because it no longer exists?
Not with Spain, Not with Germany.
Among the crowds of rowdy German and Spanish sports fans today, one flag stood out with two young guys screaming behind it. You’d expect the exchange of words to be between fans of the opposing teams, but the loudest were those between these guys with the Catalunya flag and anyone with a Spanish flag.
“We pay taxes to Spain, but what do we get from them? We don’t support bull-fighting and we have our own language. We want to be our own country!” Roger explained to me.
This strong belief in segregation from the rest of Spain is expressed all over the city - especially in the neighborhoods of Gracia and Raval where residents are the most vocal. If the Catalunya flags hanging on the balconies aren’t enough, look a little closer at the graffiti and you’ll see a recurring theme in Barcelona..
