The rain in Spain, that is. Our trip to Spain was the rainiest vacation that we've ever had, but it still featured 2 awesome days for weather and 2 pretty good days. The rest were a mixed bag, but we found that the rain inspired us to find more indoor activities, so we visited nearly every museum and exhibit that Barcelona offered. We made the best of our time and tried not to let the bad weather make for a bad vacation.
Spain is a fascinating country in which four different languages are spoken. In the region of Catalunya, where Barcelona is located, they speak Catalan in school, at home, and when they're out and about. They also know Spanish from television and other sources. In Catalunya, nearly all signs appear in 3 languages--Spanish, Catalan, and English (convenient for tourists).
Interestingly, Catalan isn't taught anywhere outside of Catalunya, so no other Spaniards understand the language. Interesting? I'll say so.
You might say that Spain is a collection of territories, all with unique languages and cultures, which sometimes unwillingly are considered part of a single country. Before I visited Spain, I was familiar with the ETA and their stance that the Basque region should be declared an independent country from the rest of Spain. However, I was not aware that other regions, including Catalunya, sometimes had similar feelings.
The Catalunyan flag features five yellow stripes interspersed with four red stripes. According to a tour guide with whom we chatted about history, culture, and politics, if you see a flag with a blue stripe at the bottom, the bearer believes that Catalunya should be independent from Spain.
Catalunyans have a complex relationship with Madrid, the capital of the country, and all that it represents, both currently and historically. After Franco seized power, he forbade people from waving the Catalunyan flag. Instead, Catalunyans rallied behind the flag of their soccer team, and matches between the Madrid and Barcelona soccer teams assumed a new level of meaning, even though the matches were fixed so that Franco's team, Madrid, always won. Catalunyans still showed up to support their team and to show their protest.
Most people are aware that the figure of a bull represents the country of Spain. Catalunyans might object to that statement; my understanding is that they think the bull represents Madrid. We saw many bull stickers on cars but also lots of donkey stickers, so we asked our tour guide about them. He said that Catalunyans adopted the donkey as their mascot as a way of poking fun of Madrid and their obsession with the bull. You sometimes even see Catalunyan flags with a donkey in the middle of them.
Taxes are of course also a tricky situation. Catalunya, while part of Spain, has a form of local government. However, the end result is that Catalunyans pay double taxes, to both Madrid and their local government. Some believe that their tax money subsidizes poorer regions of the country, specifically the southern region, where jobs are difficult to find and unemployment numbers are high. Additionally, the highways in Barcelona feature significantly more tolls than the highways in Madrid.
When it comes to religion, many Catalunyans, while they might consider themselves Catholic and spiritual, no longer attend church on a regular basis. The church continues to play a much more significant role in people's lives in other areas of the country, including the south.
Surprisingly, there are still people who look back with fondness for the days under Franco and who wish that Franco-like dictator were still in power. I suppose that some people do benefit under a dictatorship, but I suspect that there are few Catalunyans who look back with fondness on the Franco days.
These were my political and cultural impressions of Spain; it was an eye-opening and informative trip. Previously, when I thought of European countries, I assumed that their size limited the different outlooks that geography tends to breed. However, my assumption couldn't be further from the truth, at least in Spain. Political differences abound, and the passion that people feel for their causes burns strongly.
I really enjoyed our short trip in Spain, and I highly recommend planning a trip. More stories and photos to come over the next week or so.
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