From Catalonia to Caledonia

She convinced us Scotland was a different country

2013-04-16T23:44:00.005+01:00

The witch is finally dead, sadly her socially divisive policies live on with the Tory-led Coalition government in Westminster. Now the same person who proclaimed "there is no such thing as society..." gets a state funeral, paid for by all of us. Sunday Herald - Iain MacWhirter -recommended reading.

Tonight

2010-12-12T17:20:00.010Z

Tonight in Glasgow: Most appropriate, given the circumstances... After all these years, still my favourite band ever and top guys they are too. Happy Birthday Rab! Links: BBCWiki Official site Update post-gig, 13/12/2010: Sound quality perhaps not the best, but the Fannies played two Orange Juice covers at the end of the night, brilliant!

You know it is true

2010-11-27T23:19:00.001Z

Source: http://xkcd.com/386/

Déjà vu

2010-11-23T20:24:00.003Z

We never learn.

Waverley Excursions

2010-08-31T21:58:00.002+01:00

Ahh, what a fantastic day I had yesterday aboard the beautiful Waverley paddle steamer on the Ayrshire coast. http://www.waverleyexcursions.co.uk/index.htm Sailing from Ayr [wiki] to Ailsa Craig [wiki], stopping in Girvan [wiki] to pick up more folk. Absolutely fantastic day out, the weather was great and the ship is a work of art. Check the pictures in the link above. At Ayr harbour Engine

Whose right is it? (II)

2010-07-24T12:02:00.000+01:00

Two years ago, I wrote about the double standards of many governments when dealing with the self-determination movements across the world. Sometimes, they are supportive of the right to self-determination –except when they support the principle of territorial integrity. The original post is available here. Yesterday, the UN International Tribunal issued its ruling on the process of

A rally as a metaphor

2010-07-11T21:06:00.000+01:00

Watching from afar, via the Catalan news channel www.3cat24.cat, the massive civic demonstration in Barcelona against the ruling by the Spanish Constitutional Court on the Catalan Estatut, I could not help but draw a parallel between the organisation of the rally and the current political situation. This political rally was called under the banner of “We are a nation – we decide” (Som una nació

Blogus interruptus

2010-07-10T17:14:00.001+01:00

Regular readers will have noticed that there has been an hiatus in this blog. Sometimes life takes over in unexpected ways. Amongst other stuff, being without internet at home for 6 weeks has been quite traumatic. Let’s hope I never have to go through this again. Much has been happening since my last entry. - a new UK coalition government- FC Barcelona has won the League title-

The resignation of Steven Purcell

2010-03-05T21:25:00.002Z

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Rotten to the core

2010-02-25T20:58:00.002Z

A lot has been, is being and will be written about the state of Spanish banks and the Spanish economy. One of the reasons I do not write more regularly about economics, finance and investments is that there are plenty of very smart and intelligent people already doing so, not least Catalonia-based Edward Hugh. The other reason is because I work in the damned sector (asset management) that bears

The economics of Catalan independence

2010-02-21T21:59:00.001Z

L'economia catalana l'endemà de la independènciaView more presentations from salvagarcia.

Fascist impunity (II)

2010-02-21T20:47:00.000Z

A family misses a flight from Girona airport after the Spanish Guardia Civil detains a woman for daring to speak Catalan. [link] I wrote about this incident a few months ago. After over 30 years of so-called democracy the Spanish Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil still behave with total impunity criminalising Catalan-speakers and making their lives a misery. The Spanish State remains silent and

Road to nowhere

2010-02-21T16:09:00.001Z

More and more people are coming to the same conclusion: being part of Spain is the road to nowhere. A political, economic and social cul-de-sac for Catalonia at every level. The latest political representative is Raul Romeva (blog), a member of the European Parliament for ICV, the eco-socialist coalition of former communist parties. This is a journey I make myself over a decade ago: the

Euronews - Catalonia: independence or autonomy?

2010-02-15T23:15:00.006Z

http://www.euronews.net/2010/02/12/catalonia-independence-or-autonomy/Nice to see the Spanish nationalist lobby embarrasing themselves with their lack of democratic convictions, historic revisionism, cultural prejudice and a disturbing fundamentalist attachment to the undestructible unity of Spain and the 1978 Constitución.Let's hope they do not send the tanks again.

The more the merrier

2010-02-08T19:15:00.005Z

I am glad to report that I have recently discovered a couple of English-language blogs about Catalan/Spanish politics:Catalonia DirectCatalonia Infoand an updated entry from George@BCN. Keep it up, superb writing.These new additions to the English language Catosphere, each with its own perspective, will serve to counter the pseudo-historic revisionism, the pack of lies and bullshit, and the

When in a hole, stop digging

2010-02-05T20:04:00.008Z

In the end, only four MPs will be prosecuted by the Police.Full details of the story can be found at the BBC News website.The extent of the immorality of these scumbags, the four that are being charged and the many that are getting away scot-free is beyond comprehension. But surely the top prize for conceit, the number one award for guilt-free theft has to go the the RH Jim Devine MP.I almost

The resentful immigrant

2010-01-31T17:49:00.004Z

And now to the topic that triggered my previous post. Over the last few years I have noticed how there has been a proliferation of blogs about Catalonia or Spain in English. That so many people from around the world move to Catalonia for whatever reason speaks volumes of what a welcoming country Catalonia is. In every society, there is always a percentage of immigrants who are not happy with

Language policy in Catalonia

2010-01-31T14:30:00.001Z

If you read newspaper articles or blogs in English about Catalonia, I am sure you will have come across the issue of language policy in Catalan schools.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /> <?xml:namespace prefix = u3 />Sadly, there is a lot of mis-information and urban myth around and the vast majority of these blogs have no credibility whatsoever, blinded as they are by their own cultural bias and

The silence that defines them

2010-01-06T20:03:00.003Z

New Year, same old story. Spanish nationalist violence in Valencia is part of the landscape like the orange trees of the countryside or the palm trees in Alicante. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> These incidents are widespread, pervasive and common-place. Spanish police (Policia Nacional or Cuerpo Nacional de Policia) treats Catalan-speakers with

DIY democracy

2009-12-15T22:00:00.000Z

There has been quite decent international coverage of the popular referendums on independence in Catalonia. This will be enough to anger the Spanish nationalists who believe that Spanish unity and sovereign integrity is somehow God’s will and indestructible. Nothing angers the Spanish political classes more than the “internationalisation” of the national conflicts of the Basque Country and

The State against

2009-12-10T20:00:00.000Z

The last few weeks have seen a major controversy in Catalonia. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The heirs of Agustí Centelles have sold his legacy to the Spanish Estate for a reported €700,000. The Generalitat de Catalunya could only bid €500,000. The original negatives and the photo archive will now be transferred to the city of Salamanca. [Link]

Bring it on

2009-10-23T20:09:00.003+01:00

In the end, it became an embarrassment.After having the nation(s) worked up in a frenzy about the presence of Nick Griffin MEP, leader of the British National Party, in Question Time, it turns out that he is a political lightweight, a lame-duck panellist unwilling or unable to convey his views with any sincerity or even conviction. It was revealing in more than one way.First, the decision to

Wikileaks closed down?

2009-10-23T14:45:00.004+01:00

I am trying to access WikiLeaks but it is not working. Anyone out there is able to connect to http://wikileaks.org or http://www.wikileaks.org<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Yesterday, The Guardian had an editorial in praise of it…. could this be the death-knell for Wikileaks? If I do a PING, it comes up with this result: Update: 1900h: well, I

The uselessness of foreign correspondents

2009-10-16T21:00:00.002+01:00

<?xml:namespace prefix = o />Apart from Robert Fisk, that is. Today it was the final straw: foreign journalists covering Spain are quite a useless lot. Do they spend their time teaching Spanish part-time to make ends meet? I understand that news are provided for a British readership but to accept that argument after the news coverage today is to accept that readers of British broadsheets are as

Fascist inmpunity

2009-10-12T19:36:00.002+01:00

One again, another Fascist aggression in Valencia by Spanish nationalists. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />As ever, the Spanish Fascist gangs operate with total impunity in Valencia. The Spanish authorities look the other way -as do many bloggers and Spain-based foreign journos.I guess it is ok for some to beat the shit out of a Catalan activist in the