Hi Jazzeum,
In a nut shell......
Toy Soldier Collecting is also Culture/History and Geo politics
....what is the fun of collecting ACW Armies, WW1 Armies and dios or Napoleonic troops if you do not know the history that lead to these armies joining battle in the battlefields of history.....
My family and I, we are Spaniards borne and raised in Catalunia/Barcelona/Spain....and our view differs from yours, I guess more due to the fact that yours is that of a foreigner that lived in Spain for a while and has limited INDEPTH UNDERSTANDING of the Historical ties that wove the Spain we know and enjoy in our vacations today...and although respect your point of view, after all we live in modern democracies - I need to discount part of it due to the fact that you were not borne in Spain ( hence not required to know our complex history ) and for having lived through a period in Spain that had many harsh decisions being taken in order to have the country we now have. Had these harsh decisions not happened I doubt we would have a Spain we have today....
Yes, we cannot dissociate the industrial presence the province has today, but that is due to the entrepreneuship of the Catalan, just like you had the Northern States in the USA generating all the industrial wealth while the Southern States were monoculture focused on exporting cotton, sugar, mellasus and tobacco...... After the Civil War the province , just as in the Southern Sates of the USA, Catalunia was in shambles and as in the USA the central government helped it get back on its feet. when we then consider the generation of wealth and the Federal tax distribution of this wealth via investment in $ from the Central Government, just as in the US, you have States that generate more Federal taxes than others and the redistribution is not equal..is it?.......Currently the risk of the province going rouge and if they were given the secession route National banks would withdraw from the overall predominant presence in the province, they would not have as currency the EURO nor be allowed to join the EUROZONE...that is a fact for it needs all votes from all member countries and for sure Spain and Italy for sure would not allow, hence dwarfed away of all the security and benefits of the common market. If you are curious as to why Italy - that is due to the Northern Provinces in Italy have the same wish as Catalunia.....{eek3}
The idiot that runs the country( Spain) is just acting on the Magna carta that defines what are the constitutional rights of the country and its member states, not out of his wish....and would be the same action that one the same would do in the USA if to say TEXAS and Florida wished to go their own way ( although they tried to do so back in 1861-65 and a few million dead later were brought back into the Federation ).. All that is for a simple reason, there is a Constitution to be followed and it does not allow.....
The European picture is more complex than that of the US ,for as you know, the current Modern European States were forged from the unification of many smaller dutchies, principalities, city states and kingdoms ( with their own customs, languages and common bonds ) some as recent as late 1800s......such as Belgium, Germany and Italy to mention a few.....To try to take a simplistic approach that Catalunia should be split out from Spain as you say, is the same as if I were to tell you that the original colonizers of Texas, California and New Mexico decide based on their common historical bonds chose - for some given reason...common language and heritage- to go back to Mexico{eek3} After all they were part of Mexico until Huston and Alamo came around....^&grin^&grin What would be the reaction of every American...of course say NO...
So as you may see it is not so simple nor straight forward as you make think or is written in the moto of a football team ( I support the Barcelona squad by the way ) ....Humm in the same line if I am not mistaken there is a lot of stickers flying around TEXAS....and they read United States of Texas....
So we cannot take for face value what we read now a days in the papers, nor the old grudges some nationalistic groups of opportunists may try to breed by adding gasoline to a dormant fire of NeoNationalism, present in many parts of Europe, to name a few, the Northern States of Italy, the recent split of Yugolsavia and the on going mess in the spliter states, parts of countries such as Belguim and the Northwestern part of France ( Basque Country ) to name a few.....
Cheers
Luiz
I disagree about Cataluña. They do have the natural resources to go it alone as Cataluña is heavily industrialized but also has agriculture. In fact they contribute more to Spain than they get back. They would probably be welcomed into the EC. Their geographic location has made them more Eurocentric than other parts of Spain and contributed to the separatist idea. Moreover, they have a separate regional identity from Spain with its own language. Independence has massive support from the people.
Although Luiz is correct about the national government not permitting the vote, so what? The referendum will go ahead because the idiot who now runs Spain, Rajoy, knows it will win and win overwhelmingly.
Im not for independence but to try to ignore it or defiantly try to repress it will not work. I lived in Barcelona during the Franco regime and the separatist movement was strong even then. It's only got stronger.
If there is one symbol that represents Independence, it's the official motto of Barcelona FC, "Mes que un club,"more than a club, the symbol of Barcelona independence.
