They're having a night of culture in Alcúdia tomorrow. Cut along to the town's auditorium for 9pm, hand over 18 euros, and a cultural extravaganza will be yours to enjoy. And if you are inclined to go along, do be sure to take your Catalan cultural hat with you. This is the Obra Cultural Balear's Night of Culture, one at which the "Premis 31 de desembre" are to be handed out.
It is the time of year for awards to be made, for the great and good to be honoured, for speeches to be made, for photos to be taken. Awards here, awards there, even if, in the case of the OCB's 31 December prizes, they would appear to be being given 19 days too early. There again, on the night of 31 December there are other things to occupy the citizenry of Mallorca; not only New Year's Eve and munching on a dozen grapes but also the memory of 1229. Jaume I the Conqueror upset the New Year's celebrations all those years ago by putting the Muslim occupants to flight or to the sword.
The OCB prizes do have the merit of being named after the last day of the year. Awards should, generally speaking, reflect a year, as in the year gone by. Not all of them do. The Council of Mallorca, for example, has its awards in September. They are the Jaume II prizes, named after Jaume I's lad, and as such they reflect the seemingly eternal difference of opinion as to Mallorcan culture in its historical origins sense. On 12 September 1276, Jaume II was crowned King of Mallorca, a coronation which was also the occasion for issuing what was in effect a bill of rights for the Mallorcan people. Defenders of the true Mallorcan cultural faith, e.g. the OCB, want nothing to do with 12 September. Culture started on 31 December 1229, not 47 years later.
This cultural difference is, it might be said, reflected in the choice of award-winners. The winner of Spain's "Masterchef" 2014, Mallorca's Vicky Pulgarín, received a Jaume II in September. So also did the what's on youth publication, "Youthing". Which is not to say that earnest Mallorcan culture was not also honoured, but the Jaume IIs are a tad frivolous by comparison with a formality of Catalan virtuousness that typifies the 31 December awards. The names of these awards explain much: the Gabriel Alomar prize after the politician and poet who was associated with the Catalan modernist movement; Emili Darder, from the Republican mayor of Palma who was executed by the Nationalists in 1937; Josep Maria Llompart, who was a Catalan poet and essayist and a one-time president of the OCB. Among those who will be receiving an award will be Xïtxeros amb Empenta, a youth association that was founded in Manacor in 2008 and which has as its principal objectives linguistic and cultural recuperation as well as environmental conservation.
The OCB has been dishing out its awards since 1987, and it is interesting to note one or two previous award winners, such as the broadcaster IB3 in 2009. Given all the fuss over linguistic interference by the current government at IB3, one would doubt that it would now be up for an award. Last year, the Gabriel Alomar prize went to the Assemblea de Docents, the teachers' association right to the fore of the anti-trilingual teaching furore, and now a union in its own right. Politics and culture are never too far apart; indeed you could argue that they are one and the same.
Though 27 years old, the OCB awards are not the island's oldest. These are said to be the prizes from the Cope Mallorca radio broadcaster. The 35th edition took place at the end of last month. The Bishop of Mallorca was among the glittering array of attendees. One winner was Pollensa's Olympic canoeist, Sete Benavides; another was Juan José Hidalgo, president of Air Europa and Globalia. The Onda Cero radio station has taken over 30 years to follow Cope's lead, but at its fourth annual awards ceremony, a couple of weeks before Cope's, Rafa Nadal was one of those who was honoured. President Bauzá and Palma's mayor Mateo Isern were both at the Onda event, no doubt giving each other a wide berth, but one would imagine that neither will be in attendance in Alcúdia for the OCB bash.
Bauzá will definitely be at Son Amar on 20 December, as the Partido Popular's own awards - the Larus - will be up for grabs. Will Isern receive one? Doubtful. Will he even go? Whoever does win an award, Bauzá will hope that he doesn't receive the same thinly veiled broadside he got from the PP's ex-president, Gabriel Cañellas, last year, something of which, given allusions to culture regained, even the OCB might have approved.
Showing posts with label Obra Cultural Balear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obra Cultural Balear. Show all posts
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Culture Nights, Culture Years: The OCB
It may not have been 31 December on Friday, but this didn't stop there being an awards ceremony in honour of 31 December. And why would there be an awards ceremony to honour this date? Because 31 December, unofficially, is Mallorca day (note the lower-case "d" as a result of it being unofficial).
As anyone with a smattering of Mallorcan history can tell you, 31 December was the day in 1229 when King Jaume I invaded (didn't re-conquer; invaded and then occupied). The Jaume invasion introduced Catalan to the island of course, and the rest has been history; one very complicated history ever since.
733 years after Jaume invaded, on 31 December 1962, an organisation was formed. Oddly perhaps, given the times they lived in then, this was the Obra Cultural Balear, arch-defenders in Mallorca of all things Catalan. It is the OCB which was dishing out the awards on Friday. It does so every year, but this, being its 50th anniversary, meant there was more to make a song and dance about (a dance that was probably in good, traditional Mallorcan "ball de bot" style).
In fact, the 50th anniversary has been given special meaning, as 2012 has been a very good year for the OCB. Because there has been so much anti-Catalan stuff flying around, it has been able to assume new purpose, kicking up a fuss left, right and centre (mainly left though), the devil of the Partido Popular attempting to play havoc with the demons of tradition and the language and culture of the island.
For its ceremony, the OCB chose Manacor. And why Manacor? Ostensibly, because 2012 is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of a famous son of the town, Antoni Maria Alcover, man of words and ideas, man of story-telling (mostly in Catalan). The choice of Manacor was fortuitous, however, as the town is the centre of opposition to the PP that has come from within the PP, or rather from those now no longer members of the PP, as they have been expelled. And they include Manacor's mayor, Antoni Pastor.
The ceremony, also known as the night of culture, was, as the OCB spelled out, an occasion that demonstrated a "clamour for the rights and linguistic identities of Mallorcans". On 6 January, the whole thing will be broadcast by Catalonia Television, thus extending fraternal Catalan cultural greetings across the water to the mainland and reinforcing, the OCB would believe, as it believes also in the rights of the mythical Catalan Lands, the fraternity of Catalan culture. The gala was offered to the Mallorcan channel IB3, but it seems that the offer was turned down. From what I understand, groups like the OCB and its environmental chums, GOB, are pretty much verboten by IB3 (all to do with impartial editorial direction, determined by a PP plant).
But what of this grand gala, this night of culture? Who got the awards? Well, if I were to reel them off, you wouldn't have a clue who I was referring to, and to be honest, I hadn't heard of most of them myself. One whose name is familiar, and is familiar to this blog, was Francesc Vicens. You might recall that he is the musicologist who has written, among other things, a book about pop music in Mallorca. The book's title is "Paradise of Love", and I wrote about this recently (http://alcudiapollensa.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/los-kinks-mallorca-and-sixties-pop.html).
As for the others, there were groups who defend Catalan in education, one of which helped to organise a day of protest recently, an actor called Antoni Gomila (from Manacor) who referred to the theatre as being the "backbone" for the expression and consolidation of Catalan language and culture, and a band from Valencia called Obrint Pas that mixes punk, ska and rock, all with a clear Catalan flavour.
So, there you are. What an evening of culture it must have been. And onlooking was Pastor, there with other former PP members of the town hall who await any further childish reprisals from the PP for having had the temerity to disagree with the party line. The auditorium in Manacor was packed. Whether one can read much into the attendance is hard to say, but the night of culture, it could be argued, demonstrates the serious divisions in Mallorcan society, ones created by the assault on Catalan. But how serious really are they? It suits the OCB to emphasise them, but then the OCB has its belief in the Catalan Lands and so therefore, and ultimately, some sort of independent Greater Catalonia. This is not something that has wide support in Mallorca. Indeed, it has very little popular support, and among politicians formerly of the "popular" party, I very much doubt that Pastor supports the idea either.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
As anyone with a smattering of Mallorcan history can tell you, 31 December was the day in 1229 when King Jaume I invaded (didn't re-conquer; invaded and then occupied). The Jaume invasion introduced Catalan to the island of course, and the rest has been history; one very complicated history ever since.
733 years after Jaume invaded, on 31 December 1962, an organisation was formed. Oddly perhaps, given the times they lived in then, this was the Obra Cultural Balear, arch-defenders in Mallorca of all things Catalan. It is the OCB which was dishing out the awards on Friday. It does so every year, but this, being its 50th anniversary, meant there was more to make a song and dance about (a dance that was probably in good, traditional Mallorcan "ball de bot" style).
In fact, the 50th anniversary has been given special meaning, as 2012 has been a very good year for the OCB. Because there has been so much anti-Catalan stuff flying around, it has been able to assume new purpose, kicking up a fuss left, right and centre (mainly left though), the devil of the Partido Popular attempting to play havoc with the demons of tradition and the language and culture of the island.
For its ceremony, the OCB chose Manacor. And why Manacor? Ostensibly, because 2012 is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of a famous son of the town, Antoni Maria Alcover, man of words and ideas, man of story-telling (mostly in Catalan). The choice of Manacor was fortuitous, however, as the town is the centre of opposition to the PP that has come from within the PP, or rather from those now no longer members of the PP, as they have been expelled. And they include Manacor's mayor, Antoni Pastor.
The ceremony, also known as the night of culture, was, as the OCB spelled out, an occasion that demonstrated a "clamour for the rights and linguistic identities of Mallorcans". On 6 January, the whole thing will be broadcast by Catalonia Television, thus extending fraternal Catalan cultural greetings across the water to the mainland and reinforcing, the OCB would believe, as it believes also in the rights of the mythical Catalan Lands, the fraternity of Catalan culture. The gala was offered to the Mallorcan channel IB3, but it seems that the offer was turned down. From what I understand, groups like the OCB and its environmental chums, GOB, are pretty much verboten by IB3 (all to do with impartial editorial direction, determined by a PP plant).
But what of this grand gala, this night of culture? Who got the awards? Well, if I were to reel them off, you wouldn't have a clue who I was referring to, and to be honest, I hadn't heard of most of them myself. One whose name is familiar, and is familiar to this blog, was Francesc Vicens. You might recall that he is the musicologist who has written, among other things, a book about pop music in Mallorca. The book's title is "Paradise of Love", and I wrote about this recently (http://alcudiapollensa.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/los-kinks-mallorca-and-sixties-pop.html).
As for the others, there were groups who defend Catalan in education, one of which helped to organise a day of protest recently, an actor called Antoni Gomila (from Manacor) who referred to the theatre as being the "backbone" for the expression and consolidation of Catalan language and culture, and a band from Valencia called Obrint Pas that mixes punk, ska and rock, all with a clear Catalan flavour.
So, there you are. What an evening of culture it must have been. And onlooking was Pastor, there with other former PP members of the town hall who await any further childish reprisals from the PP for having had the temerity to disagree with the party line. The auditorium in Manacor was packed. Whether one can read much into the attendance is hard to say, but the night of culture, it could be argued, demonstrates the serious divisions in Mallorcan society, ones created by the assault on Catalan. But how serious really are they? It suits the OCB to emphasise them, but then the OCB has its belief in the Catalan Lands and so therefore, and ultimately, some sort of independent Greater Catalonia. This is not something that has wide support in Mallorca. Indeed, it has very little popular support, and among politicians formerly of the "popular" party, I very much doubt that Pastor supports the idea either.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
Political Nature: GOB
In a recent article, I identified influential Mallorcans who were unlikely to be well-known to foreign residents. One of them was Margalida Ramis, spokesperson of GOB, the Balearics environmental pressure group. It was good, therefore, to read an interview with her in "The Bulletin" on Sunday.
The interview boiled down to four themes, two of them, the Sa Rapita development by Es Trenc beach and the import of waste for incineration at Son Reus, having been well-covered previously. The other two, the political environment (sic) and the nature of tourism, have also been well-covered but there were specific issues that cropped up with regard to these themes, and it is these I wish to address.
Sra. Ramis had a go at both the Partido Popular and the opposition. "Both sides of the house (the Balearic parliament) are totally inept." "The Balearics is not being governed and there is no proper opposition to hold the government to account." Neither of these statements brooks much argument, though when Sra. Ramis refers to the "opposition", does she mean all opposition parties or just PSOE? I wouldn't argue with her that PSOE is useless, but what of the PSM (the Mallorcan socialists) who form a pact with the Greens? Maybe she means them as well.
The point is worth raising because GOB, ostensibly a charitable organisation that devotes itself to a one-issue cause, has become a quasi-political organisation. The environment is a political issue, this much is undeniable, but GOB has gone well beyond this single issue.
A year or so ago, I suggested that the strongest voices of political opposition in the Balearics were, following PSOE's kicking at the polls, those of non-political parties, such as GOB. At the time, it had become involved in the campaign to keep TV Mallorca on air, a matter that wasn't its to become involved in. Prior to this, in March 2010, it had joined an anti-corruption "platform" alongside the OCB (Obra Cultural Balear). It does have an association, if not a formal one, with the Catalan language and culture promoters, the OCB.
This association was such that the two organisations were "overlooked" when invitations were being handed out for President Bauzà's inauguration last year. They were not overlooked by the UGT union in the Balearics when it was handing out its annual May Day "mentions" this year; they both received awards.
The two are not joined at the hip, but together they represent a loose union of similar interests. GOB is the environmental division of a broad, left-wing Catalanist movement. As such, it is an organisation that is poles apart from the Partido Popular. While GOB has strong arguments on environmental matters (and I don't necessarily disagree with GOB on either Es Trenc or Son Reus), one cannot lose sight of the political dimension or of its opposition to the PP. "Ultima Hora" once suggested that GOB had been "silent" when the Unió Mallorquina, Mallorcan nationalist if not left-wing, and PSOE had initially put forward the "decreto Nadal" which, among other things, was intended to allow hotels to build on their land. The paper implied that there would not have been the same "silence" had the decreto emanated from the PP. Yet, there are some similarities between this and the PP's new tourism law, to which Sra. Ramis voiced her opposition in the interview.
There has to be a trade-off between the economy and the environment. Ideally, there wouldn't be, but one will always tend to prevail, and it is usually the economy, which in Mallorca means tourism. And on tourism, Sra. Ramis came out with an extraordinary statement. I quote: "Eco and activity tourism has become big business", implying that eco tourism is a way forward for Mallorca. But what does this mean? Indeed, how can eco tourism be big business? Only if there are great numbers of tourists. And eco tourism ceases to be "eco" if there is human pressure. Moreover, eco tourism is more applicable to underdeveloped tourism economies, and Mallorca most certainly isn't one of these.
Let me say that I have much sympathy for what GOB stands for and for what it campaigns on. It is a vital voice in Mallorca, its conscience if you like. This is why Sra. Ramis is influential. But GOB has to decide what it really is. It was once challenged to put up or shut up by coming out as an explicitly political entity, which was harsh, as pressure groups can and should stand aside from the everyday political process. However, its political nature cannot be denied. There are other questions Sra. Ramis needs to be asked.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The interview boiled down to four themes, two of them, the Sa Rapita development by Es Trenc beach and the import of waste for incineration at Son Reus, having been well-covered previously. The other two, the political environment (sic) and the nature of tourism, have also been well-covered but there were specific issues that cropped up with regard to these themes, and it is these I wish to address.
Sra. Ramis had a go at both the Partido Popular and the opposition. "Both sides of the house (the Balearic parliament) are totally inept." "The Balearics is not being governed and there is no proper opposition to hold the government to account." Neither of these statements brooks much argument, though when Sra. Ramis refers to the "opposition", does she mean all opposition parties or just PSOE? I wouldn't argue with her that PSOE is useless, but what of the PSM (the Mallorcan socialists) who form a pact with the Greens? Maybe she means them as well.
The point is worth raising because GOB, ostensibly a charitable organisation that devotes itself to a one-issue cause, has become a quasi-political organisation. The environment is a political issue, this much is undeniable, but GOB has gone well beyond this single issue.
A year or so ago, I suggested that the strongest voices of political opposition in the Balearics were, following PSOE's kicking at the polls, those of non-political parties, such as GOB. At the time, it had become involved in the campaign to keep TV Mallorca on air, a matter that wasn't its to become involved in. Prior to this, in March 2010, it had joined an anti-corruption "platform" alongside the OCB (Obra Cultural Balear). It does have an association, if not a formal one, with the Catalan language and culture promoters, the OCB.
This association was such that the two organisations were "overlooked" when invitations were being handed out for President Bauzà's inauguration last year. They were not overlooked by the UGT union in the Balearics when it was handing out its annual May Day "mentions" this year; they both received awards.
The two are not joined at the hip, but together they represent a loose union of similar interests. GOB is the environmental division of a broad, left-wing Catalanist movement. As such, it is an organisation that is poles apart from the Partido Popular. While GOB has strong arguments on environmental matters (and I don't necessarily disagree with GOB on either Es Trenc or Son Reus), one cannot lose sight of the political dimension or of its opposition to the PP. "Ultima Hora" once suggested that GOB had been "silent" when the Unió Mallorquina, Mallorcan nationalist if not left-wing, and PSOE had initially put forward the "decreto Nadal" which, among other things, was intended to allow hotels to build on their land. The paper implied that there would not have been the same "silence" had the decreto emanated from the PP. Yet, there are some similarities between this and the PP's new tourism law, to which Sra. Ramis voiced her opposition in the interview.
There has to be a trade-off between the economy and the environment. Ideally, there wouldn't be, but one will always tend to prevail, and it is usually the economy, which in Mallorca means tourism. And on tourism, Sra. Ramis came out with an extraordinary statement. I quote: "Eco and activity tourism has become big business", implying that eco tourism is a way forward for Mallorca. But what does this mean? Indeed, how can eco tourism be big business? Only if there are great numbers of tourists. And eco tourism ceases to be "eco" if there is human pressure. Moreover, eco tourism is more applicable to underdeveloped tourism economies, and Mallorca most certainly isn't one of these.
Let me say that I have much sympathy for what GOB stands for and for what it campaigns on. It is a vital voice in Mallorca, its conscience if you like. This is why Sra. Ramis is influential. But GOB has to decide what it really is. It was once challenged to put up or shut up by coming out as an explicitly political entity, which was harsh, as pressure groups can and should stand aside from the everyday political process. However, its political nature cannot be denied. There are other questions Sra. Ramis needs to be asked.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Protests against anti-Catalan law
Further to the main blog article today re Catalan, the Obra Cultural Balear (the organisation which promotes Catalan language and culture) is to organise a protest on 25 March against the regional government's planned law that would remove the requirement that workers in the public sector speak Catalan. Other demonstrations are also being planned.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Day Today (Or Another Day)
Here's today's quiz question for you? When is Mallorca Day?
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Does today's date give you a clue? Well, yes it does, but there again it doesn't. Mallorca Day is today, according to some, but it is also and officially, 12 September. Confused? You've every right to be, as the great debate as to which day should be Mallorca Day is bound up in the mists of time and in the arguments of claimants to both dates.
12 September, in case you are wondering, celebrates the day, in 1276, when King Jaume II took the oath of the granting of the privilege of the Kingdom of Mallorca. If there is to be a Mallorca Day at all, and there has been only since 1997 when the Council of Mallorca decided that 12 September it was to be, this seems a reasonable enough excuse. You might think so, but others would disagree.
Forty-seven years before the oath, Jaume II's father, Jaume I, the Aragon king who came to the rescue of Mallorca, landed at Santa Ponsa on 31 December on his mission (successful, as it was to prove) to drive the forces of Islam from the island. Mallorca Day, therefore, is not 12 September but unofficially 31 December.
Who says so? Primarily, it is various Catalanists, independentists and left-wingers who say so, and you can chuck in some historians, who may or may not be one or all of these things, as well. Were you minded to go searching for information about Mallorca Day on the internet, you would find a website called diadademallorca.cat, which might suggest that it was the official site for the day, except of course it isn't. The domain suffix of "cat" gives the game away, as it is one used predominantly for sites dedicated to Catalan culture and language.
The website does in fact add a bit more confusion to the debate, as 30 December comes into the equation too, so much so that yesterday there was the "traditional demonstration of the Day of Mallorca" in Palma, one of a series of events that start in the middle of December all in aid of the "fiesta of the standard" (which is in fact today) and the parading of Jaume I's Royal Standard.
These events, in different towns across Mallorca, are all run by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), the most prominent of the organisations on the island that defends and promotes Catalan culture and language. It is not alone, though, in wishing to change the date of Mallorca Day. The PSM Mallorcan socialists, together with their allies in the general left-wing Bloc, have proposed that Palma town hall adopts 31 December as the official date and gets the Council of Mallorca to make the change.
There is, in the PSM's stance, a touch of good old nationalist rival politics at play. The PSM, nationalists with a left persuasion, take issue with the "imposition" of 12 September back in 1997 by the Council of Mallorca whose then president was Maria Antònia Munar, she of the now defunct nationalists with a right persuasion, the Unió Mallorquina.
This might all seem like a pedantic argument, but historical correctness does have a habit of generating dogmatic attitudes, and such dogma can sometimes become unpleasant.
Last year the object of this unpleasantness was the headquarters building of the OCB anti-Christ, the Círculo Balear, the dogmatically anti-Catalan organisation. It was daubed with graffiti and, true to form, it has been again. What particularly riled Catalanist elements was the decision to the Círculo to take part in the Standard celebration on 31 December, a day very much of Catalanist expression. There was also violence at the 30 December demonstration; four "independentists" who were arrested last year had vowed to return this year.
A question worth asking is whether there is a genuine ground swell of nationalism and desire for independence that the argument over Mallorca Day, the demonstration and the graffiti might suggest. Or is it confined to a vocal but active minority (and there were a mere 1500 demonstrators yesterday evening)? One is inclined to believe that it is the latter, but this year's alternative Mallorca Day has to be considered in the context of moves by the Partido Popular government to promote Castilian over Catalan, moves that don't find universal support and not even within the party itself.
Despite the dogma, there is a very good reason why, assuming there should be a Mallorca Day at all, 31 December should be the date. 1229 was in effect when Mallorca's history began, in the sense that its current-day culture started to be shaped. Prior to then, and most significantly, there was no Catalan language. It took the conquest by an Aragonese king to supplant what was then a version of Latin. 1229 and all that asks questions of current-day attitudes on the right. To deny its significance is historically incorrect, but to accept its significance is to undermine arguments against Catalan.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Index for December 2011
Almond growing, decline in Mallorca's - 6 December 2011
Artisans and authenticity - 9 December 2011
BAFMAs: Mallorcan achievement awards - 15 December 2011
Bars and restaurants to offer other services - 23 December 2011
Campanet, town hall problems in - 5 December 2011
Can Domenech and Can Llobera - 20 December 2011
Castilian and Catalan for town and street names - 29 December 2011
Christmas diary, Leonora Madd's Mallorcan - 25 December 2011, 26 December 2011
Christmas spending - 14 December 2011
Cruise ships and environment - 7 December 2011
Fascinating people in Mallorca - 4 December 2011
French tourism and promotional messages - 17 December 2011
Holiday lets: government gets tough - 3 December 2011
Hotels, modernisation and internet - 11 December 2011
Mallorca Day arguments - 31 December 2011
Mancomunidades, Mallorca's - 30 December 2011
Microsoft and film tourism - 10 December 2011
Oil exploration off the Balearics - 16 December 2011
President Bauzá and party differences - 2 December 2011
PSOE and PP divisions and challenges - 18 December 2011
Rural tourism - 27 December 2011
Sand on beaches, loss of - 28 December 2011
Thomas Cook and African risks - 19 December 2011
Thomson's holiday advert - 1 December 2011
Tourism law reform - 8 December 2011, 13 December 2011
Tourism minister and secretary, new national - 24 December 2011
Tourist tax - 22 December 2011
Trinidad, Mallorca and - 21 December 2011
TV Mallorca, fairs and musicians - 12 December 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Taking To The Streets
The Mallorcans don't really do demos. Not properly anyway. They do lots of them - sheets found in dusty corners of wardrobes brought out for a black daubing, loudhailers and chanting, obligatory photos of the "leaders" - but they don't exactly amount to much. So common are they that no one pays much attention.
Occasionally, however, they do amount to something. Two years ago, there were two separate protests in Palma. Three weeks apart, they were both to do with language. The first was pro-Catalan, the second was pro-Castilian. Neither was that large, and the numbers involved fluctuated greatly according to who issued them. But around 10,000 people for both might have been right.
Despite the second protest arousing taunts of "no to fascism and yes to Catalan", they were peaceful and uneventful. Less peaceful and more eventful have been the end-of-year parades in Palma in celebration of Jaume I's conquest of Mallorca in 1229. Deeply symbolic, the parade on the night of 30 December last year turned nastier than on previous occasions.
The violence that broke out at the Jaume I parade and the protests two years ago were evidence of language differences and of cultural and political differences. They hinted at a society split down the middle, which isn't the case, as the majority is not as bothered as protesters might think. But then majorities rarely are; it is minority voices which shout loudest and cause the most problems.
One of the reasons for the trouble on 30 December was the presence in the parade of the Círculo Balear, a right-wing, pro-Castilian organisation which, in its own words, "defends the liberty and identity of the Balearics in a Spain for all". The Círculo is a counterpoint to the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), a left-wing, pro-Catalan association. Neither is a political organisation as such, but both have political agendas and both make these agendas clear enough.
The Círculo is back in the news thanks to another outbreak of confrontation, this time, of all places, in Sineu. The setting for this was the inauguration of a statue to another Jaume, number two, the second king of Mallorca. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that the OCB was on hand to dish out the fascist mantra in the Círculo's direction.
Is this no more than just a bunch of activists playing silly buggers? Up to a point yes, but the minority voices are getting louder and you sense that the number of voices are growing; the division in society is beginning to become more apparent.
While the OCB is the mouthpiece for the pro-Catalan left, with the Maulets, a more revolutionary group, on the extreme left, on the right there are all manner of weird and wonderful groups, such as Hazte Oir ("make yourself heard") and the institute of family policy. To these pressure groups, you can add the neo-fascist Movimiento Social Republicano political party and, lurking in the background, the Falange and Opus Dei.
What the groups on the right all have in common (to a greater or lesser extent) is a highly reactionary agenda of Catholicism, anti-liberalism, pro-Castilian and the state of Spain over all else. The spats between the OCB and the Círculo, and indeed the language protests of 2009, are just the tip of a not very pleasant iceberg which lies under the surface ready to sink the Titanic of normally sedate and pacific society.
Within this context, you cannot and should not ignore the Partido Popular. It was voted in because of discontent with the handling of the local economy and in the hope that it will reduce unemployment. All other issues played only a minor part in its victories. But these other issues are far from unimportant. The PP, or some of it at any rate, is not far removed from the same reactionary agenda.
An impression given is that there is greater sympathy for the likes of the OCB than for the Círculo. This may be an impression formed by the Spanish media, but a question is to what extent it is held within Mallorcan society. And the OCB, though it would deny it, appears to have been instrumental in a certain radicalisation of pro-Catalan youth; the annual "Acampallengua" is more than just a gathering of young people in fields to pitch tents and sing some songs in Catalan.
The worry is that a PP-led administration will bring the competing views of an emboldened right and an increasingly radicalised left more to the surface and that, unlike the 2009 protests, things won't be so peaceful. They will be more like the Jaume I violence, and there will be more of it. Then you'll realise that Mallorcans can actually do demos.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Occasionally, however, they do amount to something. Two years ago, there were two separate protests in Palma. Three weeks apart, they were both to do with language. The first was pro-Catalan, the second was pro-Castilian. Neither was that large, and the numbers involved fluctuated greatly according to who issued them. But around 10,000 people for both might have been right.
Despite the second protest arousing taunts of "no to fascism and yes to Catalan", they were peaceful and uneventful. Less peaceful and more eventful have been the end-of-year parades in Palma in celebration of Jaume I's conquest of Mallorca in 1229. Deeply symbolic, the parade on the night of 30 December last year turned nastier than on previous occasions.
The violence that broke out at the Jaume I parade and the protests two years ago were evidence of language differences and of cultural and political differences. They hinted at a society split down the middle, which isn't the case, as the majority is not as bothered as protesters might think. But then majorities rarely are; it is minority voices which shout loudest and cause the most problems.
One of the reasons for the trouble on 30 December was the presence in the parade of the Círculo Balear, a right-wing, pro-Castilian organisation which, in its own words, "defends the liberty and identity of the Balearics in a Spain for all". The Círculo is a counterpoint to the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), a left-wing, pro-Catalan association. Neither is a political organisation as such, but both have political agendas and both make these agendas clear enough.
The Círculo is back in the news thanks to another outbreak of confrontation, this time, of all places, in Sineu. The setting for this was the inauguration of a statue to another Jaume, number two, the second king of Mallorca. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that the OCB was on hand to dish out the fascist mantra in the Círculo's direction.
Is this no more than just a bunch of activists playing silly buggers? Up to a point yes, but the minority voices are getting louder and you sense that the number of voices are growing; the division in society is beginning to become more apparent.
While the OCB is the mouthpiece for the pro-Catalan left, with the Maulets, a more revolutionary group, on the extreme left, on the right there are all manner of weird and wonderful groups, such as Hazte Oir ("make yourself heard") and the institute of family policy. To these pressure groups, you can add the neo-fascist Movimiento Social Republicano political party and, lurking in the background, the Falange and Opus Dei.
What the groups on the right all have in common (to a greater or lesser extent) is a highly reactionary agenda of Catholicism, anti-liberalism, pro-Castilian and the state of Spain over all else. The spats between the OCB and the Círculo, and indeed the language protests of 2009, are just the tip of a not very pleasant iceberg which lies under the surface ready to sink the Titanic of normally sedate and pacific society.
Within this context, you cannot and should not ignore the Partido Popular. It was voted in because of discontent with the handling of the local economy and in the hope that it will reduce unemployment. All other issues played only a minor part in its victories. But these other issues are far from unimportant. The PP, or some of it at any rate, is not far removed from the same reactionary agenda.
An impression given is that there is greater sympathy for the likes of the OCB than for the Círculo. This may be an impression formed by the Spanish media, but a question is to what extent it is held within Mallorcan society. And the OCB, though it would deny it, appears to have been instrumental in a certain radicalisation of pro-Catalan youth; the annual "Acampallengua" is more than just a gathering of young people in fields to pitch tents and sing some songs in Catalan.
The worry is that a PP-led administration will bring the competing views of an emboldened right and an increasingly radicalised left more to the surface and that, unlike the 2009 protests, things won't be so peaceful. They will be more like the Jaume I violence, and there will be more of it. Then you'll realise that Mallorcans can actually do demos.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Street Fighting Men: Balearic independence
The new year in Mallorca coincides with the celebration of the conquest of the island by Jaume I in 1229. On 31 December of that year, Jaume took what was then called Madina Mayurqa (Palma, as it is better known). It is a hugely symbolic date, and it is why it has been hi-jacked in the name of independence and by the arguments of language and the relationship with the Spanish nation.
The night of 30 December has become an annual event in which different sides of the arguments turn up in Palma to celebrate the conquest and in order to trade insults. This year things turned nasty. A pensioner and two police officers were injured when violence flared. There had been an indication of things to come. The building in Palma that houses the offices of the Fundación Nacional Círculo Balear, an organisation that, among other things, protests against the "imposition" of Catalan, had been daubed with graffiti. The organisation is now but one calling for political condemnation of independence activists who, during the demonstration, attempted to burn the Spanish flag.
The Círculo Balear's offices were targeted because it had said that it would participate in this year's Jaume celebrations. This was a red rag to the bull of its opponents who took none too kindly to the foundation's claim that the celebrations were being "Catalanised" and to a further claim that there is a growth in "nationalist violence".
The Círculo Balear was probably right when it came to denouncing violence, as this is what it got. As to the Catalanisation, there is a slight illogic to the argument. Jaume, though not from Catalonia, was instrumental in the introduction and promotion of the Catalan language. A Catalanised Jaume celebration seems entirely reasonable. Otherwise, though, reason seemed to be chucked out the window, or at least chucked across a square together with chairs from a café.
The demonstrators, the pro-Catalanists that is, combined behind the slogan "som una nació" (we are a nation), by which they mean the Balearics. Their ranks were swelled by the usual suspects of the nationalist-inclined left of local politics and groups such as the Maulets, an independence- and revolutionary-minded organisation. Their cause, in 2010, had been fuelled by the Spanish Supreme Court's denial of Catalonian nationhood and the rumpus inspired by the language policy of the Partido Popular in the Balearics.
Does the call for Balearic independence have any real substance? In terms of popular support, you would have to think that it doesn't. The prevailing mindset in Mallorca is conservative. There was little evidence of support, other than political, for Catalonia when the Supreme Court made its decision back in the summer which made it clear that Catalonia could not be a "state".
Nevertheless, there does appear to be a growing radicalisation. It is one that the Círculo Balear has drawn attention to, and a target of its concerns is the Obra Cultural Balear. The OCB, says Círculo Balear, has received over four million euros in grants from regional and central government during the past three years. Grants, it claims, with which the OCB "gives cover to the violent".
The president of the OCB, in a recent interview, said that he believed a Balearic state would be something from which much could be gained, not least from keeping all the "riches" that accrue from tourism and from having its own voice within a group of independent Catalan states. He is probably right when he also says that politically there is a bias towards the notion of independence. Only two parties, the Partido Popular and the Unión Progreso y Democracia, would be dead against it.
But you come back to the question as to whether there is sympathy within the public at large. The OCB is now rolling out a new campaign to try and generate such sympathy. Entitled "Mallorca m'agrada" (I like Mallorca), this is intended to create a "collective self-esteem" in promoting elements of identity that characterise the Mallorcan people. It remains to be seen what impact this might have.
While the notion of a Balearic state as part of a group of Catalan states may not be an issue that excites that many Mallorcans, there is another matter which just might. And that is the whole question to do with language. This spring's local elections could see the Partido Popular coming into power under its leader José Ramón Bauzá, someone who has so far proved to be capable of dividing not just the general public but also his own party where it comes to the Catalan-Castilian debate.
What Bauzá might do is to turn back decades of linguistic policy. It is potentially highly dangerous in terms of what it would represent symbolically. It is this issue that has the power to give the OCB, the Jaume I demonstrators and the independence activists the ammunition they need. For this reason, the local elections in May could prove to be highly significant. What occurred on the night of 30 December might, just might, be a precursor of what else could occur.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The night of 30 December has become an annual event in which different sides of the arguments turn up in Palma to celebrate the conquest and in order to trade insults. This year things turned nasty. A pensioner and two police officers were injured when violence flared. There had been an indication of things to come. The building in Palma that houses the offices of the Fundación Nacional Círculo Balear, an organisation that, among other things, protests against the "imposition" of Catalan, had been daubed with graffiti. The organisation is now but one calling for political condemnation of independence activists who, during the demonstration, attempted to burn the Spanish flag.
The Círculo Balear's offices were targeted because it had said that it would participate in this year's Jaume celebrations. This was a red rag to the bull of its opponents who took none too kindly to the foundation's claim that the celebrations were being "Catalanised" and to a further claim that there is a growth in "nationalist violence".
The Círculo Balear was probably right when it came to denouncing violence, as this is what it got. As to the Catalanisation, there is a slight illogic to the argument. Jaume, though not from Catalonia, was instrumental in the introduction and promotion of the Catalan language. A Catalanised Jaume celebration seems entirely reasonable. Otherwise, though, reason seemed to be chucked out the window, or at least chucked across a square together with chairs from a café.
The demonstrators, the pro-Catalanists that is, combined behind the slogan "som una nació" (we are a nation), by which they mean the Balearics. Their ranks were swelled by the usual suspects of the nationalist-inclined left of local politics and groups such as the Maulets, an independence- and revolutionary-minded organisation. Their cause, in 2010, had been fuelled by the Spanish Supreme Court's denial of Catalonian nationhood and the rumpus inspired by the language policy of the Partido Popular in the Balearics.
Does the call for Balearic independence have any real substance? In terms of popular support, you would have to think that it doesn't. The prevailing mindset in Mallorca is conservative. There was little evidence of support, other than political, for Catalonia when the Supreme Court made its decision back in the summer which made it clear that Catalonia could not be a "state".
Nevertheless, there does appear to be a growing radicalisation. It is one that the Círculo Balear has drawn attention to, and a target of its concerns is the Obra Cultural Balear. The OCB, says Círculo Balear, has received over four million euros in grants from regional and central government during the past three years. Grants, it claims, with which the OCB "gives cover to the violent".
The president of the OCB, in a recent interview, said that he believed a Balearic state would be something from which much could be gained, not least from keeping all the "riches" that accrue from tourism and from having its own voice within a group of independent Catalan states. He is probably right when he also says that politically there is a bias towards the notion of independence. Only two parties, the Partido Popular and the Unión Progreso y Democracia, would be dead against it.
But you come back to the question as to whether there is sympathy within the public at large. The OCB is now rolling out a new campaign to try and generate such sympathy. Entitled "Mallorca m'agrada" (I like Mallorca), this is intended to create a "collective self-esteem" in promoting elements of identity that characterise the Mallorcan people. It remains to be seen what impact this might have.
While the notion of a Balearic state as part of a group of Catalan states may not be an issue that excites that many Mallorcans, there is another matter which just might. And that is the whole question to do with language. This spring's local elections could see the Partido Popular coming into power under its leader José Ramón Bauzá, someone who has so far proved to be capable of dividing not just the general public but also his own party where it comes to the Catalan-Castilian debate.
What Bauzá might do is to turn back decades of linguistic policy. It is potentially highly dangerous in terms of what it would represent symbolically. It is this issue that has the power to give the OCB, the Jaume I demonstrators and the independence activists the ammunition they need. For this reason, the local elections in May could prove to be highly significant. What occurred on the night of 30 December might, just might, be a precursor of what else could occur.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Mind Your Language: Catalan and the Guardia
A Moroccan interpreter, Saïda Saddouki, has been found guilty of defaming a Guardia Civil officer and been fined a total of 1500 euros. The Saddouki case is the first of two to go to court in Mallorca, along with one in Gerona on the mainland earlier this year, which all have as their theme the speaking of Catalan to Guardia officers.
In August 2007 Saïda Saddouki went to the Guardia's command headquarters in Palma in order to translate from Arabic. She spoke to a captain in Catalan. At a later press conference, she alleged that the captain racially abused her by referring to her as "una mora catalanista" (literally a Catalan dark-skinned woman). The court found in favour of the captain who denied that he had said what Saddouki had alleged.
The case has become something of a cause célèbre, thanks in no small part to the role of the Obra Cultural Balear, an organisation which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary as one that promotes Catalan in the Balearics. The OCB was with Saddouki at that press conference. Since the court's decision it has said that it believes her account of what happened and not the captain's. It has also referred to discrimination in matters of language, has brought the Saddouki case to the attention of Amnesty International and has called for international observers and journalists to attend a future court case.
In March this year a woman called Àngels Monera was fined 180 euros for showing a lack of respect to Guardia officers at Gerona airport. Her version of events was that officers, to whom she did speak in Catalan, showed "contempt" for the language, and detained her long enough for her to miss her flight. She then made complaints to the media and ultimately found herself in court as a defendant. The Guardia version was that she had spoken aggressively and had called them "Francoists". The officers insisted that they had asked her to speak Castilian not because they sought to "impose" a language but because they didn't understand Catalan.
The future court case to which the OCB has invited observers from the European Union, and which has also been raised with the European Parliament, concerns one Iván Cortés. On 7 August last year Cortés was allegedly given a beating by Guardia officers who had asked him to produce his papers at Palma airport security and to whom he spoke in Catalan. He was allowed to make his flight - to London - where a doctor seemingly confirmed his injuries. The OCB took up his case and publicised it widely in the media. The court case is the trial of one of those officers.
What are we to make of these cases? Setting aside the rights or wrongs of what has happened or may have happened, they point to one thing - a ratcheting up of the whole Catalan issue. Appealing to Amnesty International and international observers and media takes it to a new level, and one that, on the face of it, seems somewhat extreme.
By doing so, the OCB, which had its own brush with the Guardia when a leading member was detained during the "Acampallengua" (language camp) in Sa Pobla last year, is further politicising an already political issue and also elevating it, via Amnesty, into the realms of human rights abuse.
The Spanish constitution recognises, through the exercise of human rights, the cultures, traditions and languages of all the peoples of Spain. Yet there is a dichotomy in that the defenders of the state, in the form of the Guardia, are officially only Castilian speaking. It is a dichotomy that needs addressing. Whether witting or unwitting, the Guardia should not be pushed into being a defender of language as well; it's not their job. But as things stand, the Guardia, placed in an invidious position, are an institutional target for those with a Catalanist agenda. Which is not to say that they can't potentially be brought to book, as will happen with the Cortés case.
The Saddouki case would probably be quickly forgotten about were it not for the Cortés trial. It is the alleged violence, together with the Catalan connection, that will, in all likelihood, make it more of a cause célèbre than Saddouki. And it probably will attract international attention. Moreover, it is likely to ask some awkward questions, ones that go to the heart of the constitution and of institutions.
For many of you, the Catalan issue might seem pretty arcane, but the depth of feeling that surrounds it is of great significance and is one that colours much of the local political discourse, as shown with the debate over language in education. Yes it's political, but then it's been a political issue for centuries, and an incident at Palma airport is about to make it more so.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
In August 2007 Saïda Saddouki went to the Guardia's command headquarters in Palma in order to translate from Arabic. She spoke to a captain in Catalan. At a later press conference, she alleged that the captain racially abused her by referring to her as "una mora catalanista" (literally a Catalan dark-skinned woman). The court found in favour of the captain who denied that he had said what Saddouki had alleged.
The case has become something of a cause célèbre, thanks in no small part to the role of the Obra Cultural Balear, an organisation which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary as one that promotes Catalan in the Balearics. The OCB was with Saddouki at that press conference. Since the court's decision it has said that it believes her account of what happened and not the captain's. It has also referred to discrimination in matters of language, has brought the Saddouki case to the attention of Amnesty International and has called for international observers and journalists to attend a future court case.
In March this year a woman called Àngels Monera was fined 180 euros for showing a lack of respect to Guardia officers at Gerona airport. Her version of events was that officers, to whom she did speak in Catalan, showed "contempt" for the language, and detained her long enough for her to miss her flight. She then made complaints to the media and ultimately found herself in court as a defendant. The Guardia version was that she had spoken aggressively and had called them "Francoists". The officers insisted that they had asked her to speak Castilian not because they sought to "impose" a language but because they didn't understand Catalan.
The future court case to which the OCB has invited observers from the European Union, and which has also been raised with the European Parliament, concerns one Iván Cortés. On 7 August last year Cortés was allegedly given a beating by Guardia officers who had asked him to produce his papers at Palma airport security and to whom he spoke in Catalan. He was allowed to make his flight - to London - where a doctor seemingly confirmed his injuries. The OCB took up his case and publicised it widely in the media. The court case is the trial of one of those officers.
What are we to make of these cases? Setting aside the rights or wrongs of what has happened or may have happened, they point to one thing - a ratcheting up of the whole Catalan issue. Appealing to Amnesty International and international observers and media takes it to a new level, and one that, on the face of it, seems somewhat extreme.
By doing so, the OCB, which had its own brush with the Guardia when a leading member was detained during the "Acampallengua" (language camp) in Sa Pobla last year, is further politicising an already political issue and also elevating it, via Amnesty, into the realms of human rights abuse.
The Spanish constitution recognises, through the exercise of human rights, the cultures, traditions and languages of all the peoples of Spain. Yet there is a dichotomy in that the defenders of the state, in the form of the Guardia, are officially only Castilian speaking. It is a dichotomy that needs addressing. Whether witting or unwitting, the Guardia should not be pushed into being a defender of language as well; it's not their job. But as things stand, the Guardia, placed in an invidious position, are an institutional target for those with a Catalanist agenda. Which is not to say that they can't potentially be brought to book, as will happen with the Cortés case.
The Saddouki case would probably be quickly forgotten about were it not for the Cortés trial. It is the alleged violence, together with the Catalan connection, that will, in all likelihood, make it more of a cause célèbre than Saddouki. And it probably will attract international attention. Moreover, it is likely to ask some awkward questions, ones that go to the heart of the constitution and of institutions.
For many of you, the Catalan issue might seem pretty arcane, but the depth of feeling that surrounds it is of great significance and is one that colours much of the local political discourse, as shown with the debate over language in education. Yes it's political, but then it's been a political issue for centuries, and an incident at Palma airport is about to make it more so.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Captain, I Said What
Let's say you are Welsh. At Cardiff airport two policemen come up to you and ask you, in English, to produce your papers. You comply with the demand, but reply in Welsh. One of the policemen insists that you speak English. You do so, but the policeman then says that you must speak in a clearer fashion, to which you ask what he said. The police then, behind closed doors, attack you, hitting you on the head, in the mouth and the stomach and then charge you.
This, in essence, but substituting Catalan for Welsh and Castilian for English, is what is alleged to have happened to one Iván Cortés at Palma airport on 7 August. The police were Guardia Civil officers. The case has been taken up by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), an organisation that defends and promotes the use of Catalan. It has obtained a meeting with the director general of the island's Guardia to ask that "aggression" towards Catalan speakers ceases, the Cortés incident being the springboard for this request.
Cortés was allowed to make his journey, to London as it happens, where he was seen by a doctor whose report would appear to confirm injuries. The OCB adds that security cameras at Palma airport could also confirm what is alleged to have taken place.
This incident first came to light at the start of this month. A report in "The Diario" (3 September) listed what I have above. It also carried a photo from a press conference of Cortés, together with Tomeu Martí, the co-ordinator for the OCB. Cortés would probably be in his twenties. He has long dark hair and a beard with a longish, thin goatie. He has a dark complexion, suggesting mixed race or possibly one particular race.
Accusations against police happen everywhere, not always with justification. One has to bear in mind that the incident took place a few days after the Palmanova bombing. The police would have been on high alert, though one thing one can probably say is that Cortés does not look like how one might expect an ETA terrorist to appear. A question might be, however, why the officers demanded to see his papers in the first place. They are within their rights to do so, but the question might still be raised.
Guardia officers speak Castilian. Only Castilian. It is not the first time that one has heard of an incident, assuming the Cortés one to be accurate, in which there has been something of an issue with someone speaking Catalan. Guardia officers speak Castilian because it is the language of the state. And the Guardia is very closely associated with the state, the Spanish state. It is a defender of the state. Whether that means that it should be a defender of one language is another matter. In Mallorca, Catalan and Castilian enjoy joint official status.
One does not of course have the other side of the story. Nevertheless, an alleged attack on a defenceless man, whose only apparent "crime" was to speak Catalan and to seek clarification of what was being asked of him, is deserving of investigation, especially as it involves the schism of language and regionalism. There is, though, more to all this. Go back a bit. That other name. Tomeu Martí. Remember him? Probably not. Remember the "Acampallengua", the pro-Catalan gathering in Sa Pobla in late May? Remember that a senior figure in the OCB was arrested for "disobedience" by the Guardia? That was Martí. He was recently fined for refusing a request to show his papers, the cause of his arrest. Why he was asked to do so, I am unsure. But asked he was.
The OCB is not a party, but it has links to the political establishment locally. You may recall that back in December there was the campaign to speak Catalan over a coffee in the local bar. The OCB was behind that. It followed hard on the heels of the campaign to promote wider use of Catalan in bars and restaurants, one funded at a not insignificant cost by the Council of Mallorca. Both campaigns were innocent enough, but the "Acampallengua" did have an undercurrent of youth radicalisation, and then there was the demonstration in Palma during the summer in favour of Catalan (and indeed another in support of Castilian).
The Cortés case cannot be seen just as an isolated incident of possible police aggression. It has to be seen in a wider political and social context. At a press conference held two days ago to announce that request for a meeting with the Guardia, a representative of the republican left in the Balearics shared the platform with Martí, and a link was made to the fact that José Bono, president of the national congress of deputies, had been prohibited from speaking Catalan in the congress. Moreover, Martí has accused the Balearics delegate to the central government, Ramón Socias, of a failure to respond to "acts of discrimination against Catalan".
If it hasn't already been, the Guardia risks being dragged into some murky political waters, some, given its past reputation, it would do well to avoid. As a defender of the state, the whole state, it should not become the clarion call for political opportunism and polarisation in Mallorca, which this has the danger of becoming, and with the forces of the law set against elements of the political establishment, themselves supported by elements of a spot of "agitprop".
* To see the original "Diario" article and photo, go here: http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca/2009/09/03/joven-afirma-agentes-guardia-civil-le-agredieron-hablar-catalan/499821.html
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Talk Talk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6CdsAMGYk. Today's title - to explain: captain is a rank in the Guardia; the rest follows. Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
This, in essence, but substituting Catalan for Welsh and Castilian for English, is what is alleged to have happened to one Iván Cortés at Palma airport on 7 August. The police were Guardia Civil officers. The case has been taken up by the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB), an organisation that defends and promotes the use of Catalan. It has obtained a meeting with the director general of the island's Guardia to ask that "aggression" towards Catalan speakers ceases, the Cortés incident being the springboard for this request.
Cortés was allowed to make his journey, to London as it happens, where he was seen by a doctor whose report would appear to confirm injuries. The OCB adds that security cameras at Palma airport could also confirm what is alleged to have taken place.
This incident first came to light at the start of this month. A report in "The Diario" (3 September) listed what I have above. It also carried a photo from a press conference of Cortés, together with Tomeu Martí, the co-ordinator for the OCB. Cortés would probably be in his twenties. He has long dark hair and a beard with a longish, thin goatie. He has a dark complexion, suggesting mixed race or possibly one particular race.
Accusations against police happen everywhere, not always with justification. One has to bear in mind that the incident took place a few days after the Palmanova bombing. The police would have been on high alert, though one thing one can probably say is that Cortés does not look like how one might expect an ETA terrorist to appear. A question might be, however, why the officers demanded to see his papers in the first place. They are within their rights to do so, but the question might still be raised.
Guardia officers speak Castilian. Only Castilian. It is not the first time that one has heard of an incident, assuming the Cortés one to be accurate, in which there has been something of an issue with someone speaking Catalan. Guardia officers speak Castilian because it is the language of the state. And the Guardia is very closely associated with the state, the Spanish state. It is a defender of the state. Whether that means that it should be a defender of one language is another matter. In Mallorca, Catalan and Castilian enjoy joint official status.
One does not of course have the other side of the story. Nevertheless, an alleged attack on a defenceless man, whose only apparent "crime" was to speak Catalan and to seek clarification of what was being asked of him, is deserving of investigation, especially as it involves the schism of language and regionalism. There is, though, more to all this. Go back a bit. That other name. Tomeu Martí. Remember him? Probably not. Remember the "Acampallengua", the pro-Catalan gathering in Sa Pobla in late May? Remember that a senior figure in the OCB was arrested for "disobedience" by the Guardia? That was Martí. He was recently fined for refusing a request to show his papers, the cause of his arrest. Why he was asked to do so, I am unsure. But asked he was.
The OCB is not a party, but it has links to the political establishment locally. You may recall that back in December there was the campaign to speak Catalan over a coffee in the local bar. The OCB was behind that. It followed hard on the heels of the campaign to promote wider use of Catalan in bars and restaurants, one funded at a not insignificant cost by the Council of Mallorca. Both campaigns were innocent enough, but the "Acampallengua" did have an undercurrent of youth radicalisation, and then there was the demonstration in Palma during the summer in favour of Catalan (and indeed another in support of Castilian).
The Cortés case cannot be seen just as an isolated incident of possible police aggression. It has to be seen in a wider political and social context. At a press conference held two days ago to announce that request for a meeting with the Guardia, a representative of the republican left in the Balearics shared the platform with Martí, and a link was made to the fact that José Bono, president of the national congress of deputies, had been prohibited from speaking Catalan in the congress. Moreover, Martí has accused the Balearics delegate to the central government, Ramón Socias, of a failure to respond to "acts of discrimination against Catalan".
If it hasn't already been, the Guardia risks being dragged into some murky political waters, some, given its past reputation, it would do well to avoid. As a defender of the state, the whole state, it should not become the clarion call for political opportunism and polarisation in Mallorca, which this has the danger of becoming, and with the forces of the law set against elements of the political establishment, themselves supported by elements of a spot of "agitprop".
* To see the original "Diario" article and photo, go here: http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca/2009/09/03/joven-afirma-agentes-guardia-civil-le-agredieron-hablar-catalan/499821.html
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Talk Talk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6CdsAMGYk. Today's title - to explain: captain is a rank in the Guardia; the rest follows. Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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