Open reply to pepón

Dear friends,

I sent a reply to a post by someone who calls him or herself "pepón" who made a number of affirmation in the discussion following an editorial by Prof. Joseph Wieler published in the European Journal of International Law. 

http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonian-independence-and-the-european-union/

Unfortunately the editors have suddenly decided to close the debate, a few hours after I sent them the following response, which has not been published:

"I would like to respond to Pepón, yet another anonymous contributor enthusiastically defending the Spanish Unionist cause.

"(i) He claims that ‘“Putos espanyols (lladres)” has become a standard comment in Catalonia’. Well, I live in Barcelona and I’ve never heard that expression in the mouth of any God.-fearing Catalan myself. But maybe I’m deaf. Let’s look it up using Google. Holy Mary! He’s right: See http://www.racocatala.cat/forums/fil/124881/si-si-si-4-equips-valencians-1era-divisio. However, just one small point. That’s the one and only time the expression can be found on the whole of the Internet, so it’s hardly a “standard comment”. Moreover it was not uttered by a Catalan, but by a supporter of a Valencian football club, Ontinyent, who identifies himself (or herself) using a Basque name (sic), Beti aizkolari. He wrote this over two years ago, 21 June 2010, after his team “was robbed” of victory by a Madrid side. I think, Pepón, we can rightfully demand that you withdraw your accusation.

"(ii) He or she tries to substantiate the claim that ‘all the Catalan “intellectuals” treat Castilians and Andalusians *literally* as an inferior species’ by referring us to a venerable gentleman, Pompeu Gener who died no less than 93 years ago.

"(iii) Moreover, he or she adds insult to injury when he or she claims that “there was some persecution on the first few years and that you had to learn in Castilian at school, but it is also true that Catalan language had never before been so productive as under Franco”. How dare he dismiss not only the first-hand experience of a multitude of Catalans, but also the thorough academic achievements of, among many others, Josep Benet (1920-2008), Catalunya sota el règim franquista. Informe sobre la persecució de la llengua i la cultura de Catalunya pel règim del general Franco (1973) and L'intent franquista de genocidi cultural contra Catalunya (1995) and Francesc Ferrer (1935-2006): La persecució política de la llengua catalana (1985) and Catalanofòbia, Història del pensament anticatalà (2000)?

"These sources and many others are referred to in an issue of the Cercle 21 bulletin, which shows clearly that Pepón’s discourse joins that of a long succession of negationists even including, unfortunately, the author of a speech on the history of the Spanish language given by the Spanish King in 2001. See http://www.cercle21.cat/butlleti/03/index.html

"The Franco regime repression formed part of a strategy which has lasted for centuries which has never been as crudely put as by Ángel Ossorio y Gallardo, who wrote “La Guerra de España y los católicos” in 1942: “Los ocupantes del Poder español nada odian tanto como Cataluña. Si pudieran pulverizarla, la pulverizarían. Engrandecerla, de ninguna manera. Por si acaso” (The occupiers of Spanish power hate nothing as much as Catalonia. If they could pulverise her, they would. Certainly not enlarge  her. Just in case.)

"(iv) Pepón has no qualms about recommending this source, and I too would invite readers to refer to it and to reach their conclusions as regards the academic and intellectual status of the posts and links therein. I will certainly not be the one to suggest that this website is little more than neofascist, anti-Catalan propaganda. Certainly not." 

See also earlier posts of mine in this debate: 

• http://miquelstrubell.blogspot.com/2013/01/catalan-bashing.html
• http://miquelstrubell.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-failure-of-spain-as-project.html

See other comments to Dr. Wieler's post here: http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonian-independence-and-the-european-union/#comments 
See other comments to Dr. Krisch's reply here: http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonias-indepence-a-reply-to-joseph-weiler/#comments

The failure of Spain as a project

Although Nico Krisch's excellent response to Dr. Weiler ( http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonias-indepence-a-reply-to-joseph-weiler/ ) makes this contribution rather redundant, I would like to respond to an anonymous (why, for Heaven's sake? What are you frightened of?) writer above, "P.L.Q." who says that "It is too often forgotten that the Spanish civil war was not a war between regions but a war between ideologies, where Spaniards of all regions were slaughtered by their neighbors". Was it not indeed BOTH? Was not the Spanish right viscerally against Catalan, Basque and Galician autonomy in the 1930's? Wasn't it a rightwing leader, José Calvo Sotelo, that said "Antes roja que rota", shortly being cruelly assassinated, the event that sparked off the army uprising 4 or 5 days later) against the, wait for it, leftist Spanish government?


If I may parahprase Berta Badia's comment that "That’s what the true spirit of European integration should be about", it is sad to have to acknowledge that the "true spirit of Spanish integration" has consistently and unfortunately been to try and legitimize the annexation to Castile (following the 1714 defeat) of Catalonia, and similar processes of colonization of other territories that had previously shared the monarch with Castile, but not much else (not currency, tariffs, legislation, institutions, civil law, or in some cases language, etc.).

The 1854 school map of Spain is particularly illuminating: http://mapas.owje.com/img/Mapa-Politico-de-Espana-1854-4049.jpg . Here you can see Catalonia and the whole of the former kingdom of Aragon described as "España incorporada o asimilada".

The failure of Spain as a project has been not to get rid of this ultimate aim. Prejudice and stereotypes continue to portray the Catalans as deviants, as "bad" Spaniards. Franco didn't invent anything: he was just rather more ruthless than those before him and, as we can see, some of those who have succeeded him. The level of threats being hurled daily at the Catalan people are simply not acceptable in 21st century Europe, I mean it. If the English (or Belgian, or Canadian) head of the Transplants organisation said it would be "difficult" to supply organs for transplants to a seceding territory, I doubt they would last five minutes in their job. But Catalan-bashing is a tolerated sport in Spain's still antiquated discourse.

• See other comments to Dr. Weiler's post here:  http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonian-independence-and-the-european-union/#comments 
• See other comments to Dr. Krisch's reply here: http://www.ejiltalk.org/catalonias-indepence-a-reply-to-joseph-weiler/#comments
• And my remarks, in the same debate, on "Catalan-bashing": http://miquelstrubell.blogspot.com/2013/01/catalan-bashing.html