Sweet jesus it very much wont come to that. Once again, where are you getting your news?
This is not Civil War Mk II no matter how much some people here seem to be having wet dreams about that. This is a softer rehasal of what went on in the Basque Country in the 80s and 90s (in fact a Basque journalist quipped that this whole ordeal was like Stranger Things for Basque millennials: it kind of reminds us of our childhood). I think at worst we're talking about the same kind of issues (eg: radicals relaunching Terra Lliure or something like that), smoldering violence for a few years, and then a settlement. Hopefully it wont even come to that, and after a show of holding a kangaroo trial for the more visible heads of the referendum, both parties will skip the insanity of political violence and come to a settlement directly after a few months. The finance minister hinted as much, Europe is pressing in that direction, and it's what JxSi really wants anyway (regardless of the rhetoric), so its the most likely outcome.
As a sidenote: I've become more sympathethic to nationalist positions over the last few days... but eeh, it has been happening slowly over the last ten years, anyway. The suckiness of national politics will do that. Really, if they dont like that our people are growing increasingly disenchanted with the idea of Spain, maybe they should stop treating our cultures like a foreign other? Spain off started as a personal union of several different kingdoms, and it really only works if the cultures of those places get proper respect. Even our most virulently conservative rulers understood that. It was only with Franco that they started with this bullshit of Spain being "One". Before him even autocratic monarchs styled themselves "King of the SpainS" (emphasis of the plural) and swore to respect the customs of each territory.
As another sidenote: this is also the reason I oppose a fusion with Portugal, an idea which is popular with irredentist Castilians and with a surprisingly high number of Portuguese people. Because in principle I like the idea of a federal Iberian Republic. I honestly regard all the different peoples of the Iberian Peninsula as brethen, and think that (under non abusive circumstances ) a Federal Iberian Republic would be a good thing. But in practice I dont see any way the central goverment wouldn't disrespect the Portuguese in the same way they disrespect us, or the Catalonians, for that matter. Unfortunatedly central Spain (with the relative exception of Madrid) has a disproportionately high amount of Francoism nostalgics who insist that their culture is the only genuine one , thst Valladolid is the best city in the world, and that bullfighting is the best thing since sliced bread. So, no, I very much dont want the Portuguese to put up with that shit
Another sidenote: said Francoist holdouts have a huuuge chip on their shoulder about the Catalonian language.
Well guess what: Catalonian, Spanish, and Portuguese are largely mutually intelligible. If you speak slowly in one of them, speakers of the others will understand most of what you're saying. So, yeah, one more example of cultural disrespect from people that really should know better.
Author
Topic: The friendly and polite Europe related terrible jokes thread (Read 1008525 times)