AN Indian summer, though short-lived and unexpected, remains a beautiful experience in the Loire Valley as a bright sun projects its warm rays across green pastures from a fairly low angle throughout the day while moving at an easy pace toward the western horizon.
His grape harvest meticulously amassed and the new wines safely prepared, stored and awaiting maturation, Count André de la Roche now has time to relax, frequently enjoying pre-dinner conversations with friends.
The subjection of our discussion this evening is Catalonia’s bid, one more time, to free itself from Spanish domination.
“They’re most certainly influenced by Brexit,” comments our journalist friend Jean Lavergeat.
“Perhaps…” says the Count, lighting his pipe and placing himself in an easy chair on the veranda, his loyal golden retriever Schweppes lying next to the marble column enjoying last rays of a setting sun.
“…but let’s not forget that the Catalonian struggle to be a free nation goes back many, many centuries.
“Spain’s history is very different from other European countries. It remained under Arab domination from early eighth century to the end of the 15th century when armies belonging to Queen Isabella of Castiglia and King Ferdinando of Aragona put their forces together and chased them out of the European continent in 1492.
“Soon enough Spain was the richest and most powerful country in Europe but Catalonia, situated next to the Pyrenean mountains where people follow their own culture and speak their own language, remained a rebellious domination.
“Despite officially being part of Spain, Catalonia has frequently been in disagreement with the empire and even the municipality of Barcelona, the capital, time and again refuses to obey orders from Madrid.
“These conflicts often also took violent proportions. In 1640 a movement was launched refusing to pay taxes imposed by Madrid. Spanish authorities finally resolved this problem in 1652 at a heavy cost when the Catalonian el Segadors [the protestors] were brutally crushed by the armed forces.
“Gen Franco’s dictatorship between 1939 and 1975 further added to the worsening of the crisis. Hundreds of Catalonians were arrested and persecuted during the Second World War and even much later. For the locals, this was not the result of one man’s tyranny but the fault of Madrid itself.
“As for Gen Franco, the Catalonian leaders were communist spies with whom no negotiation was possible and they had to be crushed by force. He never hesitated doing this during his nearly four decades of despotic power. He banned the Catalonian language from schools and public places, changed the historical names of streets and monuments and made the use of the Catalonian flag illegal.
“Let us say things as they are without falling into the trap of political correction invented by the Americans. The latest addition to the Catalonians’ fear of losing their originality are the open frontiers imposed by the European Union. The British freed themselves for the same reason though they are too afraid to admit it frankly. The Catalonians do not need to get into the debate as they have their thousand years old independence movement to carry on.
“Will they win at the end, nobody knows. But the President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, though he is willing to allow Madrid take its own time deciding it, is determined to put his dream of a free nation into a reality. The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, on his part appears to play the game but in fact is fast losing credibility and may even have to leave his post.”
As the Count concludes his argument, Schweppes suddenly wakes up at the sight of a pigeon landing on the lawn. “Independence or no independence…” he seems to say as he takes a bound toward the garden, “…nothing is as exciting as chasing a bird!”
The writer is a journalist based in Paris
Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2017
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