Why Barcelona means freedom for tourists

In the last few months I’ve been hit with the most curious sensation:  I’ve started to miss being a tourist in Barcelona.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve only lived in the Ciudad Condal for two years, so I’m hardly a dyed in the wool, sardana dancing Catalan. Nevertheless, Barcelona is where I live, work and pay taxes and it is where my daughter was born. And all this implies certain obligations.

It was not always thus: I first visited Barcelona in the summer of 1995 as a fresh-faced (ish) youth of 17 years old and was immediately hit by the city’s air of freedom. This freedom resounded in any number of inconsequential things: you could buy beer from the bakers and drink in the street; night clubs stayed open until when they fancied; and people on the beach undressed with no regard for the fact that they were at the heart of a major European capital.

Of course, knowing a city better does reveal many of its lesser-known charms, places and experiences you are unlikely to ever experience as a tourist. Nevertheless, I have found myself lately envying the endless tourists sunning themselves on the beach or queuing for the Picasso museum. In them, I see the same feeling of freedom I experienced some 20 years ago.

Why does Barcelona, home to staggering youth unemployment and a shocking number of bank repossessions, represent such freedom? It’s hard to say. On the one hand, for visitors from Britain the laws on things like selling alcohol and opening hours are far more relaxed. You will get told off by the police and possibly fined for cycling on the streets in London. In Barcelona, no one really seems to care.

Then there’s the place itself: cities on the sea and great ports always seem to possess a great freedom, as if the sea and the transitory population it brings cannot stand to be cooped up and enslaved. Barcelona, with both beach and port, gets a double helping.

It is in the politics too: Barcelona’s fierce left-wing history and spirit of independence – much like a sunny Manchester - can be felt in the city’s streets. It seems right, somehow, that Barcelona should be one of the last bastions of the anarchist movement in Western Europe.

Then there’s the football. Like it or not, Barcelona FC is key to how millions of foreign visitors view the city (not for nothing is the Barca Museum the most visited museum in the city). For anyone raised on the English Premier League, Barcelona play with a freedom of expression and love of the beautiful game that is entirely absent when Stoke face off against Fulham.

Many residents of Barcelona hate tourists. It’s easy to see why: they get in way when you’re in a hurry, take ages to order in bars and generally seem to be having a better time that you. What’s more, it is easy to sympathise with the residents of, say, La Barceloneta who feel they are being priced out of the area by the demands of tourism.

Despite this, I think tourists should firmly be embraced. There are the economic arguments, of course, with tourism bringing millions of euros into the city every year. More importantly, though, tourists serve to remind Barcelona of what it is: they come for the freedom of the city, to escape from the drab day-to-day of London or Paris and they come to relax in body and mind.

Tourists hold a mirror up to the city – a cracked and often distorted one but a mirror nonetheless. And in Barcelona it shows freedom.

Spain’s troubled waters

 

 

Today, 22nd March, marks UN World Water Day 2013, its theme - ‘cooperation around water’.  However, as the Spanish Government repeals coastal protection rules and potentially revives controversial hydrological plans, water is not so much forging cooperation but a divisive element threatening to resurrect old divides.

 

For the Los Reyes public holiday in January this year I visited Osuna in Andalucía.  Whilst chatting to the hotel receptionist Maria, she said, for the first time ever during the fiesta, she’d been swimming outdoors as temperatures soared well over 20°C; and over the last decade she’d noticed winters becoming much hotter and drier.  It turns out she was right.

Last year Spain suffered its driest winter in 70 years; by summer 2012 the country was desiccant, its trees tinder; the consequence - a catalogue of forest infernos that rampaged through regions from Catalonia to Andalucía.  I myself witnessed first hand the eerie smog and grey ash rain from blazes in the Guadarrama Mountains.  Malaga suffered what officials described as ‘the worst fires in living memory’ with over 12,000 hectares obliterated.

Barely a month later in September 2012, Andalucía suffered its worst flood in a decade.  Torrential rains and violent storms led to flash deluges of biblical proportions killing ten people.  Yet, EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) research showed that with less than 200mm of fresh water available annually and consumption at least three times this, Spain is facing a serious problem.  The European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned that Spain is highly vulnerable to climate change.  It’s already lost 90% of its glaciers - the remaining expected to disappear within decades, leading to further water shortages as rivers depending on ice-melt shrivel up.  The Centre for Climate Adaption says the average temperature in Spain is predicted to rise 4°C by 2080 and extreme summers are likely to increase fourfold.  Precipitation is projected to decrease 5% in most of Spain - and by a staggering 10% in the southwest by 2040.  This combination will result in creeping desertification and water scarcity. 

Water and the economy

Spain is starting to count the cost of climate change which has already impacted Spain’s €2 billion wine industry; vineyards are being moved to cooler and moister climes.  Olive Oil Times reports that Spain is going the same way as Greece and Italy which have both seen production of olive oil halve since the early 2000’s.  2012 saw Spain’s harvest drop 40% due to drought.  Manuel Vargas Yáñez, author of the book Cambio Climático en el Mediterráneo Español says: ‘Sea level in the Mediterranean has risen by between 1 and 1.5mm each year since 1943, […] it now seems that the speed at which it is rising is accelerating’.  The sea is consuming Spain’s beaches and this could have serious consequences for the tourism industry.

Exploitation of water sources

As Spain seeks new water sources it’s encountering water exploration side effects.  It’s thought massive extraction of groundwater had helped unleash the deadly earthquake in Lorca in May 2011 that killed nine people, left hundreds injured and homeless and decimated priceless monuments.  Depletion of the water table by illegal wells is shrinking Spain’s irreplaceable wetlands - vital habitats for millions of the region’s indigenous birds as well as countless migrating species.  Birdlife’s Manuel Mendez has said that Spanish wetlands are endangered yet there is no commitment to ensure their conservation.  Another key problem is the salinisation of Spain’s rivers.  Research by the Department of Ecology at the University of Barcelona found that high levels of salinity in Spain’s waterways caused by industrial waste discharges and farming residues has led to excessive salt concentrations with huge ramifications for Spain’s potable drinking water.

Mismanagement and corruption

However, some regions have implemented policies that exacerbate the water problem.  Farmers in arid areas such as Murcia are planting water-thirsty crops like tomatoes and lettuce; and land has been transformed into golf courses and resorts that guzzle billions of gallons of water daily with farmers buying and selling water on a growing black market.  Many believe overexploitation has been spurred on by the bribing of local officials.  Chema Gil, a journalist who exposed such a plot has faced death threats: ‘The model of Murcia is completely unsustainable […] We consume two and a half times more water than the system can recover.  […] All the water we’re using to water lettuce and golf courses will be needed just to drink.’

Reckless development

Despite this, the Government is controversially repealing the Coastal Act to free up 8,000km of coastal land for development with the capacity to build about 40,000 homes.  Detractors say this makes no sense economically speaking given Spain’s property industry is in meltdown with some coastal property values dropping 75%.  From an environmental perspective, there’s simply not enough fresh water to sustain any further construction and this will impact UNESCO protected wetland sites such as Doñana, threatening their status and the tourism associated with it.  Moreover, given sea levels are rising as well as the risk of coastal flooding, this is downright reckless.  Critics are incredulous that the Government is promoting construction just as Spain has gone cap-in-hand to Europe for a bail out of its banking sector which failed due to the construction crash.  As the recent expose by El Pais shows, corruption amongst the political classes is rife in Spain - many commentators believe it’s this that’s at the root of such unworkable policies.

Juan Carlos del Olmo, Secretary General of WWF, said: ‘The decision [to repeal the Act] is setting the situation back 40 years, when Spain endured the worst urban development on the coast […] the reform was made without adequate public participation’.  Meanwhile, the WWF conservation director, Enrique Segovia, insisted that corruption ‘which is out of hand’ defines how it worked Spain and was one of the reasons there was a feeling that you can use natural resources with impunity.

National Water Plan

The demolition of coastal protection is not the only major controversy emerging over water.  On 21^st December 2012, Miguel Arias Cañete was appointed agriculture and environment minister - the same minister, who in 2001, under José María Aznar’s Popular Party (PP), approved a National Water Plan (NWP) to divert water from the Ebro River in the north to zones such as Valencia, Almeria and Murcia in the south.  This was shelved in 2004 under PSOE party leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero due to mass opposition in Catalonia; and because the EU refused to finance it given it was contrary to European environmental policy.  In Catalonia storm sirens are sounding.  Catalan News Agency reports suggest Cañete has mentioned carrying out a form of the NWP that many had believed was dead in the water; and though he has not directly referred to the Ebro River diversion, Catalan Minister for Sustainability and Territory, Lluís Recoder, believes that new water plans might be worded in a way that could allow river diversion to leak through the back door.  Indeed, Cañete’s reappointment has been a viewed as a boost for supporters of the water plan.  The national irrigators’ federation FENACORE described Cañete as ‘a guarantee for the sector’.  Antonio Cerdá, Murcian minister for agriculture and water, compared his appointment to ‘winning the lottery’.  

Luis M. Jiménez Herrero, executive director of Spain’s Observatorio de la Sostenibilidad said to me that the danger of the water plan has largely passed ‘because of the country's economic crisis and because it would entail a considerable impact on the territory, with huge environmental costs.  Furthermore, as Spain is a very vulnerable to climate change, developing a project of this calibre might not work at all in some years.’

However, given the repeal of the Coastal Act, a mechanism put in place 25 years ago to protect the coast, it’s not so difficult to believe the Government might not dredge up its water plan and forge ahead despite the huge wave of opposition.  Sadly it seems that calls for cooperation this World Water Day are likely to be drowned out by the decrees of power politics.

 

Photography: Charles Ansdell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chávez’s debut

The Monday night of February 3, 1992, I was coming home after having dinner and drinks with a few colleagues from The Daily Journal, the now-defunct English-language newspaper in Caracas, Venezuela where I worked for six years. It was a typical weekday late evening in the Venezuelan capital with so many noisy mini buses ferrying workers home across the city while  popular merengue tunes blared from their drivers’ radios. We lived just on the edge of downtown, not far from the suburbs, but a reasonably close distance from the center where the newspaper’s offices were located.  The Daily Journal, considered Latin America’s oldest English language daily, was widely respected across Venezuela because of its nonpartisan stance. I had two jobs at the time. In the early mornings, I produced a daily 15-minute English program on Radio Nacional de Venezuela that was broadcast across the globe on shortwave, so weeknights meant getting to bed as early as possible. As I was heading home on the por puesto, as the micro buses are known, I noticed a lot of police and military vehicles headed the opposite way toward the center of town. When I got home I fell asleep but a few hours later a startling rap on the front door suddenly woke me. Golpe de estado, my stunned elderly neighbor announced.

I switched on television to see the images around Miraflores presidential palace surrounded by tanks and young soldiers - many looking scared - brandishing their automatic weapons in menacing gestures. No one knew where President Carlos Andrés Pérez was. For months, there had been rumors about discontent within the military because of the deteriorating economy, bleak social conditions and rampant public corruption. But repeating rumors in Venezuela was, and continues to be, a national pastime. Who was behind the coup was the $64,000 question; not even the television newscasters, who fortunate enough were left unbothered to continue to do their jobs and provide excellent on-the-scene coverage, knew exactly what was happening.

I phoned my co-workers at the radio station and newspaper and we decided to sit tight for the time being. Still, my concern was getting the news out to the world on the shortwave bands and in English. It would take a few more years before the “super information highway,” now known as the internet, would become a household outlet to the world but back then a country’s national radio was the prime source of official news and regularly monitored by the BBC, VOA, RFI and other major broadcasters. Our station wasn’t a powerhouse, but at 50 kilowatts it could still be easily picked up across Europe and North America.

Needless to say, there was no more bed rest for the entire evening or the day that followed. Fighter jets roared over our neighborhood at seemingly random intervals while distant gunfire added to the haunting ambiance that permeated across the city. State-run television station Venezolana de Televisión, channel 8, had been taken over by rebel troops but they didn’t know how to work the controls to get their message on the air. From Zulia state, the identity of one rebel finally emerged. Lt. Col. Francisco Arias Cárdenas of the self-proclaimed Bolivarian 200 Revolutionary Movement had full control of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second largest city and the country’s petroleum producing hub. It was only a matter of time before Caracas fell. But at 3.30am, a weary and worried President Pérez, standing alongside the Venezuelan flag before a black curtain backdrop, finally came on air on the private Venevisión television network demanding that all the rebels retreat to their barracks while assuring loyalists that the situation under control. It was later learned he barely escaped with his life running through the underground tunnels of Miraflores Palace.

At daybreak, I decided to head off to the station. For a normally bustling Latin American capital, Caracas was dead silent. The streets were empty so it was easy to get to Radio Nacional’s studios without any problem. The rebels never took over the radio station, which was heavily guarded. My French- and Haitian Creole-speaking colleagues and I went straight to work to prepare our  respective broadcasts. By 7am we were on the air and managed to get out nine transmissions at each half hour in four languages. Shortly before noon, when I knew it was near time to get back out on the streets and head on over to The Daily Journal’s offices, all television stations went to a live nationwide broadcast in which it was announced that the leader of the coup had finally been captured and would address the nation. Heavily escorted, the young and serious-looking soldier wearing a red beret, the stamp of a Venezuelan paratrooper, was paraded in front of clicking cameras inside a paneled conference room. He was identified as Lt. Col. Hugo Chávez Frías. In his brief remarks, he thanked those who supported him and asked his rebel soldiers to lay down their weapons, but punctuated his call with the following message: “the cause is lost for now.” Along with the image of a bold, assured man who seemed unconcerned that he would probably spend the rest of his life in prison, that phrase resonated with Venezuelans for the years to come. By the time it was over, at around 5pm on February 4, 133 officers and 956 soldiers had been arrested for taking part in the coup.

He hadn’t been defeated. After another coup attempt that following November led by his supporters and a disgraced exit by Pérez, who was ousted from the presidency for misusing a secret national security fund, Chávez, pardoned by President Rafael Caldera, found that his time finally came when Venezuelans swept him into office in 1998. Fifteen years later, el comandante, who died at age 58, has left behind an uncertain future and a country as bitterly divided as it was in 1992.

The Other Six Nations: Los Leones start their 2015 qualifying campaign under the radar

As the guiris (myself included) filled out the Irish bars this weekend to sup cider and Guinness whilst watching the opening matches of the Six Nations played in front of packed 60,000 plus stadiums, one of Spain’s lesser known national sides embarked upon their own rugby adventure.

A world away from Twickenham, Murrayfield, and Le Stade de France lies the European Nations Cup Division 1A (or, if you like, Six Nations Division 2), which also doubles up as the qualifying rounds for the Rugby World Cup 2015, to be held in England. Matches are, somewhat peculiarly, played in tandem with the ‘box office’ Six Nations games, thus reducing the chances of national broadcasters like Canal+ or Teledeporte buying the viewing rights – something which the IRB will surely have to address if they are serious about developing more interest in the game in so called ‘minor’ nations. The qualifying period agonisingly lasts well over a year (due to the fact the Six Nations is only once a year), and standings are only confirmed after each team has played each other both at home and away at the end of a two-year cycle. Complicated.

The top two placed sides will automatically gain a place in La Copa Mundial, and the third placed team goes into a repechage playoff for one last chance at making it. Even more complicated.

New Leones coach Bryce Bevin – a Kiwi – took charge in July, and has quickly assembled a new core of Spanish-born players, complimented with a small group of distinctly non-Spanish sounding names who have qualified for selection via residency, playing in the División de Honor (the La Liga of rugby), who he believes are capable of helping Spain reach what would be only their second ever Rugby World Cup; the first and last being in 1999. Bevin will surely be looking to the example of Italy, who through a fine balance of home-grown talent, imports and clever use of their large diaspora (mainly found in Argentina) have gone from Six Nations whipping boys to taking full points from World Cup finalists France in two of their last three meetings in the tournament. 

Smells Like Team Spirit: Spain's players unite during the national anthm, with a rather empty grandstand in the background (Photo via FER website)

The main criticism that haunted Bevin’s predecessor, Frenchman Regis Sonnes, was that he recruited too many of his fellow countrymen who spoke little of the language, were based outside of Spain and lacked the desired commitment to la selección, with club duties often coming first. That’s not to take anything away from Sonnes and the work he did. He and his légion étrangère have taken Spain, and Spanish rugby to a new level. The national side sit at a record-high ranking of 18^th in the world, ahead of Nations Cup rivals Romania and Russia (19^th and 20^th respectively), just behind Japan and USA, all four of whom qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This achievement is all the more admirable, given there are only around 30,000 registered players of the sport (very few of whom are professional) in a country that boasts either the World and/or European Champions in the more lucrative games of football, basketball and handball, and has seven of the top 50 tennis players in the world. Even a newly expanded División de Honor only has 12 teams, with the vast majority of players having to do a regular nine-to-five job before training in the evenings. The worsening financial crisis does not help matters in the world of Spanish Rugby either; league champions VRAC Quesos Entrepinares unable to take their place in the Amlin Challenge Cup due to the fact they simply could not afford to embark on a European campaign. The nearest team who had the financial clout to take on such a challenge in their absence was fifth placed Basque outfit Bizkaia Gernika, a side fortunate enough to benefit from regional government funding.

Spain’s national Sevens side now forms part of the IRB’s 15 ‘core’ nations, and as such will participate at all nine of the official HSBC Sevens World Series tournaments this 2012-13 season; which started off with the impressive 19-14 defeat of England in the final of Australia’s Gold Coast ‘Bowl’ – a knockout competition for the teams who finished in the bottom two of their initial pool groups. This newfound success in the shorter, smaller form of the game actually creates a rather large problem for Bevin. Spain’s pool of elite players is small, and in selecting a strong squad for the Sevens Series’, they actually harm their chances of qualifying for 2015, with Sevens tournaments being held in New Zealand, and then USA at the same time as the opening two European Nations Cup fixtures. They don’t have the luxury of elite rugby nations such as England, Australia and New Zealand, who have entirely different rosters for the 15-a-side and 7-a-side games.

And so, as first orders were being taken at 11am CET and the words to songs like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot were being rehearsed religiously, Spain lined up against Russia at a freezing, and by all accounts very empty Stadium in Sochi. The Bears, as the Russian’s are aptly nicknamed (due to the fact their players all seem to be the size of one) defeated Spain twice in the 2010-12 edition of this tournament, however could only finish fourth overall, whereas Spain came second; the same finish this time round would see the team reach England 2015 – no pressure! Taking lessons from their more illustrious companions, The Lions kicked themselves into a 7-9 lead early in the second half, a penalty from La Vila’s Javier Carrión, and two drop goals from former Aviva Premiership player César Sempere putting the away side within touching distance of a win. However two late Russian penalties turned the game, and Spain were unable to recover sufficiently in the remaining minutes to recoup the deficit, and the match ended in a 13-9 defeat. A small consolation is that they at least come away with a bonus point owing to the fact they lost by fewer than seven points, yet Bevin will perhaps be left wondering what might have been should the players involved with the Sevens have been available.

Action from Spain vs. Russia (Photo via FER website)

Any pondering and regrouping will have to be done quickly, as the second round of fixtures is rapidly approaching. Brussels is the venue on February 9^th, as Belgium (who were also defeated in their opening fixture; 13-17 by favourites, and highest-ranked side in the group Georgia) provide the opposition. Although early in the calendar, the fixture is a must win game for El XV del Leon given the opposition, and their lack of experience at this level of rugby. Two weeks later Romania travel to Gijón, followed by a trip to Georgia and a final game against the old enemy Portugal in Santiago de Compostela, by which time it could be all over, or just beginning for one of Spain’s smaller, less successful selecciones.

All games will be shown via a live stream on ferugby.es

 

The Great Escape: young Spaniards see the UK as a land of opportunity as 'la crisis' takes its toll

“Well, I did my first degree in Audiovisual Communication, so I guess I kind of coached myself not to have a strong accent,” Rocío explains when asked as to why she only speak with the softest of Andalusian twangs, “then afterwards I did a post-graduate teaching certificate, and then my Masters in European Studies.” It takes a moment to register; yet the sad truth is that hers is an all too common story.

“I was unemployed in Spain for two years, which is just too long,” says the 28-year-old originally from Seville, “I wasn’t just looking for jobs in my city, I was applying for jobs all over Spain, Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, but I was barely even offered an interview. I went eight months without even receiving one phone call in relation to all my applications, and after that I decided that I had to leave.” The pain is etched all over her face. 

As the job queues increase in Spain, so do the numbers of those leaving the country (Photo: EFE via El País)

Indeed, the number of people leaving Spain is increasing dramatically. The Insituto Nacional de Estadística recently released figures showing that over 40,000 left the country in the first six months of 2012; a 44-percent increase on that time in 2011. Many of them are seeking pastures new in the United Kingdom, where the Spanish population has increased by a third in the last five years, and the volume of National Insurance Number applications received by the Department for Work and Pensions by Spaniards over the last 12 months was second only to those made by Pakistani’s as the highest number of foreign national requests.

“It was a difficult decision to leave, of course it was,” she adds. “I have my friends, my family, and my boyfriend. He’s lucky. He works in an industry that hasn’t really been affected by the crisis, and hasn’t come to England with me. But sometimes you to make decisions and sacrifices for yourself, for your career, for your life. Two years of being unemployed is just demoralizing, I really wondered at times ‘Rocío, what are you doing with your life?’ So, I came here to improve my English, and I’m looking for a job as a waitress, barmaid, housekeeping…anything really, and then in the future we’ll see if I’m able to go back to Spain or if I will stay here and get my English to a level where I can work in marketing or communications … Who knows what the future will bring.”

This uncertainty is a reality now facing many, as those young and old are finding it ever-harder to find a job in a country where 52.3% of 16-24 year-olds are unemployed, and overall unemployment has risen to over one-in-four people.

Her friend Ferran joins us. He is 22 and graduated with a degree in Human Resources Management last June. “There’s just no opportunities for young people,” he says explaining the decision to swap his native Barcelona for Leeds in September. “I mean, you can work as a becario (intern) but you get paid next to nothing, and in a big city it doesn’t even cover the rent. I’m earning more as a barman here than I would be back home interning in a big company. Here I can improve my English, earn some money and then start looking for a more permanent job. I want to stay here for a long time.” I try to put myself in his shoes. We’re the same age, have similar interests, and although I have lived abroad for a period before, it was always going to be a temporary measure as part of my degree before I returned to the security of Blighty.

They both scoff when I suggest that Britain too has high levels of unemployment, “For you maybe seven or eight percent [unemployment level] is high, we have twenty five percent, and it’s worse for younger people like me,” Ferran retorts. By this time I have realized it is impossible to even contemplate being in the same, or a similar situation to what is being called la generación perdida (or, lost generation) by some people in Spain. These are highly educated, skilled people moving out of necessity.

Portobello in London is an area that has traditionally had a small, sociable Spanish community. There are a couple of Spanish delicatessens, selling chorizo, vino and more. There is the Spanish School Instituto Vicente Cañada Blanch, from which a stone’s throw away is La Bodega tapas bar. Proprietor Antonio Carrera has been in England for 45 years and used to struggle to find Spanish-speaking staff; not anymore. “I probably get around 25-30 CV’s a week minimum, and at least half of them are normally from Spaniards,” he tells me, with a tone of sorrow that reflects the gravity of the situation his homeland now finds itself in. “I only have room for about 10 staff, and yet I keep getting these applications from people with degrees, and masters in difficult subjects looking for what they can get – waiter, chef, washing dishes, even cleaning the restaurant. They are just forced to do anything to be able to go on with their lives, and it really is sad.”

Antonio Carrera's 'La Bodega' Tapas Bar in London (Photo Ewan-M via flickr)

Back in Leeds the sentiment is shared, “It’s tough for Spain because there is a whole generation of people without work, and they are leaving,” Ferran explains. “I came here with my best friend, and we both have friends who have gone to Germany, France, and other cities in the UK like London and Dublin. We’re trying to be as English as we can; we pay our taxes, and do our shopping in the supermarket, even if the food is not the best,” he laughs. “And don’t even get me started on the weather,” as we jovially look out of the window into the thick, grey clouds, something which in retrospect is a seemingly pertinent metaphor for the economic situation these two young professionals have left behind in Spain.

 Suddenly the laughter stops. “But you can’t blame us, right?” Ferran says solemnly, “there’s just no future for us in Spain at all.”  

 

 

What Cameron should say about Brexit

I might not agree with David Cameron when he makes his long-awaited speech in the Netherlands on Friday. But he will at least be firing a starting pistol for an open debate about the future of Britain’s role in the European Union. Goaded by our predominantly rightwing media, Britain’s main political parties have traditionally been timid when it comes to defending membership of the bloc. Instead, both the Conservatives and Labour have long engaged in a disingenuous contest: who can be seen to sigh the deepest about the tiresome obligations rubber-stamped in Brussels, while never actually mouthing the dread word on the bottom line. Now that word exists: Brexit.

Whatever the terms and time frame for a referendum outlined by the prime minister, there will now be a dividing line about which political forces and, eventually, all UK citizens, will have to position themselves. Are we in or are we out? As a Brit who is physically out in the EU, I know on which side my bread/pan/pain/panne (you get the idea) is buttered (or oiled?). I want my compatriots to see the benefits of continued, and committed, EU membership; I await anxiously for champions to emerge. It may be a long and frustrating wait. Thursday’s news that Labour leader Ed Miliband is refusing to say whether he would support a referendum on taking powers back from Brussels is disheartening, to say the least. We do still have Nick Clegg and his much-Googled Spanish wife Miriam González. The deputy PM is eager to put some distance between his party and Cameron´s euro-skeptic-ridden Tories on this one, but what may help to push up the Liberal Democrat vote back toward 20 percent will not suffice to win the day in a nationwide referendum.

To whom is Cameron addressing Friday’s long-awaited declaration? Mainly, to the euro-skeptic element in his party, many of whom are seeing their majorities whittled away by the rise of the anti-immigration, anti-Brussels (and absurdly named) UKIP. The story of a British PM turning cold on Europe after his first years in power is hardly a new one, however, albeit this time in the face of US pressure to not rock the European boat.   

As a Briton who is reaping the EU’s rewards, as opposed to compatriots who think that Brussels is sucking away the UK’s lifeblood, this is what I would like to hear my prime minister say on a winter’s day in the Netherlands:

Britain can play a leading EU role. In fact, it already has. Cameron should quote José Ignacio Torreblanca from EL PAÍS last month: “Since the 1980s, thanks to the vision of Britain, which supported the use of the qualified majority (as opposed to unanimity) for questions related to the internal market, we have advanced rapidly along the path of creation of markets, inward and outward, while keeping a tight budgetary leash on certain areas such as agricultural policy, which had previously burgeoned out of hand to absorb more than half the EU budget.”

Turning our back on Europe would have a terrible cultural and social cost. Erasmus scholarships, exchange courses, easy-to-arrange retirement in the sun, cross-border relationships, professional opportunities in open markets… is it all so bad?  

Britain is no longer a world power. Europe could be much more of one with the help of genuine British engagement. Obama knows this, and it is time that Middle England knew this too. 

So will I be able to live out my dual existence to the end of my days as a British citizen paying my taxes in Spain? Can I realistically cherish the idea that my children could study at a UK university? I hope the day never comes when I have to choose between my home countries, but I relish the prospect of Britain having its say. I will be among that electorate, posting my ballot - in favor of Brit-in!

Villar with New Worlds to conquer

It takes a lot to make the usually unflappable Vicente Del Bosque look uncomfortable before the cameras. But that is what happened last Friday when the Spanish national football coach was asked to defend the fixing of his team’s friendly game in Panama this Wednesday.

“Going to Panama shows a commitment of our country with other Spanish-speaking countries,” Del Bosque said. “We are playing on this date, just like every other team in the world. Every trip to Europe normally means we arrive home at five in the morning, without sleeping. However, when we play in the Americas, everyone says we must be tired. We are no exception - every national side is playing on this date.”

The usually ultra-sensible Del Bosque trying to say it was an advantage for his players to take two eleven hour flights in just three days, and play a game in between, showed how awkward it was for anyone to explain why Spain was yet again travelling halfway around the world to play a friendly game against a team unlikely to test them in any meaningful way. For the World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 winning coach could not say what most in the room knew - the game had more to do with filling the coffers of the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF) than preparing the team for their upcoming World Cup 2014 qualifiers.

This is not an isolated incident. Since summer 2010 only four of Spain's 17 friendlies have been at home. La Roja have travelled to the USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico for games which have been of limited use to the team, but brought in an estimated €20m for the RFEF. The association’s official line on these games is that as world champions it is Spain’s “obligation” to spread the game to all corners of the globe, especially those where the Spanish language is spoken, but few really buy that.

While Del Bosque has allowed some of his more senior or recently injured players to miss the game, the contract signed between the RFEF and Federación Panameña de Fútbol (FEPAFUT) mean a certain number of top players must be present, and Iker Casillas, Andrés Iniesta, Cesc Fábregas, Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets all made the trip. Those players chosen do not always seem very motivated by such ‘marquee’ games - Spain drew in Costa Rica earlier this year, and were hammered 4-1 in Buenos Aires in 2010, but have no choice in where or when their team plays.

They generally keep out of any public polemics - Juan Mata on Monday said he liked showing Spanish footballing culture to the world - but sometimes frustration leaks through. “The journey and the game against Panama is in the middle of the season and not everyone is delighted,” admitted Fábregas last weekend. Such complaints would likely be much louder had the players not negotiated their own healthy share of the commercial income from such games last year.

As has become customary on these trips, Villar, the coach and his players (and a large group of accompanying dignitaries and sponsors), were received by Panama president Ricardo Martinelli at his Palacio de las Garzas on the day before the game. Amid much backslapping from those in the expensive suits, and disinterested stares from those in the tracksuits, Villar took the opportunity to talk of the historical and sporting friendships between the two countries, and spoke of how the game would help the sporting development of Panama's youth.

There was unsurprisingly no discussion of the ticket prices - US$45 to US$2000 – which will likely discourage most children's attendance, or a kick-off time (16:30 local) convenient for TV viewers / companies in Spain, but not for players or supporters inside the Estadio Rommel Fernández, where the temperature will be around 30°C.

“The Spanish national team has become a machine for making money,” wrote José Félix Díaz in November and it is hard to disagree. Winning last summer’s European championships was worth over €20m in prize money, and likely more in commercial arrangements with the team's sponsors. These are good days for the previously financially troubled RFEF, a state of affairs which no doubt helped former Athletic Bilbao player Villar sail to re-election for a sixth consecutive four year term as president last February, despite allegations of irregularities in the voting process.

Meanwhile, Spain’s players get to fly across the ocean for a game they do not want to play and to smile for the cameras while meeting politicians and sponsors eager to associate themselves with sporting success. An optimist could say that at least La Roja’s players and fans could have another trophy to celebrate on the final whistle. As part of the game’s celebration of the special relationship between the peoples of Spain and Panama, the winners receive a specially designed ‘Copa V Centenario’ which is being presented to mark the 500th anniverary of the ‘discovery’ of the Pacific Ocean by Extremaduran conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Seriously.

The globetrotting Villar could have his eyes on a different prize. With Sepp Blatter set to finally step down as FIFA president in 2015, the Basque – a UEFA vice-president since 1992 and FIFA VP since 2000 – looks a good bet to benefit in the subsequent reshuffle of football's top jobs. This week's trip, and his ongoing careful cultivation of Latin American football associations, is therefore good politics, as well as good business. If Del Bosque and his all conquering players have to take a few flights, play a few games and answer a few awkward questions, well them's the breaks.

Rajoy: mystery or void?

The big question, we are incessantly told, is whether Rajoy is going to ask for a second bailout, using the EU’s ethereal rescue mechanisms. But here on the ground in Spain, there are countless questions which no one in the Popular Party (PP) government seems interested in answering.

Let’s start with a small day-to-day issue: How much does it save the government to make civil servants go to the doctor in order to justify one single day’s absence, clogging up yet further the public healthcare system?

Still in the healthcare department: Was the decision to strip illegal immigrants of their health cards, unless they pay into an insurance plan, really taken on economic grounds or was the aim to distract attention?

On education, it is not good enough that the education minister thinks it is amusing to wax semantics, saying this week that it is for “students to improve their performance in order to boost economic growth.” Before answers, in this case, a little humility is required to admit that billions of euros have been slashed from education spending. And that comes with a cost.    

Ok, now to money: What is the next move as regards the serious problem of tax evasion in light of the failure of the “fiscal amnesty” to so far raise more than some tens of millions when the government predicted it would bring in 2.5 billion euros? When and how will the authorities go after the tax dodgers? 

And are the IMF-touted macroeconomic gains of boosting indirect taxation ahead of raising levies on the wealthy worth the pain? We don’t know because the government is not deigning to explain its policies.

Faced by such a storm, it would be nice if we could all row in the same direction, but, to labor the maritime metaphor, Spain’s skipper remains locked in his quarters. Having coasted to power by merely observing the wreckage of the Zapatero administration, Rajoy clearly took a decision to eschew the media spotlight in the hope of avoiding a swift burnout. All well and good. But his government has been forced to dart hither and thither as the deficit-target dictates have commanded. When pressed, on occasion, the prime minister’s pitch is the message that “the right people are in charge now; rest assured, if anything goes wrong, it will not be due to our incompetence.”

It might be populist to yearn to maximize time spent on the podium, but a little verbal populism would surely be welcome at this stage. We might not all swallow the policies, but it would be nice to know where they are meant to be heading. Wait a minute! Damn nice, it is our right to know. On September 10 Rajoy offered his first TV interview since taking office nine months earlier. In his few press conferences, he has rarely taken questions from journalists.

Rajoy is not burning in the spotlight, but the masterplan is by no means taking a crystalline form as the waves of “reforms” (cutbacks) pass by. The draft 2013 state budget (coming close on the heels of the 2012 document which was held back until Easter seemingly with the ultimately frustrated hope of hoisting the PP candidate to power in Andalusia) contains virtually nothing by way of stimulus for the ailing economy, with the exception of a reintroduced car-purchasing subsidy. Business is to sprout by itself; the unemployed disappear – by going abroad or simply falling off the records as their entitlements elapse; growth will return by magic to fecundate fallow land.

Or is no one explaining any plan because there is no plan? Waiting for Rajoy could be the unfunniest political joke ever played.

Photograph by Uly Martín.

Human castles - a metaphor for the Catalan spirit

All eyes are on the tiny child, perhaps seven or eight years old, as she gingerly but quickly and purposefully scales up the side of the tower.  There is no safety net or rope to catch her if she falls.  All the more nail-biting given it’s a human tower on which she precariously balances, seven human stories high, perhaps 12 meters tall, that is beginning to creak and sway.  The buzz of the arena fades to a momentary silence as everyone looks to the barefoot girl in her traditional outfit - white trousers, cummerbund and team orange shirt, her ponytail trailing down her back beneath her safety helmet.  The gralles, primitive oboes, blast and drums rally her spirit, hurtling towards a crescendo.  Thousands in the arena call out and chant in support.  Then the whole stadium bursts into feverish cheers as the little girl reaches the top of the dizzyingly high apex, crouches on the shoulders of those beneath and raises her hand, crowning the tower - job done - or almost, she still needs to get down. 

She begins an immediate descent and reaches the base within a few seconds.  The thick bough of people that forms the tower’s foundation reminds me of the nature-inspired patterns of Gaudí’s architecture.  Without pause, the girl thrusts herself into the outstretched arms of her proud and relieved mother, who caresses and kisses her.  The little girl is delirious with joy.  She has learnt some of the most important lessons for a Catalan: “Strength, balance, courage and common sense” - the de facto essence of the Catalan spirit.

Welcome to the 24^th Concurs de Castells competition, celebrating its 80^th anniversary, in the stunning Catalan coastal city and 2012 “Capital of Catalan Culture”, Tarragona.  Declared a UNESCO “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity” in 2010, the “castell”, human castle, according to the organisers of the competition, is a tradition that began 200 years ago in the small village of Valls, just 20km away from Tarragona after a village dance.  From these small roots the tradition spread around Catalonia until in 1932, the competition was inaugurated in Tarragona to mark these amazing feats of “human engineering”.  

In the competition there are currently 39 different types of human towers that can be built, varying in size and structure, with names such as “quatre de vuit” – four by eight, which represents the people width versus the people height of the tower.  A group of twenty experts calculate and debate the points to be awarded for each castle.  The teams get five rounds of tower building each.  The most stable towers have a girth of four people.  The highest and most difficult tower ever achieved was a tower three people wide by a staggering ten people high. 

We are human towers

In the pit of the arena I speak to the red shirted, Maritxell Marti, team member of the reigning castell champions, Villafranca.  She says castells epitomise the Catalan spirit.  “I think when you build a human castle; all the things that Catalan people aspire to like solidarity, everyone helping each other, are there”. 

In fact the tagline for the castells competition is “Som Castells” – we are human towers; and many Catalans believe the demonstration of teamwork and courage demanded in these extraordinary displays reflect the region’s psyche.

Although teams from throughout Catalonia compete for the esteemed trophy and prize money, this year €15,000, it is the unity between them that one notices most.  As Martin den Ambtman and Anouck Wiggers, young tourists from the Netherlands said, what they liked to see was how different teams encouraged and even physically supported other team towers if they faltered.

Raimon Jene, of team Poble Sec, Barcelona, sweating and breathless after completing a third round of castell building, agrees that these towers are a powerful symbol of what it is to be Catalan.  He says the castells are built from “tradition, cooperation, strength, targeting an objective and overcoming challenges”.

And the castells increasingly seem to strike a chord amongst Catalans.  Jordi Suriñach, spokesperson for the castells competition told me that that this year was the largest in the event’s history - both in terms of competitor and spectator numbers.  32 teams amounting to an estimated 11,000 castellers took part and it attracted a crowd of almost 10,000.  The organisers even had to extend the competition duration from the traditional half day to over one and a half days.

So what is behind the sudden growth in interest in this uniquely Catalan tradition?

A groundswell of support

The groundswell of involvement and support in the competition has been interpreted as a reflection of the strengthening pride and regional identity amongst Catalans and the dramatic increase in support for independence.  Recent polls suggest backing for a referendum on independence is at an all time high of 74%.

A month ago, on 11^th September, 1.5 million protestors took to the streets of Barcelona, marking Catalonia’s national day, La Diada.  From a sea of yellow and red Catalan flags could be heard the chant “Catalonia - a new European state”.  Many were calling for complete secession from the rest of Spain.  Those leading the rallying cry were high-profile Catalan politicians and personalities including Sandro Rosell, the president of FC Barcelona, one of Catalonia’s most revered global exports.

According to Spanish writers and commentators Ricard González and Jaume Clotet in a recent New York Times article: “The immediate cause of Catalonia’s sudden outbreak of secessionist fever is so-called fiscal looting.  Before taxes, Catalonia is the fourth richest of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.  After taxes, it drops to ninth - a form of forced redistribution unparalleled in contemporary Europe.” 

But it is not just economic woes that have driven Catalans to seek more autonomy from Spain.  Its population often feel out of sync with the rest of country.  This led to violent oppression during Spain’s Franco era that began in 1939 when democratic processes were annulled, the Catalan language was suppressed; and approximately 4000 Catalans were executed. 

Even after the transition to democracy in the late 1970s Catalans still found their values at odds with the rest of Spain.  In 2010 Catalonia banned bullfighting, a practice that purportedly represents the epitome of Spanish culture; sending a clear signal that Catalonia’s sensibilities were very different to those of the rest of Spain and more aligned with the rest of Western Europe.

Catalonia also punches above its weight when it comes to global cultural influence which gives it a real sense of regional pride.  Its famous sons include the genius architect Antoni Gaudí and artist Salvador Dalí; the region is seat of the legendary Barça football club; was the home of Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, regarded as the best restaurant in the world before it closed in 2011and whose influence revolutionised global cuisine; and despite Franco’s attempt to crush the Catalan language, its usage has enjoyed a renaissance and is spoken as the lingua franca in much of the region.

An independent Catalan state?

When I ask the beaming Maritxell Marti, whose Villafranca castells team has just won the 2012 Concurs de Castells, whether Catalonia will be independent one day, it is clear she has a taste for victory: “I hope so, I really, really hope so.” 

But despite the towering success of the Catalan independence movement, it’s still at risk of being toppled.  The Spanish government is not going to concede easily to increased Catalan autonomy, let alone independence; and has made its position very clear.  There’s a ban on secession in the Spanish constitution and Spanish Army Colonel Francisco Alamán Castro recently made the following ominous statement: “Catalonia’s independence will be over my dead body and many others’ too.” 

However, despite the hostile undercurrents, Artur Mas, the president of Catalonia has called a snap election for 25^th November, considered essentially a referendum on greater autonomy saying to regional parliament: "The time has come to exercise the right to self-determination."

If what it takes to build something as magnificent as the human towers is courage and solidarity I wouldn’t be too surprised to find that the Catalan independence movement powered by such spirit is heading towards a crucial tipping point.  Upon an ever strengthening base of grass roots support, it’s conceivable that the Catalans might just one day build a new architecture on which its children can climb towards a more autonomous future. 

 

 

 Photography: Charles Wardhaugh

Even tricky economic winds can't blow Real Madrid's president Pérez off course

 

Last weekend’s general assembly of Real Madrid’s socios was another triumph for club president Florentino Pérez, who announced some more bold construction plans and new measures to ensure the club remained in madrileño hands, while facing no questions about how the current economic crisis sweeping Spain might be affecting his stewardship.

The most dazzling announcement was a €250 million redevelopment of the club’s stately Estadio Santiago Bernabéu ground. Pérez put forward four different visions, from four leading international architects, of how the already outstanding stadium might look in future. Each design offers more protection from the elements for paying fans and also a new building fronting onto the Paseo de la Castellana featuring “a unique zone of great commercial quality,” Pérez said. A green light for the project could be given as soon as this month, with the work then taking place during the next three summers.

Construction was a theme of the assembly, as it has been throughout Pérez's tenure, which began controversially a decade ago when the club's previous training ground was sold to the city’s municipal authorities. This year there was also renewed talk of building a Real Madrid 'theme park' at the club’s present Valdebebas training facility, where a residence for the senior and youth squads is also planned.

Madrid’s members were also informed that the club’s annual revenues had risen to €514 million in 2011-2012, leading to an annual profit of €24.2 million, while over this period the club’s debt fell by 26.5 per cent to €124.7 million. “I would like to state that these results are spectacular, above all, given the economic circumstances we are living in,” Pérez said.

The Real president is well placed to comment on Spain’s currently troubled economic circumstances (even if he personally does not bear much of their brunt) as he is also the president of the country’s largest construction company Grupo ACS (Actividades de Construcción y Servicios). Its general assembly also took place in September, where Pérez announced that the company’s debt now stood at €2 billion euros, and had made an annual loss of €1.2 million. Shareholders were assured however that these results were due to a once-off misguided investment in ailing Spanish utility giant Iberdrola, and the company's underlying finances remained secure.

Not everyone sees ACS's future so favourably. Last May the New York Times used the construction conglomerate’s problematic debt-funded business model as an example to highlight the serious issues facing the Spanish economy, illustrating the story with a photo of a peeved looking Pérez and saying the company's poor financial situation had lead to “a frantic campaign to sell off assets, pay down debt and further distance itself from a Spanish economy caught in a spiral of austerity and deflation.”

Pérez’s football club has not been forced to sell off any “assets”, but its transfer business in recent years has been much less spectacular than previously. In his first term as president Madrid regularly broke the world transfer record to sign galacticos Zinedine Zidane (€73.5m), Luís Figo (€60m) and David Beckham (€37.5m), while on his return to the club in the summer of 2009 Cristiano Ronaldo (€94m), Kaká (€65m) and Karim Benzema (€35m) all arrived in big money deals, which were financed by borrowing money up front and then recouping it through increased sponsorship and other revenues.

This model has so far worked pretty well, but it is striking that the number of arriving galacticos has dwindled in recent years, especially under present coach José Mourinho. Fabío Coentrão and Nuri Sahin were the biggest signings in 2011, while last summer saw just one major arrival, with €30 million spent to bring Luka Modric from Tottenham Hotspur. The club actually made a profit during the most recent transfer window, raising approximately €35 million by selling a mixture of squad players and promising youngsters. There also seemed to be an attempt to get rid of the aging and injury prone Kaká, although Pérez denied this, defending the transfer by saying:  “From a financial point of view he's worked out quite well.”

The biggest talking point of Madrid’s season so far - the public ‘sadness’ of Ronaldo, Madrid’s biggest playing asset - was unsurprisingly not dwelt upon. One proposed reason for his supposed unhappiness was a lack of backing from Madrid’s boardroom, with the player unhappy that he had been left frowning empty handed on the podium as Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta picked up the 2011/12 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award in Monte Carlo last month. Iniesta (and fellow nominee Lionel Messi) had been accompanied that night by Barca club president Sandro Rosell and sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta. Ironically (perhaps) Pérez could not attend as the ACS assembly was held the same night.

A more understandable theory put forward for Ronaldo's blue mood was that he feels undervalued at Madrid. Although he has said (via Facebook) that he is not seeking a pay rise from his current €10m a year, a rash of subsequent stories in the Madrid media showed that Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahmovic, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba and worst of all Messi all now earn more. With just three years remaining on the current deal, negotiations are about to begin between Pérez and the player's agent Jorge Mendes. Mendes appears to have the stronger bargaining position given his client's importance to Real on and off the field, and reports that rival clubs such as Qatari-backed Paris St Germain or Abu Dhabi-funded Manchester City are prepared to offer Ronaldo €20m a year.

The changes wrought on the European football scene by such billionaire foreign investors did impact more directly on Madrid's assembly. After listening to the exciting stadium news and impressive financial results, socios were urged by Pérez to vote in a number of changes to the club’s statutes. The most controversial was to raise the number of years membership required for prospective presidential candidates from 15 to 20. Challengers for the post would also have to provide a personal bank guarantee of 15 per cent of the club’s annual budget (i.e. €75-80 million) from a financial institution recognised by the Banco de España, while absentee votes would be cast using the services of a legal notary not, as previously, through the universal postal system.

Pérez argued these measures were needed to protect the club from a takeover by an outsider without its best interests at heart.

“We think it is reasonable that those who aspire to this responsibility have been soaked in madridismo,” he said. “The more you suffer, the more you hold the colours in your heart … We want the guarantee not from a non-existent island, but from a bank with a face and eyes. If a magnate wants, he can come and present himself, but as a candidate. I do not want to think bad of anyone, not of Arab sheikhs or Russians, but this is our own thing.”

Film buffs among Pérez's supporters might have winced at the reference to “our thing” (“cosa de nuestros socios”), but the proposals also raised some more serious concerns. 20 years seems an arbitrary amount of time, the bank guarantee means only the wealthiest of the wealthy can run, while the new postal vote regulations make it more difficult for members who cannot attend the event in Madrid to cast their ballot. Taken together the changes stop potential challengers (possibly including ex-Real player Manolo Sanchís, businessmen Juan Miguel Villar-Mir and José Manuel Entrencanales or even former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar) from running in next June’s election.

One of the more irate critics of the proposal was Vicente Boluda, interim Madrid president for a spell in 2009, who has said he would like the post full-time.

“The changes to the statues are taking the club away from its socios,” Boluda said. “I do not understand why you need 20 years as a socio to be president. It excludes 90,000 socios. There is no motive for this requirement, except that Florentino wants to eliminate competitors for the next elections. I do not know who might oppose him, but the few possible candidacies will be killed by these statutes.” Ramón Calderón, president from 2006 to 2009, suggested that a better way for Pérez to ensure his re-election would be to mandate that all candidates' first names must begin 'Flo..'.

Both Boluda (who is one of the 90,000 he mentioned) and Calderón (who resigned as president after being accused of electoral fraud) obviously have their own interested reasons for speaking out. But their argument was echoed by other concerned socios, including Eugenio Martínez Bravo, president of supporters group ‘Plataforma Blanca'. “Florentino Pérez is tailoring the position to perpetuate himself or his associates at Madrid,” Martínez Bravo told AS.

There were fewer complaints about Madrid's slimmed-down transfer policy, or questions about why the already super-modern Bernabéu needs a facelift when money might be required elsewhere. Neither was there much analysis of how the same economic swings and roundabouts which have damaged Perez's construction company could affect his football club. All proposed motions were carried by large majorities, Marca headlined its video report ‘A Placid Assembly for Florentino’ and the main story on the event on Real’s website lead with Pérez’s dreams of delivering the longed-for décima or tenth European Cup this season.

 Achieve that and Pérez's re-election will be ensured, whichever way the economic winds blow.