Barcelona Photoblog: Billowing Flags of Sovereign...Cloth


Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Billowing Flags of Sovereign...Cloth

Billowing Flags of Sovereign...Cloth [enlarge]

A windy afternoon in the city of Barcelona, year 2007, three flags, the city flag, the Spanish flag, the Catalan flag. You are a tourist, what do you see? Nothing, just three sovereign sheets billowing in the balcony. But you know better, you know there is always history behind flags, there is always blood, "winners" and losers, territorial occupation, invasion, negotiation, abdication, overthrowing, peace treaties, armstices, scheming, alliances, treason. What is left in the end? Land, fed with the blood of millions of souls who abandon their right to live this reality in the name of a just cause. Together - apart, war - peace, hatred - love, what's left in the end?. I know that not taking sides is betraying their memory but everything was wrong from the very beginning. Remember the Spanish Civil War, remember the Spanish-American war, remember Carlist wars, remember succession wars, remember the conquest of Granada, remember the crusades...remember all those people. Anger only leads to more anger. What do I see here? Billowing flags of sovereign...cloth


  1. It's very funny that you posted this today as I was thinking this afternoon about the Civil War, Franco, Spanish, Catalan, the Moors, etc. I decided, after our trip, that I need to read up a bit more on Catalan history and traditions. I want to know more about the language. I speak Spanish, but I now want to try to learn a little Catalan.

    BTW. ..I had to buy a Spanish cookbook yesterday. . .Tonight, for dinner, I tried to recreate a dinner I had in BCN. . .pollo al ajillo.

  2. I must say I was not expecting such a great essay when I clicked on your piicture from the portal. Great picture and great commentary!

  3. And I see a beautiful photo.

    Buen finde!

  4. Ooh. Lovely colours

  5. eu aprendi un pouco da historia da catalunha vendo o museu.

    Existe nesta foto muito mais do que bandeiras.

  6. Pues yo pondría una pirata y otra del orgullo gay.
    ¿A que no hay? :-D

  7. barselona es poderosa ,,barselona tiene poderrrr ,,,,

  8. I was in Barcelona last weekend.There was a demonstartion of people supporting unity of Catalunya with Spain. In a packet of cigarettes look alike cloth it was written "Nacionalismo.El nacionalismo perjudica la salud" or something like that. On the other hand demonstrators were shouting "España,España" and they were holding photos of the King. No matter what I believe about the Catalan issue (anyway I am a foreigner and my opinion doesn't matter that much) I start wondering who was the nationalist.I agree on what you wrote "anger only leads to more anger"

  9. Thank you my friend. I suppose that people who read this post may have different opinions but the truth is as Tiverius recalls "anger leads to more anger". I don't give a damn about any nationalism, Spanish or Catalan. I like democracy, not the rich countries kind of democracy, but the concept. This is a cruel world full of civil rights violations, hunger, poverty, children abuse, unemployment...and a long etc, so wasting time in stupid things such as saying your yard is better than the neighbor's or campaigning strategies to manipulate people's minds in favor of an ideology or another is selfish, unfair, silly and dangerous. So as I state here, neither of the two sides is suppose to lose because there is nothing to win. We hate everything that happens in Madrid, Madrid hates everything that happens in Catalonia, we hate, we hate, and in the meantime we forget we are just here for a brief period of time to valuable to be wasted in such nonsense. Besides, politicians representing us suck in general. I could be talking her forever but people that should hear my complaints is not going to read this. Thanks my friends for your comments.


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