By Selena Tamme-Juarez
Portland Community College
The people of Catalonia relish in their protests. After the oppression under
Franco began in 1939, the people of Catalonia had the freedom to use their
language and beliefs taken from them. In 1947 they lost their voice, so the
FCBarça (soccer) stadium was where they kept the culture alive speaking
Catalan. After all, who could stop thousands of passionate Barça fans all in
one stadium anyway? The people were forced to strictly read in Spanish, speak
in Spanish, and if they could have made them think in Spanish too that would
have certainly been forced. If one opposed these rules he or she was considered
a “rebel” and properly taken care of. There was even a large immigrant
group from poorer, southern Spanish cities that was moved into Barcelona to
enforce the transition to Spanish.
In 1975 Franco died, and after almost 30 years of persecution the Catalan
people were free to speak their mother tongue again. Now in the streets you can
encounter many people who speak both Catalan and Spanish. However, depending
where someone is from many choose to speak either Catalan OR Spanish to
publicly display their passionate political views.
In Catalonia, schools teach Catalan as the primary
language and you can spot at least four Catalan flags from almost anywhere you
stand in Barcelona. Also, you’ll find signs reading “Catalonia is not Spain!”
Many people who moved here in the past from other parts of Spain also consider
themselves Catalan, after marrying and having children with a native. The
people of Catalonia do not reject Spanish; they embrace it as a counterpart to
Catalan, which is the official language of Catalonia.
History is happening right before my eyes as I’ve lived here. I’ve seen
countless protests (almost always non-violent), signs, flags, and chants within
the city of Barcelona, but especially in front of the government buildings near
the Jaume I metro station. These protests are about banks, unemployment,
poverty levels, education cuts, more expensive healthcare with a bad economy,
treatment of animals, people losing their homes, protests being oppressed and
the want for separation between Catalonia and Spain. They have a lot to
say, and they want their voice to be heard. One current issue that has caused a
lot of heat is that the government wants to take away Catalan from schools.
The Catalan people argue that between the mass
media, television, and movies in Spanish that having school in Catalan will
only educate two languages at the same time instead of one. When I return home,
I will be checking the news, eager to see what becomes of Catalonia.
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