Barcelona, status of demostrating?

hi JS, i m living here and actually everythng is quiet. There are some posters around for the upcomiing elections, but just in general people from Catalonia are not violent, so don t worry. Even if there are manifestations or whatever when you come, the "strikers" do not attack the people passing by or something. It is pretty civic.

Many of us would not grasp that the article Bill linked to was a satire unless we read the entire piece. This quote from the editor of the newspaper in question seems to sum it up pretty well:

“We’ve been doing this for more than 40 years at El Jueves. We mix humour with current events and everything we do is fiction: we take elements of the news to make up funny fiction. Our readers get that completely. But it seems that someone got offended in this case. Still, as Ricky Gervais says, ‘Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right’.”

I have no dog in this fight, but I'd hate to see this thread go astray, based on someone's incomplete reading of the article.

I totally agree with Ann and her clarification and also with the fact that Bill's post won't be grasped for those not living here. Yet his warning about the "stormtroopers" as he calls them (that is, the Spanish paramilitary Police sent to Catalonia) has plenty of grounds. This is a summary of their "performance" last Oct 1st, during a referendum vote: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41461032

Nothing is going to happen. The media is not showing how quiet it the whole thing is going down. Don't worry, you'll have a great trip! In the case that Catalunya really tries to be independent after December 21st... does anybody really believe that Spain is going to come in here with troops? Come on...no way...

News says that many businesses are moving their offices to Madrid in order to avoid risks. Are services for the tourist as normal as usual? or there are more news around that?

That's absurd, it's only false propaganda by the unionists. I could enter into the details, but to be frank, it's a complex issue that would require a lot of background info first to be fully understood.... and this is probably not the forum for this.

Suffice to say that this is a piece of information that has no effect for visitors.

Juan, would you share a bit more about yourself please? where are you from? is this your first visit? when are you visiting? Thanks!

My thanks to all that replied to my question.
We are so looking forward to cBarcelona in January.

Greetings Enric,

I have been following the Catalan vote with great interest in US newspapers. As I understand things, there are three independent parties that now control 70 of the regional parliament's 135 seats. However, the article gives me the impression that the indepence movement "now has the seats, but not necessarily the votes." If the three independent parties control majority, why is Catalonia's independence now considered a very high probability? I would really appreciate your help in understanding this.

I would also appreciate an update on the political temperature at this time? Do you continue to feel that US tourists should not be concerned about Summer 2018 travel to the Catalonia region?

I have enjoyed following your local perspective of things, and look forward to an update following the December election.

Many thanks,
Ron

Greetings Ron,

Nothing has changed much... pro-indy Catalan parties had already a majority of the seats in the previous legislature -hence the reason the Declaration of Independence took place. The Spanish then decided to impose direct rule and imprison our leaders. Their initial idea was to maintain direct rule for a long time in order to be able to disassemble all the Catalan government structures and turn our institutions into mere administrative agencies. However, the Germans pressured the Spanish to celebrate new elections immediately. In fact, there are still many doubts about the legality of the Spanish move as the infamous Art. 155 does not provide for all the abuses that took place and now this will be challenged in the high court -not that we expect much as there is no real separation of powers in Spain, despite appearances.

Anyway, elections took place and once again pro-indy parties won a majority of the seats. Now the government to be formed should seek restitution of the former Ministers -including the President and the Vice-President- and the Speaker of the Parliament because that's what Catalans have voted for. What's still to be seen is how the Spanish will react as half of our previous government is indicted -with some members still unlawfully imprisoned- and the other half is in a self-imposed exile in Belgium with the threat to be arrested if they return.

The Spanish have threatened again with the use of more judiciary and the paramilitary police and have extended the indictments to over 100 people from all walks of our society: politicians, civic leaders... even the famous football coach, Pep Guardiola -now coaching Manchester City- is being accused of "rebellion" for reading a speech. That without counting the already +700 mayors already summoned to court and the surreal latest leak on an statement by the Spanish Guardia Civil presented to the judge in which the peaceful rallies that take place every year coinciding with the Catalan National Day on Sept 11th -in which 1.5 to 2 million people participate- are to be considered "rebellion".

We all expect to see more kangaroo court procedures in the next weeks/months but this time over, should this be their course of action, there'll be active disobedience. Moreover, now that the people have spoken (to confirm again the indy parties) we all hope the EU Commission and other EU states will stop looking the other way and start honouring the supposedly foundational values of the EU in which democracy -and the voice of the people- is a centrepiece.

Aaanyway, as I was saying, nothing has changed much, so the same uncertainty remains, moreover taking into account the Spanish do not play by any democratic rules, therefore it's always an unknown what will they do next. On the Catalan side, voters of the indy parties have given a very clear mandate: "take it where you left it and move forward" -if you catch my drift. So we'll see how things develop in the coming months.

Yet, unless I hear otherwise, I feel the majority of members would prefer to "stick to travel-related matters" so, if you wish, I will be delighted to continue this conversation via PMs or by email.

--part 1--

Still, for the vast majority of those traveling, there was never any "problem", other than minor inconveniences here and there due to partial stoppages, but again, that happens all the time everywhere, also in the US, and for a myriad of reasons (industrial action, bad weather, etc.) so it's nothing to worry about -worry as in "safety-wise".

About the remark on US tourists, I don't really understand this obsession with nationalities... with all due respect, a US tourist is nothing more nor nothing less than any other tourist from any other nationality... and you all are considered and treated exactly the same over here, as guests... and we both give and expect respect. Bear with me, this ain't a banana republic with crowds of uneducated peasants chasing after the gringos, you know, LOL! :))

Again, I don't have a crystal ball and I can't predict how things will evolve in the coming months, of course, but as of today, I don't see any reason why any tourist should change his/her plans to visit. In fact, there were negligible cancellations in October and they've all bounced back to a record November.

Enjoy!

--End--