Maybe the day will come when the public will vote into office a party that will increase Spanish-language education (as they have in Euskadi). For now, we have two official languages, both taught in public schools proportionally as determined by law.

I do not enjoy bullfighting, but it is a tradition that expresses itself not just in Spanish but also in Portuguese and French. That bullfighting were popular all around Iberia and its environs except for Catalonia seems unlikely. Why don’t be all try to be more balanced and leave our personal agendas aside.

Daniel

“The Catalan language is as endemic to Catalonia as snow to New York”. True, but so is Spanish. Roughly 50% of people in Catalonia use Spanish as their primary language at home. Common sense suggests they should have the choice to get an education in Spanish, just like they get it in Catalan. Let me remind you that by law, there are 2 official languages in Catalonia, not just one.

The fact that you speak mainly Catalan at home (if that is the case) does not make you a better Catalan than myself, so please don’t brush me off with “you don’t understand Catalonia” just because we think differently. Again, Catalonia always was and should be an open, tolerant society, as this inward-looking of yours is very harmful in my opinion. Even Texans would probably agree to this.

Daniel

Now, as long as that is clear, if you’d like to debate the political issues, I’m delighted to do so!

The language issue:
Funny how in cosmopolitan New York, all schools are taught in English, yet children of Chinese, Pakistani, Mexican, Ethiopian, etc etc descent all manage to learn their native languages from family and social circles, without claiming for public schooling in those languages.

Funny how I had *less* than two hours of Spanish language education per day for only five years in an English-speaking country, yet I was able to write a thesis about the novels of Gabriel García Márquez entirely in Spanish, communicate fluently when I lived in Madrid, and go on to teach Spanish myself to high school students. Do I think two hours is fair? Yup. In fact the children would be better served by switching those two hours for English classes.

The bullfighting issue:
I’m sure there are plenty of Catalans who like bullfighting. There are plenty of South Americans in New York who enjoy cockfighting, but that doesn’t mean it should be permitted by law.

Are there plenty of places where you can watch bullfighting with little controversy and educate your children in Spanish? Yes. If you feel that strongly about it, and you are not able to lobby the government to see your point of view, then moving is a reasonable option. No one is chasing you out with a pseudo-fascist pitchfork, but it is a choice you can make if the conditions are really that deplorable for you.

Perhaps as an American, with a more federalist mindset, I am more open to the idea that different regions of a country are bound to have very different laws. The type of homogeneity among state laws that you are suggesting is just weird. In New York, for example, schools are given an allotment of “snow days” that permit the cancellation of classes for bad winter weather. If I am from Florida and move to New York, should I be outraged that my children go to school fewer days per year because of frozen roads? If as a New Yorker I move to Florida, should I demand snow days, even though the winters are mild in my new state? The Catalan language is as endemic to Catalonia as snow is to New York. Asking for school that’s not in Catalan is like asking New York to get rid of its snow days. If you don’t understand this comparison, then you don’t understand Catalonia.

(By the way, I hate snow, and it is one of the reasons I chose to move to Barcelona.)

To sum up:
I’m not suggesting anyone “adhere to a cultural profile.” There are many cultural profiles in Barcelona – Indian, Pakistani, Moroccan, Filipino, and more – and they all add something special to the cultural mix. But if any of them wanted to start publicly torturing a bull for profit, would you support them blindly simply because it’s their time-honored tradition?

The point of my letter to the Times is to show that animal rights issues are not directly connected to nationalist politics, and that to mix them so carelessly leads to exactly the kind of distracting argument that you and I are engaging in here. It’s wrong for the NYT to glorify bullfighting. It’s also wrong to make the case by means of a sensitive political situation that just confuses the issue.

a great answer to the “refurbished” spanish way of considering catalan affairs.

thank you

Defending and teaching the Catalan language is a good thing. But no child in Catalonia can be educated in the Spanish language in any public school. Catalan kids are taught only 2 hours of Spanish in schools, and the option for parents to choose an education in Spanish does not exist in practice. Does this seem balanced or fair to you?

It is clear you don’t like bullfighting. But many Catalans do. They are no less Catalan because of this. Your suggestion that those that want an education in Spanish and/or enjoy bullfighting in Catalonia should leave for other regions is pseudo-fascist and frankly surprising for someone that claims to be a cosmopolitan New Yorker.

Diversity in Catalonia is key to the richness of its society. To imply, as you do, that residents in Catalonia should adhere to a certain cultural and social profile, is deeply flawed. During the Franco years, Barcelona was the beacon of modernity, diversity and tolerance in Spain. Madrid was a dusty, backward-looking village. These roles have largely reversed in the last two decades, and attitudes like yours only help Barcelona sink deeper. Shame.

Daniel

PD: I oppose bullfighting, but respect people that do, and certainly don’t consider them any less Catalan/Spanish because of their customs.

Thank you very much for your post. As a Catalan I was extremely concerned after reading the NYT article. The author is seriously failing to understand that bull’s fighting is not a cultural exquisiteness meant to be preserved but a ruthless tradition, a colossal shame for any civilized community. Catalan people as well as most Europeans care about animal rights. This is why we don’t want any bull’s torturing around.