Christmas Day
Well, the log was truly thwacked last night and it duly shat
its presents to the waiting masses. And
you have to be Catalan to understand that sentence, but take it from me I now
am.
Not, I
hasten to add, that I am any more proficient in the language and history and
culture of this excellent region, but rather that I am now the proud owner of a
hoodie with the numbers 1714 emblazoned on the front and an artistically
sketchy conglomeration of yellow and red with a star set in blue. In other words I am now a fully functioning
Catalan Independentista. Though I have
some considerable reservations around that designation.
It is true
that given the present government which is composed entirely of self-seeking,
corrupt liars and which is led by a man whom I have designated, ‘Bromo’ (an
incorrect, but masculine, perversion of the Spanish word ‘broma’ which means
‘joke’) who takes every opportunity to denigrate Catalonia and the Catalans,
independence seems like a wholly acceptable idea. But I think that the future is, to put it
mildly, uncertain.
The
political situation is interesting.
Podemos is the new political party which promises to change the old
corrupt Spain into something new. Their
policies are interesting and they seem to be determined to promote ideas of
transparency (Spain is the ONLY developed European country not to have a
transparency law) and legal equality (Spain has an extraordinary number of
citizens who are above the ordinary dictates of the law – Britain and Germany
have, for example none.) The real
problem comes with the election next year.
According
to the opinion polls both the major political parties PP (the sort of
Conservative party which makes the British version look positively wholesome
and guilt free) and PSOE (the sort of Labour party which would welcome Tony
Blair as a socialist radical) have suffered quite deserved losses in their
possible share of the vote. The largest
political party is now Podemos which was formed less than a year ago as a
direct response to the woeful lack of decency that the two main parties
displayed.
If the
opinion polls are correct and the population votes in the way that they
indicate then Podemos would be the largest party in parliament. It would not, however, have an overall majority
and would need to be in coalition with another party or a series of smaller
parties. PP and PSOE would, between
them, be able to stymie any truly progressive policies that Podemos brought
forward. The purity of Podemos would
begin to be tarnished as they coped with the very grubby reality of the art of
the possible in the murky political atmosphere of this country.
With
Podemos denied a working majority, with the other parties working against it to
preserve their own shoddy self-seeking goals, Podemos would soon sink under the
weight of disappointed expectations. If
they managed to form a minority government, there would be a vote of no
confidence forced by the other parties, a new general election would be called,
Podemos would be decimated and the old hegemony of two Old Party Rule would be
re-established. The People, yet again,
would be the losers and the old guard fingers in the till politicos would be
comfortably back at the trough.
These are
interesting times for Spain – but don’t hold your breath for anything
approaching Justice to prevail. So, at
the moment, as I type this, alone in a sleeping flat in Terrassa, I wear my
independence hoodie with something like desperation, in the hope that every
gesture of possible separation will focus the governments’ eyes and bring them
to a realization that the policies which have worked for them since the fall of
Franco (god rot him) will not work in the future if they want to secure the
unity of the country.
It will be
interesting (not that I am going to listen to him) to hear what the so-called
King of Spain has to say in his Christmas Message. Just think about it. He is on the throne because his elephant
killing, philandering, financially corrupt father made one mistake too many and
to save the tarnished concept of monarchy in this country he abdicated in
favour of his tall son.
There is no
provision for abdication in the Constitution of this country so PP and PSOE in
an unwholesome and indicative clandestine alliance made up some
pseudo-constitutional form of words and gave the throne to the crown
prince. No reference was made to the
people of Spain and ignoring an on-line petition which demanded that the whole
concept of the monarchy be put to the people in whose name this lanky scion of
the discredited Bourbons purports to reign.
So, thanks
to PP and PSOE, the previous king, financially and morally corrupt as he was
and is, gets indemnity so the paternity cases against him continue not to be
heard in the Spanish courts; his financial machinations continue to be
impenetrable because of the complete lack of transparency in dealings with the
Royal Family and he has faded into almost complete invisibility so that the
untarnished bloom of the new long King is allowed to blind people to the
obvious inequality and injustice that the whole system flaunts.
The
previous king, in a notorious and mendacious broadcast which has been much
replayed, stated that ‘justice is the same for all’ – a laudable, if laughable
statement as the king and the people who promote him are clearly above the
law. The most glaring example of
injustice was the position of the Infanta.
The Infanta
(the old king’s daughter and the present king’s sister) together with her
ex-sportsman husband have been accused of theft. The presumption of innocence is difficult
when the evidence that has been made public is overwhelming, but the Public
Prosecutor has been a staunch ally to this beleaguered royal (! sic!) and while
saying she has to pay money back (i.e. guilty) she was blinded by love and
trusted her husband (i.e. innocent).
When she was (amazingly) forced to go to a closed hearing in court, her
responses to questions were a few hundred variations on the ‘I don’t know’. Anyone other than a member of the royal
family would have been accused of contempt of court, but her admission of what
amounts to idiocy was seen by the Public Prosecutor (i.e. the person who works
on our behalf to prosecute those guilty of crimes, like the Infanta) saw only
charming naivety and glowing innocence.
Basically
she got away with it. The country fumed
but could do nothing. The judge had been
overruled and the concept of ‘justice is the same for everyone’ was clearly
seen as the lie that it is.
But, and
this is why the king’s broadcast will be interesting, the judge refused to be
overruled and has demanded that the Infanta return to court and answer to
charges that, were she to be found guilty, would carry a sentence of four years
in jail. So the king has a choice:
either ignore what is happening to his family and you show your regal arrogance
or make a reference and reignite the obvious lie of universal justice. It is a no-win situation for him and his type
and I am glad that he has an impossible choice to make. Although, to be truthful, the most obvious
lies and sleight of hand in this country seem to work. Look at the number of proven thieves who
still operate at the highest levels of political society in spite of the
glaring light of publicity showing exactly why they are where they are!
This is hardly
the stuff to be writing on Christmas Day, but given the state of Spain, what
else is there to write about?
Well, loads
if I care to think about it. Like what
we are going to have for lunch. This is
going to be a family affair with something like 16 people sitting down to the
meal. All in Toni’s sister’s house. All participants are supposed to bring
something to eat. I have bought the
booze. Which, considering the number of
people would normally be woefully inadequate.
I have bought two bottles of Cava, two bottles of red, two bottles or
white and a bottle of liqueur. I have
bought no beer, or Fanta or any soft drink.
And those, I hope will be what most of the people there will be
drinking. I have bought decent bottles
(i.e. about three times as much as I would normally spend) and I intend to
savour it!
So far I
have done quite well on the present front.
The hoodie previously mentioned combined with quite acceptable
aftershave, including the one advertised by the impossibly sculpted ex-Australian
football player hefting a trophy on his naked shoulder. I am sure that I could have made something of
advert and the bottle in the shape of a silver handled cup as essential part of
my Media Studies lessons in the School on the Hill. But those days are well and truly and
thankfully past and now I can merely speculate and squirt. Which sounds a bloody sight worse than I
intended when I wrote it!
I have my
art books with me and I should be drafting my TMA, but it is already the
afternoon and we have to start thinking about getting ready for the Christmas
Meal. Which is in someone else’s house,
which is another Christmas gift as there is not the putting away and clearing
up that comes with a personal involvement of house provision!
I have also
bought a rather pesky poem with me which refuses to resolve itself into
something that I can regard as acceptable.
Perhaps a different environment will give my poetic muse a kick up her
refined backside and get the words working!
Worth a try
– and that goes for everything else as well.
