Day of reflection

Today is the day of reflection.

Iniciativa are clearly hoping for another Tripartit. PSC are difficult to gauge on this point… Montilla could be president if they pact with the left-wing parties… but another Tripartit is apparently an unpopular choice of coalition. They could cut ERC out of the decision making completely and pact with CiU. Plenty of people support this idea but it means having Artur "I deserve to rule" Mas as president for four years. I don't trust him. He messed up the region's finances before, he doesn't seem to have any values, he pacts with the PP. Would PSC really agree to a Mas presidency? ERC would if they could get no leverage with PSC, but they've been trying to reinvent themselves as 'Esquerres' more and more, so why would they pact with the conservatives? Montilla. Could he even govern? With his stagefright, lack of confidence, lack of drive. He's so unconvincing. Saura's bunch don't seem to believe in much either, oh and there's something odd about him. His face, you know? He didn't have breakfast with Laporta. Why not? Does he not care about Barça? Maybe he does. Maybe he just didn't want to use Barça as a vote-winner. No, Saura strikes me as the sort of chap who doesn't like football at all. Who's Laporta voting for? Mas, probably. They're made for eachother, those two. Mes que un club. Oleguer will be voting for ICV or the Okupats de Gracia party or something like that. Daft sod. Barça must beat Chelsea tonight.

Oh yeah and my Tripartit bet? That was a joke. €20 on a CiU-PSC coalition with Mas as president.

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October 31, 2006 | Filed Under Catalonia, Politics | 4 Comments 

ERC: most evil people in history?

It has come to my attention recently that there has been something of a campaign of misinformation recently concerning the Catalan nationalist political party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. I feel that as someone committed to truth over opinion, sophism and rhetoric, it falls to me to refute these claims and redress the balance somewhat.

Myth 1: ERC are a misguided bunch of beardy nationalists who are no more threat to Catalonia's future than the long dead Gen. Franco.

Response: This is a complete lie. Anyone who knows anything about ERC knows that they are the most dangerous political party in existence today. Worse than the Basque Communist Party, worse than the Galician PP, worse even than CiU. ERC hold as a central party commitment the subjugation of all non Catalan speakers, the construction of a 30M wall all along the region's border with Spain, a complete boycott of Madrid and that the Olympics should be held in Vic - even though they were only held in Barcelona 14 years ago!

Myth 2: ERC have other policies besides a neo-fascist Catalan superstate.

Response: This is a complete lie. Anyone who knows anything about the leadership of ERC knows not to trust a man with such a well-groomed moustache. Remember when Carod-Rovira snuck off to speak with Basque nazis in France? Well, the whole story wouldn't have come out if it weren't for brave officers from Spain's 'intelligence' services taking time out from not monitoring Al Qaeda operatives who instead decided to spy on an elected official. And thank God they did! If he hadn't been rumbled, it is believed that Rovira's plan was to sell a field in Manresa to the terrorists so that they could use it as a training camp.

Myth 3: The boycott against Catalan products was organised as a response to Catalonia's proposed new Estatut by a bunch of neo-fascist pricks with nothing better to do.

Response: This is a complete lie. Anyone who knows anything about Spain knows that the real neo-fascist thugs are the ones proposing to increase Catalonia's autonomy from Spain via democratic measures. Besides, the boycott had nothing to do with a climate of confrontation during which the head of Spain's army threatened to invade Catalonia. The reason brave Spanish patriots boycotted Cava is because Carod-Rovira called on Catalans not to support Madrid's bid to host the Olympics - even though it's over 14 years since they were held in Barcelona! Suggestions that the boycott was linked to a tiny group of concerted radicals who operated a suave 'word-of-mouth' campaign via email, internet forums and text messages are totally unfounded.

Myth 4: It's disingenous to refer to ERC as 'nationalist socialist' at every single opportunity, clearly suggesting that they are the natural successors of the Nazis.

Response: This is a complete lie. Anyone who knows anything about political parties should know that ERC are a left-wing nationalist political party and that when the Nazis called themselves 'national socialists' they weren't lying and trying to trick Germany's large number of uneducated but left-leaning industrial workers: they were just telling it like it was! So what if it's CiU who have officially stated that they don't want any more muslims coming to Catalonia? So long as no one else reports that, we'll be able to pin it on ERC within a week!

In closing: I hope I've done something to assuage some of your doubts about the true nature of Esquerra Republicana. The final piece of information is of key importance though: even the PP are better than them.

Think about that as you watch your neighbours go to the polls on Wednesday.

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October 30, 2006 | Filed Under 'Terror', Catalonia, Politics, Spain | 3 Comments 

Double election action

Two elections are approaching which will affect my life to a greater or lesser extent. The forthcoming parliamentary elections in Catalonia and the USA have the potential to change the way of life here in Barcelona to wildly differing degrees but both are important in their own way.

In the US, the hope must be that the Democrats manage to wrest control of the American parliament (Congress) and thus usher in a period of inquiry, inspection and general oversight which has been missing from the American political scene for some time now. While I'm no lawyer, and as such can't really speculate on the possibility of impeachment proceedings against Bush, I can see that a Congress which is capable of mounting committees and investigations with teeth is a heartening prospect. The establishment of a more accountable democracy in Washington DC will have an affect on how we, as westerners, are seen around the world.

In Barcelona, the talk is all about coalitions. As with last time around, ERC look as if they will be in the enviable position of kingmaker as their small share of the vote will probably be large enough to form a governing coalition with the PSC if they choose (or, of course, with CiU: the second least popular coalition option, according to a poll in yesterday's El Periódico). That said, it's important to note that ERC's support has declined significantly since 2004. Should their vote collapse, a CiU government would look more likely.

Unless the current polls are significantly wrong, I reckon that the most likely government to come out of these elections will be a left-wing coalition consisting of the PSC, ERC and probably IC-V - in other words, another 'Tripartit'. A 'Bipartit' of PSC-ERC is possible but less likely, a 'grand coalition' of CiU-PSC is likely but less palatable to me and a nationalist coalition of CiU-ERC is unlikely and would be very unpopular. The PP will never get into government here.

So for now, it's a question of 'wait and see'. The final poll results before ballots open will be interesting but I'll put a tenner on another left-wing coalition.

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October 25, 2006 | Filed Under Catalonia, Politics, Spain | 3 Comments 

Back in black

giant reclining Buddah, BangkokHullo all. The wedding and honeymoon went extremely well. Many thanks to those of you who sent notes and comments to Gemma and me - hopefully, I have managed to contact all of you personally by now. Thanks also to those who made it to the big day… wedding and honeymoon photos will shortly be available at tomandgemma.com for those who are interested.

Over the past month, there have been several stories I've been interested in blogging (the Catalan elections, for example, as well as the political climate in Thailand) so hopefully I'll be able to write some articles over the next week or two. Today's main concern (apart from my return to work after three weeks off) is the impossibly important Chelsea-FCB Champions League match. We'll be watching it at the Penya Barcelonista in our suburb in case anyone wants to drop by and say hello to us or Sammy, the waiter there.

Força Barça!

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October 18, 2006 | Filed Under Catalonia, Home, Spain, Thailand | Leave a Comment 

Earthquake, bichus and jazz: our honeymoon pt I

We're currently in Cha Am, a very quiet beach resort 3 hrs south of Bangkok. The hotel itself (consisting of individual chalets scattered about a large, well designed garden and resort complex) is not exactly what we had in mind but it's not bad either. We are going to ask the holiday rep if we can return to Bangkok early and stay there for a few nights as there's not much to do here but eat, swim and drink.

Last night, I was awoken from my fitful sleep (I'd taken an anti-histamine to help my body deal with the mosquito bites it had been subjected to) by the entire chalet shaking in a most disconcerting way. The earthquake only lasted for about ten seconds and probably didn't score much on the Richter scale but it was an unpleasant experience.

Bangkok is a great city. Though we only spent 2 1/2 days there, we managed to see all the major sights, eat in a very swish modern Thai restaurant and party in one of the best bars we've ever been to. The city has a population of about 6 million and has no real 'city centre' but we were lucky enough to be located within walking distance of some key sights and spots.

For dinner on Friday, we ate at 'Curries and More', a smart, modern restaurant with delicious food. After that, we walked to Brown Sugar, Bangkok's main (only?) jazz bar and had an awesome time, ending up dancing with the band and their mates, followed by chatting with UN employees.

The country seems to be doing fairly well for itself. I've got lots to say about the political situation here but that can all wait until we return. Having a great time though!

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October 8, 2006 | Filed Under Thailand | Leave a Comment 

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