Well, another Fiesta Nacional has passed so now that the helicopters have stopped flying overhead it’s time to take stock. “King” Mariano Rajoy, known until his video appearance last week as the interim leader of the Partido Popular (PP), should be satisfied that his party achieved their objectives for the day. Hundreds of PP supporters demonstrated their love of the nation by disrupting the homage to Spanish troops killed in overseas missions with their anti-Zapatero chanting. In addition we got a glorious display of Spanish flags, including many that belong, ahem, to another era.
Meanwhile in Valencia, hundreds of demonstrators gathered to burn photographs of prominent personalities. What’s this? Photograph burning? Where are the judges, the police sent out to hunt down the perpetrators, the indignant headlines in El Mundo? You see this was different, it was a fascist group burning photographs of nationalist politicians from the Basque Country and Cataluña. So that’s alright then.
As the prices of basic foodstuffs rise sharply this autumn we can at least have the consolation that not everything is more expensive. Patriotism, for example, has never been cheaper.
Meanwhile in Valencia, hundreds of demonstrators gathered to burn photographs of prominent personalities. What’s this? Photograph burning? Where are the judges, the police sent out to hunt down the perpetrators, the indignant headlines in El Mundo? You see this was different, it was a fascist group burning photographs of nationalist politicians from the Basque Country and Cataluña. So that’s alright then.
As the prices of basic foodstuffs rise sharply this autumn we can at least have the consolation that not everything is more expensive. Patriotism, for example, has never been cheaper.
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We walked through Plaça Sant Jaume (the location of the City Hall and Generalitat in Barcelona) on Thursday evening. Amusingly, we stumbled upon a group of about 40 people engaged in a demonstration of Spanish patriotism. They were playing a tape of a bell tolling, which suddenly changed into a recording of the national anthem. Flags waved, and in the centre of the small throng, a banner was prominently displayed: "11-M Mentiras!", it read. The black pawn is a great logo, but I'm not sure it does Spanish nationalists any good to be associated with it.
What will hopefully be one of the last demonstrations of the Peones Negros. If you search around on Youtube you will find a video of their demonstration in the same square on September 11th - when they faced some fairly vocal opposition.
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