Whats up with the hatred that "spain" an "catalunya" have against each other??

Question

ok, so im completely ignorant as to what, where and why. dont judge me for it. i was born in detroit michigan usa and my parents are from mexico so yeah...no clue what goes on there. that's why im here askin this question. maybe ive just misunderstood...here's my story...

i have a friend who lives in majorca. (yeah, internet) well...he sent me some songs by els pets simply so i could listen to the pronunciation an stuff. well i liked em a lot an was wondering if i could buy some cds. i found productesdelaterra.cat an was lookin at some shirts there with sayings like "not free zone", "make no mistake, im catalan therefore im not spanish" and "jo tinc deus seleccions, catalunya i qual se vol que jugui contra espanya" (im no expert so pardon any mispelled or bad grammar, this is mostly by memory). also ive heard about how spain kinda disrespects catalunya? or somethin...i dunno....so...whats up? someone please explain without gettin angered or offended by my ignorance...=) =D XD

Answer 1

Spain has several dialects and Languages other then Spanish, and one as you know is Catalan. Its used more often in Catalunya, Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza.. The reason why some Catalans are ANTI SPANIARD or Vice versa is because in Franco times ( before Spain became a kingdom) the Catalan people were not Allowed to speak Catalan. Only forced to speak Spanish just like the Rest of the Spaniards in the country.. Now when Franco died, and Spain Returned to being a Kingdom thanks to El Rey Juan Carlos y Reina Sophia well, they allowed people to want to speak there own dialects with out forgetting Spanish..

Many Catalonians today, speak both Catalan and Spanish ( of course more Catalan at home then Spanish) or again there are some catalan that just want to speak spanish .  

If you visit Barcelona or any of the islands ( mallorca, menorca, Ibiza) you will notice this..  and the further away you get from the bigger cities, the less you will notice people speak spanish and more Catalan.

Anyway I hope that helped you understand.. its always good to open your mind to new information and new cultures. I´m happy for you...! Take care...

Bcn_mimosa from Barcelona, Spain

Answer 2

It is all about Franco and this is coming from the Catalon people I lived there for 2 years and I speak Catalon. My ex is Catalon and during his last few years there she had to go to a secret school because her family and her wanted her to be Catalon. The day Franco died they told me it was the biggest party they had ever thrown. That is why the Barca/Madrid futbol match is so big. The Catalon region basically shuts down so they can watch it. I wish I could move back there because it is just an all around beautiful place.

Answer 3

It's got nothing to do with Franco and that stuff. Absolutely nothing.That's just a bad catalan excuse. There were much more dead and executed by Franco's Army in Extremadura, for instance, than in Cataluña during and after the Civil War. And a lot more repression then and afterwards in there. Catalan na(z)ionalism existed waaaay before Franco's Regime.  

It's hard to explain. There's no simple "one paragraph" answer. It's like a snowball of **** that keeps rolling and rolling and getting bigger and bigger with new **** since.... ever.  I guess you would need to be Spaniard (or an anti-Spanish Catalan) to understand it. Anyway, it's not someting between "Spain" and "Cataluña", since Cataluña is indeed Spain, at least by now, but between catalan na(z)ionalists and those who are not like them, including other catalan non-nationalist people who they disrespectufully call "charnegos", "second ot third class catalans". So, you see, not every catalan thinks like them.

Answer 4

It´s difficult to explain but it´s not too removed from the same differences between the English and the Scots, Irish, or the Welsh.

Answer 5

Yo soy de Madrid y mis experiencias con catalanes siempre fueron buenas, he tenido amigas/os catalanes y familia viviendo y trabajando en Barcelona, Yo admiro Barcelona como ciudad, no puede envidiar a ninguna ciudad del mundo y que conste que es un orgullo nacional una ciudad tan bonita. Tiene mar, montanas y la primera vez que yo he ido a esquiar fue en montanas  catalanas y habia un super ambiente, Ni esquie de lo bien que me lo pase con mis amigos catalanes... Viva Cataluna