Category: Catalonia/Spain

• July 1, 2022

  My Catalonia

  [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, March 2022.] When I think of Catalonia what immediately comes to mind is the word ‘home’. I see the wide view across rows of vineyards, the mountains of the Penedès in the distance, the tops of Montserrat further away, only able to be seen in winter when the […]
• July 1, 2022

  More Borics please

  [This article was first published under the title “Was it sexism?” in Catalonia Today magazine, February 2022.] Was it sexism? It wasn’t widely reported in the English language media but Gabriel Boric, the new leftist President of Chile has a Catalan mother, María Soledad Font Aguilera, who was originally from the working class area of Badalona bordering Barcelona.  Instead, his father’s […]
• October 9, 2021

  So, how was your summer?

    [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, Sept. 2021.]   When people ask me this question I’ll be able to say it was unique. I had some novel experiences.    Because the Spanish government doesn’t seem to have the ability to get its Social Security department to pay welfare benefits properly, I […]
• June 18, 2021

  “50 years of Greenpeace” — My interview with their spokesperson in Catalonia

     [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, April 2021.] 1. What is your name (and position?)   Fernando Fernández, Mobilization Coordinator of Greenpeace in Catalonia.   2. What do you think is currently the most important issue for Greenpeace in Catalunya and what is Greenpeace doing about this issue?   For Greenpeace, […]
• April 2, 2021

  A bigger hassle

    [Pic: JOSEP LOSADA: Protesters in Barcelona] [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, March 2020.]   Riots, disturbances, protests, brutal human rights violations, night-time shenanigans or “police-community liaison?”   The events that began immediately after the election here in Lleida, Barcelona and Girona (as well as Valencia and Madrid) can be called […]
• December 26, 2020

  In a small world

      [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, December 2020.]   Barcelona isn’t well-known for flamenco but Kayoko Nakata, thinks it should be.  As a Japanese flamenco dancer with a Catalan husband and two year-old son, she lives near the city’s Sant Pau hospital. When she can, she goes back to her […]
• November 24, 2020

  House closed

    [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, November 2020.]     "Precarious:" a word that accurately describes so many jobs under modern hyper-capitalism.   In Catalonia over the last few months this word has become a sword that is hovering over the lives of thousands of people.  For around 300 employees at […]
• September 21, 2020

  Living too together?

   [This article was first published in Catalonia Today magazine, September 2020.] People in Barcelona wearing masks. ORIOL DURAN.   Back in mid-July, after more than four months, I (reluctantly) set foot in the city of Barcelona. I also made the mistake of driving in the centre, having wisely used public transport in the past.   I […]
• July 27, 2020

  “Los okupas:” Squatters in Vilafranca del Penedès

                                                                          [Graffiti wall in Vilafranca: “Enough speculation! The Penedès is not for sale!] (This article was first published in Catalonia […]
• July 27, 2020

  Spain: a gateway to Islamic acceptance?

   [First published in Catalonia Today on 13 March 2008.]   [Photo coutesy of Vilafranca mosque] ‘There is respect for Muslims here’ BRETT HETHERINGTON El Hajj Ibrahim, spokesman for the mosque of Vilafranca del Penedès, talks about the evolution of the city’s growing Muslim community  –Is it easier or harder for an immigrant to adapt to […]