Spain

En la II República

Martyn Richard Jones — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:56:44 GMT

En la II República

Al grito de Viva España

después de escuchar el himno

al grito de Viva España

canto un fandango gitano

y en él llevo puesta mi alma

como buen republicano.

En abril se proclamo

la República Española.

La bandera que enarbola

por la que el pueblo luchó

tres colores acrisola.

¡Ole Catalunya! The end of bullfighting in Catalunya

Martyn Richard Jones — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:42:25 GMT

¡Ole Catalunya!

It ended in tears, joy and applauses, but following three months of intense public debate, Catalonia has exercised its autonomy by giving a big "no" to bullfighting, and in doing so joins the Canary Islands (they did so in 1991) in banning this tradition.

The debate and vote in the Catalan parliament, and within the wider Catalan community, was the result of a democratic response to a popular petition to prohibit bullfighting in Catalonia, one that was supported by more than 180,000 signatures.

Up until the vote in the Catalan Parliament (Wednesday) it looked too close to call, but for realists, the rejection of the proposed new Catalan Statute by Spain´s Constitutional Tribunal, was the last nail in the coffin of pro-bullfighting hopes; confirmed today, as Catalan nationalists and socialists voted in their Parliament for the end of the fiesta nacional in Catalonia.

The vote in favour of the ban (68 to 55, with nine abstentions), has provoked mild hysteria in the ranks of the Spanish conservative party. Jaime Mayor Oreja has talked of "provocation" and "revenge for the success of the national (football) team" and of "a deep national crisis", María Dolores de Cospedal described the decision as "nonsense" and attributed it to the "mania" of the ruling socialist party to "prohibit and deny freedom of the Catalans and the Spanish people", and the chairman of the Popular Party in Catalonia, Alicia Sánchez-Camacho, suggested that her party will seek to ensure that Congress and the Senate will overrule the decision in favour of bullfighting, because it's "a festival of cultural interest", whilst elsewhere, the pro-bullfighting community in France fear a knock-on effect.

The political tension is surreal yet palpable, not on the streets, but within the leadership of the Popular Party, who seem more concerned about the Catalans banning bullfighting than in fixing the economic crisis. But, for all the hubris, the legal precedent of the ban on bullfighting in the Canary Islands makes one thing clear; the Popular Party have very little wiggle room on this issue.

So why now and why Catalonia?

For more than two decades animal rights campaigners in Spain have been working hard trying to make people aware of issues related to the cruelty to animals, and have pursued many avenues in many areas where the tradition and cruelty has trumped sensibility and reason; sometimes with success. But, nowhere has the active presence of animal rights advocates been more palpable that in Catalonia.

For this motive it is perhaps reasonable to suppose that the rationale for the ban on bullfighting in Catalonia is simply make a nationalist statement to the rest of Spain, but this would be a mistaken reading, as many people in Spain already understand, and are frequently sympathetic towards the aspirations of the Catalan nationalists, even if they don't always fully understand their motives or even agree with them.

That said, it is perhaps the case that many people in the Catalan speaking regions have an innate aversion to the old tourism marketing idea that "Spain is different" (after all, who in this day and age wouldn't be against such a horribly stale characterisation), it's an anachronism after all, but especially where Catalans are concerned, because although many (broadly)) have a profound sense of identity and local tradition (and pride of place in Catalonia is quite strong), the Catalans as a nation also have strong affinity and connection with the enlightenment, arts, philosophy, theology, science, technology, political thought and the democratic traditions of Europe; and to which a number of Catalans have made significant contributions.

But, the whole range of speculation regarding motives surrounding the vote are mainly irrelevant, as I suspect that the Catalan parliamentarians, who voted for the ban, did so after carefully examining the arguments between tradition and acceptable practice in a contemporary civil society. The fact that it irritated the right-wing was just the cherry on the ensaimada – not that ensaimadas usually come with cherries – but this is a celebration.

Martyn Richard Jones

28th July 2010

Spain's socialist moment

Martyn Richard Jones — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:55:24 GMT

Spain's socialist moment

The left in Spain is involved in a process that will culminate in a practical political programme, with a focus on social rights.

Article in The Guardian at Comment is Free

MARTYN: WILD WAYS

Martyn Richard Jones — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:11:14 GMT

Cayo Lara - Caminando desde Valencia

Martyn Richard Jones — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:53:00 GMT

Cayo Lara Iu Después de 10 días caminando desde Valencia no les dejaron llegar a las puertas del Congreso para entregar su escrito pidiendo que no desahucien a más gente de la vivienda por no poder pagar la abusiva hipoteca con la que unos cuantos se han enriquecido sin piedad. Estamos con su justa reivindicación y con la de las 74.000 personas que los bancos van a desahuciar éste año de sus casas. Mas fuerza a IU es urgente.

Mi respuesta:

Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con Cayo, además, creo que Izquierda Unida debe ser un agente de cambio, en los sentidos justos, de la justicia social, no solamente atreves de los parlamentos, nacionales y regionales, sino también que la Izquierda debe tener un brazo que se involucra aun mas en la lucha cotidiana, trabaja más defiendiendo lo que no hacen los sindicatos y otros organizaciones sociales, y al margen de lo electoral. (Pido disculpas por mi pésimo español).

From Posadas to Lora del Rio

Martyn Richard Jones — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:48:00 GMT

Tomorrow I'm planning on taking the train from Cordoba to Posadas, and then to cycle from Posadas to Lora del Rio. Have lunch there, and then to take the train back to Cordoba.

First train from Cordoba to Posadas leaves at 7:15. Let's see if I manage to get out of bed on time, and actually carry out what I've planned.

The rest of the story will go here:

FROM POSADAS TO LORA DEL RIO

Well, it didn't go quite to plan. Instead of leaving on Thursday I left in Friday, and instead of taking the train to Posadas, I took the longer journey to Lora del Rio.

Woke up at 6AM, Friday 19th June 2009, after a quick shower, some breakfast, and after collecting together a few things in my rucksack, including a litre bottle of Casera (non-calorie lemon-flavoured fizzy-water), I headed off with my bicycle to the main station here in Cordoba.

The morning sky was clear, the air warm and fresh.

There was a very long queue at the station, and I thought I might miss the train, however, after a bit of encouragement from a supervisor, two more service desks were opened up. I boarded the train about 5 minutes before it was due to leave.

Viva La Quinta Brigada

Martyn Richard Jones — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:26:00 GMT

The men and women of the International Brigade are to be applauded for their effort to save Europe from fascism, and to save a democratic and constitutional state from the vicious onslaught of a band of internationally backed criminal insurgents.

Historically, conflict and strife almost invariably accompany the transition from a repressive regime to a secular, constitutional and democratic republic. In principle, this was no different in the case of Spain. That this attempted transition came at a time when much of Europe was embracing fascism is perhaps a major key to understanding part of the tragedy that is euphemistically termed "The Spanish Civil War".

The Spain of the Spanish Republic was by no means perfect, far from it, but it meant that Spain was a far better place than that which preceded, and that which was to follow.

Against tremendous odds and the weight of a corrupt and oppressive church hierarchy, sections of the army and much of the conservative ruling classes, the republic made great efforts to improve the situation in Spain. Women, of all classes, were free to study and to work, and to take part in society on a more egalitarian basis. Activities previously prohibited, by law or by taboo, were to become simply an exercise of liberty and rights. Education was to become accessible to all, regardless of class. Political pluralism flourished, as never before, regional autonomy and federalism were to become a reality and censorship pared back as never before. Real political power was now in the hands of the people.

It is difficult for people, in this day and age, where many of us see politics as merely another service, to fully understand the dramatic improvements that the republic signified for many ordinary working people and their families.

The Spanish Civil war was the first major confrontation with authoritarianism and fascism in Europe. When it came to the crunch, the so-called democracies were found desperately wanting. After a democratic, constitutional and secular Spain had been isolated and forced to fail in its resistance to fascism, the rest of the drama was to follow. In wilfully denying support to a legitimate government in Europe, the allies opened the floodgates that would eventually result in the millions of deaths, tremendous destruction and the fascist/nazi perpetration of The Holocaust.

A couple of additional things also worth bearing in mind:

1. The church hierarchy in Spain overwhelmingly supported the insurgents against the established secular state, and was effectively complicit with them in their crimes from the very beginning, and primarily because the Republic, which declared Spain to be a secular and democratic state, lost its hegemony in Spain.

2. The non-combat deaths, especially summary executions, were not a novelty and nuns and priests were by far the most effected; for example, the insurgents executed many anarchists, later claiming it was an act of the state.

3. In the province of Córdoba alone, 2,300 people were executed by those loyal to the constitutional state, whilst 7,500 people were executed by the insurgents – in the city of Córdoba alone, more than 4,000 Republicans were executed.

4. For forty long years, and with few honourable exceptions, the Catholic Church in Spain protected and encouraged the brutal fascist dictatorship of Franco. In that time, many people were tortured, murdered, imprisoned or exiled. Many of those who were tortured, murdered, imprisoned or exiled – por Rojos – were also Catholics, just not the type of Catholics that the fascists or the Church wanted.

5. The anarchists have not formally apologised for the killing of nuns and priests, yet the Catholic Church has not apologised for its own explicit support of the Dictatorship, during its forty years of repression.
Of course, there is a lot more to the story than just these simple points.

It is to be remembered that the war in Spain was not a question of two bands opposed to each other, but the defense of a democratic republic and a democratically elected government, against a band criminal insurgents who sought to bring down the government and remove the republican system of democracy.

The criminal insurgents and their international backers sought to turn back the tide that had brought in – amongst other things - the separation of church and state; an established republic; secular education; a nascent public health system; greater equality; the removal of the interference of the catholic church; greater autonomy and local decision making in the regions of Spain; and, the acceptance and promotion of a secular society and culture.

Those who fought on the side of the republic against the criminal fascists were many, very few were trained soldiers, many who fought and died in defense of the republic were liberals, humanists, unionists, socialists, communists and idealists; from Spain, and elsewhere.

The brave and legitimate defense of a democratic republic against the criminal insurgence and their mercenaries failed, and Spain was consigned to 40 years of fascism; a damning indictment of the lies and betrayal of the allies in the run up to world war two.

Nothing will change the facts of history, yet it is shameful that people will still salute Nazis, talk of criminal insurgents as if they were on the same moral and legal footing as the established rule of law and the constitution in a democratic republic. To pretend that there is no difference between the democratic state and those who would wish to violently overthrow it and replace it with a repressive, murderous and brutal dictatorship is naturally seen by any self-respecting democrat as both mendacious and perverse.

The men and women of the International Brigade tried to save a country from the grips of fascism. They assumed the work that those who were too cowardly or self interested wanted to assume. The allies opened the door to fascism/nazism in Europe, the International Brigade tried to help in stopping a tremendous and horrendous crime in progress.

¡No pasarán!