On the 1st of March 2006
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Typically Spanish. What does that mean? Sometimes we tend to think that we know a country without visiting it, or without really searching for it. I don't think someone who would visit Andalusia, Galicia, or Castille would get the same impression; if we heard to what they told we could hardly think they were talking about the same country. Andalusians are Spain in everybody’s mind; it's Spain's symbol and reduction; normally "typically Spanish" means "typical Andalusian": flamenco, olé toro... Many people has thought about the "essence" of Spain, but terms such as those I don't think they are very appropriate, and there's often a very reductive idea and a big flag behind them.
But if Spain is the country in the world with more places in the UNESCO World Heritage it is so because of its diversity, its importance as a bridge, not as a castle.
Anyway, let's talk about that diversity. I think a good way to talk about it is the jokes told about each autonomy (the ambiguous word used to name the regions or countries inside Spain).
Catalonians, for instance, are thought to be scrooge merchants: ‘’How was copper cable invented? By two Catalonians pulling a "peseta" (money unit used in Spain before the euro).’’
Basques are thought to be strong and simple: ‘’I was told this power saw could cut 70 trees in an hour, and it cuts only 50... -Ok, let’s see... BRRRRRRRR; -What's that noise?’’
Galicians are thought to be distrustful, and answer a question with another question.
Andalusians, extraverted and always ready to dance and sing.
Castillians, serious and not very talkative...
These images are reductions, but they have a part of truth. Behind them there is a cultural diversity that makes Spain culturally rich.
Call them regions or countries inside a country, I think it is interesting to watch how a State that has opened its frontiers to Europe, can be also flexible in its inner structures, letting those regions be countries inside it, without a dramatic break.
We'll talk about that - about the new Catalonian Estatut, for instance - in a coming article.
Javier Aguirre
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