This was quite an extraordinary event, almost worthy of a newspaper headline. I can see it now: “Catalan Says ‘We’ When Referring to Spain!” Of course, never having heard such a phrase escape the lips of a citizen from Barcelona, I decided to respond with a joke — “You’re referring to the Estatut?” — upon which the lady in question picked up a piece of reindeer sausage and flung it (playfully) in my direction. (The Catalans have just won a vote which changes their constitution (Estatut) and basically grants them more autonomy – not that they were exactly under Madrid’s yoke before. But anyway. All power to them, say I.)
For some, it’s the beginning of the end – the “Balkanization” of Spain. It was Franco’s worst nightmare, the vision of a Spain broken up into its component parts with every little two-horse region given the official stamp to do more or less as they pleased under the auspices of cultural variety. Now that the Catalans have declared themselves a nation, says the right-wing of Spain, the rest will follow. It’s Eisenhower’s domino theory all over again, transferred to the Iberian Peninsula. And it’s going to happen soon, cry the traditionalists. Spain is fairly federalist anyway, after the 1978 Constitution granted self-regulatory rule to an unholy host of autonomous communities – but none of them went around proclaiming their nationhood. They took what they were given, and went back graciously to the table to eat. The only Oliver Twist to ask for more was the Basque Country, but everyone expected that.
The first World Cup held after democracy came to Spain was in 1982, as an implicit recognition of the country’s return to the fold. Spain played terribly, and went out at the first group stage – but let’s not dwell on that. Rather it needs to be mentioned that ever since that national debacle, the Spanish themselves have doubted their ability to come together as a nation and win a major sporting event. The bulk of the players in 1982 were from Real Madrid and the Basque region’s Real Sociedad. The latter had just won the Spanish league title. Rumors of the two factions in conflict abounded; it eventually became the accepted reason for the failure on the pitch. The players have always denied it, but methinks that some of them have protested too much.
Fast forward to 2006: Spain’s national team is doing rather well. They’ve qualified with ease for round two, beating Ukraine, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia on Friday. The Tunisia match even featured an inspiring comeback. Suddenly, “we” were everywhere. “Somos el coco!” screamed Wednesday’s headline in Marca, Spain’s Madrid-based footballing tabloid. That phrase, loosely translated, “We are the tops” – is a curious one, suggesting that Spain is superior in all aspects of the World Cup – attack, defense, even handsomeness. (Well, Fernando Torres and Raúl were voted onto the list of the top ten best-looking players by the good ladies of Germany before the tournament.) That’s right, “we” have youth, experience, ambition and verve. Look upon my works ye mighty and despair! And we’ve (they’ve) only played two games.
Two wins, and the first person plural is everywhere, even on the lips of Catalans. Is the country perhaps about to swing back to a centrist, Madrid-based philosophy? The autonomists are quaking. Their only hope is that Spain will blow it, lose their confidence and come home a week later. If they keep on winning, who knows? Even the Basques might start to take an interest. Now that would be revolution.
