Felipe of Bourbon encourages us
In accordance with the template of the speeches that his father already used, Felipe de Borbón has gone to the monastery of Poblet and has encouraged us, specifically, to give “continuity to this whole network of relations and common interests that was once the core of this monument”. Or, in an even more cryptic circumlocution: “There is enormous potential for cooperation between the territories that today occupy the autonomous communities representing some of the most prosperous and developed areas of our country”.
In a perfect world, such encouragement would not even be necessary, because it is logical that neighboring territories, which share language, history, and family ties, share common interests. The problem is that the Spanish state has worked conscientiously to place borders between Catalonia, Aragon, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands, lest by encouraging us so much we end up rebuilding the old Crown of Aragon.
To begin with, the Constitution gets serious as rarely happens to prohibit: “In no case shall the federation of autonomous communities be admitted”. And how would it have been possible to give continuity “to this whole network of cultural relations” in the times when TV3 repeaters in the Valencian Community were vandalized? How can one speak of the "enormous potential for cooperation", when Spanish political culture has created and still lives off illiterate monsters like linguistic secession and creatures like the LAPAO? And if we speak only of business, we must remember that the Mediterranean railway corridor is still unfinished and that the funding of Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands is one hand tied behind the back for the well-being of their inhabitants. Obviously, the purpose of the State has been to vaguely remind us of the common four-striped past, because what matters is that Aragon, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community “are inseparable from the reality of Spain”.
