Land of escudella
I've been able to see and hear, on social media, the speech given by TV3 sports journalist Xavier Bonastre to say goodbye to his colleagues on the day he retired (for months now I've only been seeing people from my own circle). fifth (who are retiring, and it's a somewhat unsettling reminder). From here, I congratulate Xavier Bonastre on his retirement and for so many years of good work, and, especially, I congratulate him on the words he spoke at his moving farewell.
Bonastre delivered a direct, simple, necessary, and therefore highly relevant speech. It was, as he himself has said on social media, a pro-Catalan speech, that is, in favor of the use of Catalan. Obviously, this isn't the only thing we're feeling and reading these days, but I find it particularly noteworthy that this appeal comes from someone who has dedicated his entire professional life to communication on the country's public television. And if the sender is important, so are the receivers, who are the ones who must continue his work.
Bonastre begins by warning that Catalan is on the verge of disappearing and points out that TV3 can and must do everything to safeguard our language. But he doesn't stop there. The sports journalist reminds us that the recipe is well-known and easy, but it doesn't hurt to repeat it emphatically: what we have to do is speak Catalan and translate into Catalan everything we can and know how. The sports journalist then begins an endless string of sports terms that we often hear said in English (Conference League, Eurocup, Champions, hat-trick, play-off...) and points out that all this can be said in Catalan. "It's no good," Bonastre continues, "to say things like 'Everyone says it that way' or 'We've always said it that way...'" Lame excuses. Final note: now, after saying "Bonastre is absolutely right," don't go to the bar and order "A cortado, please"
A few days later, I met a group of Catalan students (who had come to our country from Chile, Ecuador, the Netherlands, León...) and they all agreed on two things: that speaking Catalan gave them a sense of belonging to the place where they live and how difficult it is for other Catalans to find them. The solution, then, is simple (and sometimes a little awkward, it's true): we speak Catalan always and with everyone. We've said it many times, but it bears repeating: a language only dies if we don't speak it, and Catalan only has us!" The jungle On TV3, Xavier Grasset spoke with Toni Massanés, a gastronomic expert and director of the Alícia Foundation, about escudella and ramen. Massanés explained it as clearly as Bonastre: "If we [Catalans] stop eating ramen, the world will still have ramen; but if we stop eating escudella, escudella will disappear, and therefore, the world will have fewer opportunities to eat different things." Crystal clear.
So there you have it: we want a rich and diverse world, both in terms of languages and gastronomy. And congratulations to Xavier Bonastre for having such clear ideas and for a long career in excellent sports journalism.