To be unfriendly

Catalan nationalism cannot afford to be unsympathetic. State nationalism, even a certain left, can afford it, but not Catalan nationalism, independence, or Catalan nationalism. This is because their approaches do not refer to an abstract ideal, but to a concrete proposal on a concrete terrain and with a concrete society: the Catalan one, which, if it is to be independent, must do so based on a minimally solid social agreement. Proof of this is Spain: Spain has been artificially created for centuries, and if until recently one could counter me with the agreed-upon Constitution of 1978, which we can accept as more or less true, since 2006 (and especially in 2017) this is no longer the case: Spain is no longer a pact, and even owes itself to force. Therefore, the independence movement (Catalanism/sovereignty/etc.) must ask itself the following question: how can it make an offer for a country that is not too artificial, too indigestible, too unacceptable for too many of its inhabitants, and even for the international community?

All of this stems from three palpable concerns: the rise of the far right on the one hand, the new wave of immigration on the other, and the failure of the Catalan Process, thirdly. The fact that there are people willing to vote for the Catalan Alliance is due to all three factors: a European wave to which Catalonia is no stranger, an excessive inability to integrate newcomers into Catalan identity (and a lack of will on the part of many of them), and, of course, the frustration of a process that had something good about it: origin or language. Once the result of the referendum could not be implemented, and once the Catalans' right to decide was repressed (both in independence and in a simple Statute of Autonomy), the challenge of finding an integrative project now becomes doubly difficult. What could be more integrative than an electoral process in which we decide what we want to be (and I insist, I include the Statute of Autonomy in this concept)? If we can't find a lowest common denominator, a legal and social system in which everyone is more or less represented, it won't just be the separatists who won't feel represented: immigrants won't feel represented either, as is already beginning to be seen with the infamous plays and the growing Catalanophobia among various communities (especially Latin Americans, as we saw in Latin America). The Latinas case at Barcelona City Hall). And beyond that: the international community will also stop seeing us as a worthwhile project. As a good idea. As an idea, at least, better and more viable than Spain's.

We can point to the repression, the injustices, the undemocratic spirit of the State, we can even allude to 1714, and all this will be understood by everyone. Inside and outside. They will understand it because it is beyond all doubt, but this article is intended to say that this is insufficient: unfortunately, we must also be more patient than the rest, more welcoming than the rest, more untainted than the rest, because we are proposing a change in the system that cannot be capricious or show signs of toxicity. And I am speaking of appearances, yes: not every sentiment against excessive immigration is racist, but the connotation can be automatic. Of course. That is why so much care was taken to say that anyone who lives and works in Catalonia and wants to be is a Catalan, and I believe that this difficult balance is not lost on anyone. It is not lost on me either, that now the balance can be twice as difficult and that we will often have to be more bitter. Especially in the face of disrespect for the language: not one step back.

What worries me is not the reason we have, nor the (certain) threat of disappearance we are suffering, but the image. The result in the eyes of others, both newcomers and people observing us from the outside. I know it may be unfair, but if we don't know how to offer a project that seems (and it seems much) better than Spain's, by inertia, Spain's project will win. Simply because it is thestatus quo. "Order." If we truly want to change the established order, it's not enough to expose our wounds: we need to propose a better idea. We need to have a model that everyone sees as a better alternative. We need to justify why you want what you want, and what solid contribution it makes to humanity. Not because any rule says so, but because you'll need a lot of support. A lot of friends. A lot. A lot more than the enemies you already have.