Prisoners of Spain

Citizens' Voice Series

Miquel Pujol

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For many years, Catalonia has been a net contributor, compulsorily, to the economy of the rest of Spain. This situation, which is described in detail throughout this blog, makes Catalonia increasingly impoverished at the expense of promoting the development of other parts of the so-called Spanish state.

This situation, which is unbearable and suffocating for Catalonia, is unsurpassable for Spain. Spain thus does everything that is in its hands to make sure nothing changes; it hides the identity of Catalonia as a nation, it combats and hides our language and culture, our differences. Spain wants the outside world to see it as a single, uniform culture. Its refusal to ask for recognition of Catalan as an official language in the European Union is the clearest example. What objective reason can there be for not doing so?

Outwardly, Spain is interested in selling an image of normality and that there is no conflict here, but in July 2010, a million people took to the streets to express their indignation. To say that enough is enough. A year has gone by and nothing has changed.

In Catalonia, we have not been lucky with our politicians. For many years, they have failed to, or have not wanted to fight resolutely for our independence and have limited themselves to try to win a game for which Spain has always set the rules.

While Catalan politics, all together, does not take a determined step towards the struggle for independence, all efforts made by the citizens will speed up the process. Internet and the social networks expedite the airing of the oppression and injustice suffered by Catalonia and achieving this goal is very important to us. The fact that someone, somewhere in the world, is reading this is good news.

We must achieve maximum pressure to bear on Spain to force change, to force them to accept our will to be free, because Spain itself will never do it, it will never give us the keys to the cell in which it has imprisoned us: what jailer would?


Miquel Pujol

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