T-shirts cause for thought!

Phew, sorry that this has been a while but a late night Tuesday following twitter into the night, waiting to see if Raith could get thru extra time against Airdrie. With only just over 900 fans out to watch, Raith went on to win in a 7 goal thriller finishing, Raith 4 Airdire 3! Well done Rovers!

As my oven is on the blink, I went round to a friends yesterday to make my Christmas Cake. After 3 hours of baking and a round of scones for good measure I headed home. I was on my bike, back pack filled with a brandy soaked cake and was met by a stormy sea of people and some very on edge police! As I weaved my way thru the crowd hoping my cargo survives I hear the now familiar call "Inde Independencia"

Enjoy this hot serving of P n B!

Paella and Bovril

Before going to visit family in England the boyfriend and I went on the traditional present hunt for the wee nieces!  Our expeditions lead us into the local memorabilia and gift shop, “El Cau del Poblenou”. This cave had only the best in Catalan gifts, Gaudi cathedrals, street name coasters and of course a víbria (the Poblenou breasted dragon mascot) pencil case!  We decided that a couple of local lingo t-shirts would be best, not many kids in London would have a Catalan pirate ship on their chests! Whilst waiting for the gifts to be wrapped, we got chatting to the shop assistant, the usual questions, “are these gifts, how long have you been here, where you from?” Hearing the responses in Catalan seemed to impress him, wearing a Barca football top got us a few brownie points but hearing we were Scottish made him smile from ear to ear! “Will Scotland be independent?” he asked. Phew, this was only meant to be a wee trip to the shops, not a political debate. But in the past few weeks you could not avoid the debate, in the bars on the streets, not even football was safe.

 

El Clasico is always going to be game with a heat behind it. Two rival teams from rival cities with plenty of history, football and political. So of course when C. Ronaldo and co came to town in October the Barca fans were going to make some noise.  And make it they did, at 17mins 14 seconds to be more precise! “Inde,  Indedepencia” was the cry, but why at 17:14. My Catalan history is a little rusty but I did not have to wait long until the commentary team informed us of the reason. I was asked to cast my mind back to September 11^th. This date is a holiday in Catalonia and this year it was not just an extra day off work. More than 1.5 million people marched through the streets to demand independence for Catalonia. Along with marching nearly every building was, and still is, flying “La Senyera” flag from its many balconies and a televised service of remembrance was held at the gravesite of the soldiers who lost their lives when Barcelona fell during the Spanish war of succession in 1714.  So not only did 98,000 Barca fans make a giant Catalan flag mosaic before the match, but they timed their chants to a historical, political tee! I knew that FC Barcelona was “more than a club” but this was a whole new level!  Even now, weeks on from the game, journalist and politicians are using it as ammunition for their arguments.  This match was now “more than a game!” 

Of course the clubs try and distance themselves from the politics and keep the talk about the antics on the pitch rather than off.  But when you have Ex Barcelona manager and player Pep Guardiola recording a message supporting the independence cries and an ex president of the club is the chairman of the Catalan Solidarity for Independence, you understand how FC Barcelona has become a substitute for a “national” Catalan football team. 

Maybe that is what we should be really worrying about, never mind European union membership and the economic crisis. Does Scotland want to face a Catalonia in the 2022 world cup qualifiers?