Northern Ireland and Catalonia - different countries, same problem
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Whilst on our recent holiday around Switzerland and Italy we spent the last night of the trip in the small Italian port of Savona. The small hotel we stayed in was owned and operated by an English woman who had been there for 36 years. While checking us in she asked us where we were from and Arnold replied that he was Belfast born.
‘Ahh, an Irishman!’ she cried. Arnold replied that he was not Irish and that he was British (Belfast is in Northern Ireland, therefore, the UK). This lady carried on saying that Dublin and Belfast were both the same and that the people of Northern Ireland were as good as Irish. ’It’s all the same in the end!’ she said. By now Arnold was getting rather annoyed with her attitude and I even felt my hackles rising…and I’m Australian!
At that moment I wondered what Arnold’s mother would have said to this woman seeing as his parents consider themselves British and Loyalists to the core. Just as well she wasn’t there or that woman would have gotten a mouthful!Try calling a Welshman english and you will get an even more interesting reaction!
Of course the people of Northern Ireland (they hate the term Northern Irish) are basically 60% British and 40% Irish - the 60% descend from the Scottish settlers whilst the remainder are of Irish descent. Two different peoples, different dialects, different cultures and customs. But they all co-exist in Northern Ireland.
It got me thinking about the situation where we live. We are just over the north-eastern border where France meets Spain. Just south of that border is the province of Catalonia. To those unaware of the difference they would just consider it to be north eastern Spain and the people there to be Spanish. It is not Spain, it is Catalonia and the people are Catalan. They speak Catalan, not Spanish.
If you want to have an argument about this I can introduce you to a few Catalans’ and they will happily go a few rounds with you - but I wouldn’t recommend such an experience. That woman in Savona would have used the same ignorant attitude with a Catalan guest of hers…”You are all Spanish, you are all the same!’…they aren’t all the same. And it is rude and ignorant to argue such a point with a guest as well. We meet many Catalan people who come to our hotel and several of them have made it clear that they are not Spanish, who are we to contradict them?
Well, that english lady in Savona would have. And god help her if she ever does!
Copyright © 2007-2008 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.Popularity: 15% [?]
Spread the Word:
