Portugal vs Catalonia (country, place, people, black)

[Almeida93]

Catalonia used to be a country for hundreds of years, but now is subdivision of Spain. What is interesting to know is that Catolonia has a bigger economy and higher standard of living than Portugal, whom they share a similar population size. The catalan language is also unique, being less intelligible than spanish and portuguese are. Both Portugal and Catalonia have alot of history as well. Catolonia has a better team(Barcelona) than Portugal(Porto) if that matters. Thank You

EDIT:

Hi Catbelle, you are right

I guess the criteria will be the same as my other poll "Spanish Americas vs Brazil" but will exclude cultural and economic influence because Portugal would win, because of Brazil

Criteria

Your own preferance

[Catbelle]

Originally Posted by Almeida93

Catalonia used to be a country for hundreds of years, but now is subdivision of Spain. What is interesting to know is that Catolonia has a bigger economy and higher standard of living than Portugal, whom they share a similar population size. The catalan language is also unique, being less intelligible than spanish and portuguese are. Both Portugal and Catalonia have alot of history as well. Catolonia has a better team(Barcelona) than Portugal(Porto) if that matters. Thank You

What????

Ok I tell you more or less:

Sports:
Both are good, Catalonia most famous team is FC Barcelona and in Portugal there are a lot plus the National team. (In FC Barcelona no all are Catalans)

Language:
Both latin languages, from a person who is a roman language speaker any of them are really difficult.

History:

I think Portugal has more and richer History by itself due to the old conquers, navigation, and it was a Kingdom while Catalonia was part of Aragon Crown

Population:

Catalonia 6 millions and Portugal 9 millions I think

Cultural influence around the world: Portugal with Fado, narrow streets, and the heritage to Brazil,
Economic influence around the world: maybe Portugal too, the coffee, fish, and the bobber
and most importantly your own preferance: I Prefer Portugal, my roots are there.

[filomeno]

Catalonia was never a kingdom..but an association of counties conquered bt Charlemagne that organized themselves around the county of Barcelona some 1100 years ago..and later entered a federation with Aragon... Around 8000000 inhabitants..
Catalan is not difficult for Spanis.French or Italian speakers.
Both are not comparable since Catalonia is far richer..several times richer.

[chascarrillo]

Originally Posted by Almeida93

The catalan language is also unique, being less intelligible than spanish and portuguese are.

Well, that's no actually true. Catalan is more intelligible to spanish speakers than portuguese, phonetically is really similar to italian and spanish, and grammatically to french.
In Europe catalan has more speakers than portuguese, wich is restricted only to Portugal, while catalan is spoken in the spanish regions of Valencia and Majorca, Andorra, that is an independent country, some regions in Southern France and some parts of Sardegna.

[Gargamel10]

As to history, Catalonia is older...During the high middle ages Barcelona was a very sucessful Mediterranean Republic that competed against Genoa and Venice. The city embarked along with Aragon in Mediterranean conquest to create an empire that included Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and parts of Greece. The black plague marked the end of the empire in the 14th, 15th and 16th to the point that the Catalan Parlament had no quorum.

[french user]

I like both very much. Barcelona is one of the greatest city in Europe (even if not a country capital) while Porto and lisboa have an incredible provincial charm. People are more modern, cosmopolitan an mixed in Catalunia but not have the kindness of Portuguese people. Catalunia is closer to my culture, I feel at home in Barcelona and could live there hesitation; but I have wonderfull memories of times in Portugal. French is known and spoken by many people in both places. Tha't's hard to tell really.

[Gargamel10]

French

French is spoken by people older than 50, during Franco, English was considered a "heathenish" language spoken by evil sinners. I had to learn English by myself picking drunk English girls. Until not long ago, Barcelona was a city very "afrancesada" (frenchified?) with a pathetic "gauche divine" that luckily was swept under the rug.

French could have taken the entire Catalonia (they invaded the upper half) had they been less centralist and jacobins. Bourbons were very centralist.

[robertpolyglot]

Portugal. Easy.

I'll take hanging out in Lisbon and Porto to hanging out in Barcelona every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Barcelona has a big chip on its shoulder. If you meet nice people there, they are usually from somewhere else - like Sevilla.

[bale002]

I remember driving through Catalonia, on my way to Portugal, and paying toll after toll after toll after toll. I was glad to get out of there and never went back.

Had the circumstance been right, I would have stayed in Portugal and, again, if the circumstances were right, I would retire there, especially eastern Algarve, a beautifully haunting place with rare, obscure, but significant Roman and succesor Muslim period ruins, in any case a great climate, far enough from touristy western Algarve, yet not too far, and far enough from Spain, yet not too far, especially from, at times and in certain places, equally haunting Andalucia.

Overall, my impression was that Portugal, with its relatively more dysfunctional state, especially in comparsion to such Spanish regions as Catalonia and Basque, allowed more space for freedom for the independent and resourceful individual.

Impressions ...

[Gargamel10]

Sure. I also love Third World Countries.
Third World Countries are always nicer.