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For the record, I am not necessarily in favour of independence for Catalonia. I happen to think that in most cases from an economic standpoint it would be better for the entity that is thinking of seceding to remain within the larger entity.
But that still doesn't mean I believe the ''sky is falling" economic arguments that are always given in opposition to independence movement.
Acajack
Catalan big money is against independency.
Many play the double game because they know secession is just "poetry".
La Caixa is against, and they own this place, so are cava producers, hotel chains, industry, multinational corporations, etc.
I don't know about the details of Barcelona politics, but I understand locals that hate tourism. The city is really suffering from too much tourism. I refer to tourism in Southern Europe as the Mediterranean curse. That is also why I avoid going to Lisbon, I dislike those masses of tourists and foreigners that come here with their stupid cams as if the city were some kind of Disneyland rather than a city where people live and work.
And tourism is easy money, so locals focus on it too much, abandoning sustainable, solid industries that do not depend on the whims of bored people traveling the world.
Barcelona itself is quite leftist, the current mayor is anti-capitalist, anti Eurozone, anti-NATO and supporter of populist regimes in Latin America (though not different from most large Spanish cities, only Basque Country's capitals are governed by the right) but Catalonia as an Autonomous Community is right-leaning, especially in the economic sense.
Spain's most left-leaning regions are Andalusia, Extremadura, La Mancha and the Canary Islands.
I would not classify the PSOE as a leftist party. The PSOE governing those autonomous regions are the old "señoritos" "pezzonovantes" that always governed that region but now desguised as "socialist". They win by handing out PER and subsidies. Not much different to 1910 or 2000 years ago except that now the "client" only have to credit 10 or 15 working days to receive subsidies.
The money comes mainly from Madrid, Baleares and Catalonia.
That's why illegal workers are needed to save crops and work.
I don't know about the details of Barcelona politics, but I understand locals that hate tourism. The city is really suffering from too much tourism. I refer to tourism in Southern Europe as the Mediterranean curse. That is also why I avoid going to Lisbon, I dislike those masses of tourists and foreigners that come here with their stupid cams as if the city were some kind of Disneyland rather than a city where people live and work.
And tourism is easy money, so locals focus on it too much, abandoning sustainable, solid industries that do not depend on the whims of bored people traveling the world.
I have heard it is even worse in Barcelona.
The problem is not that people hate tourism, which is not the case for most people. I can walk around Barcelona during three hours and not see a single tourist.
The problem is that tourists only visit less than 7 percent of the city.....ramblas, medieval area, sagrada familia, the harbour and promenade, raval...
Tourists displaced locals, provoked the closing of good restaurants in favour of awful tapas places, even the parades selling birds in las Ramblas are gone, no parades selling flowers (centuries old) and the traditional meubles (brothels) and "bares de señoritas" down the ramblas are gone, which were part of the city.
You can't sit in the ramblas and ask a beer without being served a gigantic oktoberfest jar for 10 euros or more!! That's a crime, as a local tradition was wiped out and locals don't travel down the ramblas, all business in the areas now sell atrocious souvenirs and are in the hand of pakistanies that have a rather obnoxious taste decorating their shops.
The ramblas were like old unter den linden in Berlin, a place that was very traditional.
Building a fast speed train with a cost of 2 billion pesetas (one lost in the way) between Madrid and Seville in 1992 is like building a high speed train between New York and Macon, Georgia.
One billion pesetas are 1.000.000.000.000 pesetas of that time.
Building a fast speed train with a cost of 2 billion pesetas (one lost in the way) between Madrid and Seville in 1992 is like building a high speed train between New York and Macon, Georgia.
One billion pesetas are 1.000.000.000.000 pesetas of that time.
You are exaggerating. Seville and Macon are orders apart. Being one of the biggest cities in Spain, Seville should be linked to the capital. After all, one of the goals behind such trains is to make remote places less remote so they become more attractive to people from elsewhere.
Seville does not mean a thing in Spanish economy, the city might be the third by numbers of inhabitants but with no industrial or strategical importance. The city was important 200 years ago.
The most important cities are Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza.
At that time, there was not even a highway connecting the entire lenght of Barcelona-Madrid, which was totally incredible.
The only reason was that the president was from there, Felipe González.
I disagree, cities such as Malaga and Seville are important. Nobody says they are at the same level as Madrid, but still they are important hubs, especially in a vast region such as Andalusia.
Seville is rated a Gamma- city, the same category as Porto, Kansas City and Turin. Valencia is just one subcategory above, a Gamma city (without the minus). Zaragoza is not even a Gamma city.
Also, the train line to Seville made sense as they had to build a line down to Cordoba anyway in order to link Malaga.
Seville was not important at all in 1992, the only importance was that the city was the birthplace of Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra.
Well, you said "Seville does not mean a thing in Spanish economy", i.e. present tense. I don't know how it did 23 years ago, but if Seville is more important today, maybe the train line did help after all.
There was also an Expo in Seville in 92...
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