Catalonia: Seny must prevail in Madrid before the rauxa dominates Barcelona My Catalan neighbour and friend Joan could not contain his euphoria last night. He had spent part of his day helping form the human chain that had linked arms from the French Pyrennean border to the southern point of the Mediterranean coast that marks the end of autonomous region of Spain, Catalunya. “We are on our way to independence”, he proclaimed. I am, to remind you, born in Madrid to a Scots father and a Spanish mother. I …
Sense & Sensibility in Catalonia
Thousands of ordinary citizens making a human chain across Catalonia this wednesday-Catalan national day-will be intended to show world opinion that the cause of independence is hurtling towards fruition. A great photopportunity it will certainly be, and one that will once again serve as a reminder that the unity of Spain-constitutionally defined as a nation state made up of autonomous regions under a King-remains a controversial concept in need of reform. But a mass demonstration, whichever form it takes, does not represent a democratic mandate. The party that wants …
Secrets & Miranda: A sense of proportion is needed
I have written before (https://www.jimmy-burns.com/blog/espionage/why-i-thankful-edward-snowden/ – much to the shock of some of my friends and even close relatives – why I don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the US-led Big Brother intelligence community now controls the exercise of our freedoms to the extent that we must all live in fear of these being taken from us. The public at large and most journalists-and I include myself and those at the Guardian- are not in a position to necessarily judge with any degree of certainty whether the release …
Sitges es y debe seguir siendo un pueblo tolerante
Desde Londres, donde aguardo unas vacaciones tardías en mi casa de Sitges en pocos días, leo que se ha generado cierta controversia entre políticos municipales la decisión del CiU con el apoyo del CUP de quitar el nombre de Espanya a una plaza del pueblo. Los que han objetado formalmente son los concejales del PP, pero sería absurdo e injusto dejar que este tema fuese monopolizado por los nacionalismos de un lado o el otro. Para mi, el tener una casa en Sitges es tener el gran privilegio de …
Time for reason to prevail over Gibraltar
It was the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges who once likened his country and the UK staging war over the Falklands islands to two bald men fighting over a comb. One would hope and I expect the current dispute between Spain and the UK over Gibraltar will stop well short of war, but the current escalation shows the extent to which politics can play fast and loose with reason , particularly when it comes to the excuse of an unresolved sovereignty dispute.The future, as currently played out in London …
The Pope speaks a new language for our age
Pope Francis on saturday night underlined the importance he attaches to grassroots renewal of he Catholic Church by appealing to his young followers to become key players of a fresh and meaningful project of evangelisation. “We are building a church and you must become protagonists of history,” he told a gathering of Wold Youth Day that had grown to overthree million on Rio’s Copacabana beach by today, sunday, the final day. In a scene which has been repeated through the week, the Pope looked relaxad as he engaged with …
The razzmatazz around Pope Francis in Rio
On Friday night there was a rare hush among the crowds-broken only by occasional applause- as Pope Francis spoke from the heart and directly to over one and half million mainly young pilgrims who had packed Rio’s Copacabana beach. Christ’s Crucifiction was not defeat but a victory of good over evil, of hope over despair, the certainty of God’s love for the sinner, and the prospect of redemption, he prayed. Whatever our personal suffering, we know we are not alone, for Jesus is with us, in communion, offering us …
The simple faith of World Youth Day in Rio
I walked for miles today, following the inner streets, tunnels, and coastline that weave their way across Rio- a city that nature invades, but where rampant consumerism and social inequality prevail. Behind and in-front were thousands of youths, from different parts of the world, although mainly Latin America, on their way to Copacabana to see the Pope. I struggled. They had a spring in their step. It was a pilgrimage of sorts. `They’ve been taking cold showers and sleeping rough, but their happiness is undimmed. You can feel Jesus …
The street walking Pope
Pope Francis likes tango because its is the music of the street, of the people, of his neighbourhood. He also has often recalled that Jesus Christ that he believes in spent most of his life walking, meeting people,listening, talking to them, from the heart. Today, his fourth day in Brazil, Francis took to the streets, deep into the depth of Rio’s poor, in the favela of Manguinhos. Earlier, his restored a sense of humanity amidst the suited local authorities and frocked bishops and sports celebrities gathered round him in …
Organisational shortcomings of Papal visit to Brazil
One of the most loved public figures in the world, Pope Francis is in Rio de Janeiro, one of the friendliest and beautiful cities in the world on his first ever trip abroad since being elected. With hundreds of journalists and half a million young pilgrims in town, you would have thought the authorities would have taken steps to make sure than matters are organised well. Such is the good nature …of the Pope and the joy of his faithful youth, neither deserve to be blighted by cock-up, And yet …
