Fat Ballerinas

two things that should never happen together are the “Festa Major de Gracia” and the reading of George Orwell’s book ‘Homage to Catalonia’. that is not to say they don’t mix well, it is just not recommended (not by me anyways). let me explain…reading the book that cronicles the Civil War in Spain and is mostly about Catalonia and the uprisings in Barcelona is an interesting perspective on the Anarchists, Communists, Facists, and the worker’s revolution. but while fireworks go off and drum corps march through the street, you would swear the revolution was happening again right outside your window.

actually the festival had a grand celebratory feel when you walked among the decorated streets and saw proud neighbourhoods showing their artistic flair, but along with parties come riffraff. the amount of people collected on the streets until the wee hours of the morning was staggering. most were young, maybe idealistic Catalans in whose spirit solidarity and anarchy have not died. i have never seen such a concentration of politically minded socialist youth. their handywork on the sides of buildings, bank windows, and store front security doors is an amazing feat of vandalism. slogans like “there is nothing to lose” “revolution” “bank tellers are capitalist pigs, burn your money” (I liked that one), “alcohol=liberty” (I am not sure what that means) and more have appeared in great frequency in the streets during the festival. ‘hammer and sickle’ and the ‘fist thrust towards the sky’ are images that have been stenciled everywhere. makes one think? what year is it? i am confused? well that may have been because my head was swimming from the political knot that Orwell was trying to unravel in 1937.

so not the best time to be reading such a book. but i couldn’t put it down. i have to say that i enjoyed it more than ‘1984′ and ‘Animal Farm’ (that may be because they were forced down my throat in school), but partly because i am now living where it took place. it could also be because i live in Catalonia, a part of Spain which has long been fighting for recognition. ask any local why the street signs, construction signs (anything official) are in Catalan not Spanish (Castellano) and you may be on the wrong end of a bitter tirade. people here are still very wary of anyone questioning their Catalonia (at the end of the Civil War, Franco outlawed books, art, and even speaking in Catalan).

please read the book. just don’t do it during a celebration in the heart of Catalonia. you should be out partying anyways.