Showing posts with label Catalan politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catalan politics. Show all posts

Saturday, May 2, 2009

L'hora dels adéus (time to say goodbye)

Four years ago, I started my first blog, Catalonia, Politics and Supply Chain as a reaction to a New Yorker, Ale, who trashed my city, Barcelona, in one of her posts when she still was Sempre Primavera.
These have been 4 very interesting years in my life, both personally and professionally. It has been, however, very difficult to combine my literary and political ambitions with my private and professional lives. In the last 8 months, this has become impossible. My new job required that I travel constantly (about 90% of my time) and I have to devote to my family the little free time I have left. Just as a reference, I will tell you my next 5 weeks schedule, Boston, Germany, Boston, The Netherlands, Boston, Ohio, Boston, Mumbai, Boston, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Boston.

In addition to that, I may be moving to another country in North Europe in the summer to optimize my travel and try to spend a little bit more time with my wife and children.

I want, however, end up this blog with a post that I would call, "Se'm cau la cara de vergonya d'ésser espanyol". It is really upsetting to see that Spain is governed by real idiots and that Catalonia is at the mercy of those morons. During the times of absolutism, it was somewhat logical to be ruled by idiotic monarchs. For instance, Charles II "the Hexed" DNA was more inbred than the average even for brother-sister matchings, his speech could barely be understood, and he frequently drooled (wikipedia). But now, we elect those same idiots. It is not that they are imposed on us and we cannot do anything about it. No, we are masochists and we elect them. No one wants to invite our monolingual politicians anywhere, we have to beg every time to be invited to the G20, even Sarkozy joked about the intellectual challenges of the Spanish prime minister, "but he wins elections", he added.

The Spanish prime minister just reshuffled his government. The new ministers are two Galicians, two Andalusians and one Basque. The Catalan representation in the central government is pathetic, Corbacho (born in Extremadura, I do not consider him a Catalan, neither does he, I think), and Chacon (no Catalan roots either, I am afraid, and strategically put there with machiavellic intentions). She is the Secretary of Defense, the civil head of the Spanish Military, the same army who has the mandate to shoot to kill if someone challenges the unity of the country, as proven during the heroic defense of the "Perejil island". I would describe her as a weakened virus inoculated to the Catalan society to prevent it from developing the Catalan nationalistic flu (pandemic among Catalan Prussian pigs). The only positive note has been the departure of a national disgrace, an Andalusian ministress who would be uncapable of managing a post office in a village with 3 inhabitants. Listen to this video clip and do not forget your Kleenex.



I left the country 17 years ago as a Spaniard with strong Catalan sentiment. I do not longer feel myself Spanish. Spain is for me like my ex-wife. I loved her, she was attractive and fun, but if I had continued with her, I would be now emotionally destroyed and financially bankrupt. Filing for divorce was a difficult decision that I never regretted. Catalonia should do the same with Spain, it will be tough at the beginning, but we will never regret.

In the fall I may come back with a new name, and maybe a different language. My style will continue to be the same, maybe a little bit bolder, since I will not show my real family name, but those who know me, will easily recognize me.

See you again - A reveure - Hasta la vista

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Happy New Year full of deceit

Last year I thought that global warming was around the corner. We had little snow in New England and in January temperatures reached 70 plus degrees. I remember playing basketball with my daughter on the front yard in mid January. But global warming is making things pretty cold this year. Today the temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 Celsius) and we had a lot of snow in a beautiful white Christmas and white New Year (almost 2 feet of snow, as you can see on this picture of my house backyard).


The good news for those who want a change in the Catalan politics is that in only 9 years, I will come back to Catalonia to revolutionize the Catalan politics. My preference is not to come back on the front lines, but become a key strategist that will bring one bright but inexperienced candidate to success, a Karl Rove type of person, but nicer. However, if the raw material in Catalan politics continues to be as crappy as it is today, I will have to step up and take the lead.
2008 is going to be a memorable year. In the upcoming Spanish national elections you will be able to witness all kind of deceitful practises, multiple lies, unfulfilled promises turned into attacks to others, public money funneled to individuals with close links to the political leaders, politicians selling Catalonia for power or using Catalonia to get power, principles flushed down the toilet, etc., etc. and the reality is that Catalonia will continue to lose influence, will become more and more mediocre, our language will lose ground while being told that Spanish is being suppressed and the education system will produce individuals who will not be able to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
I hope that not all will be lost. I am a specialist in crisis management and business turn-arounds, but I need something to build on. Nine years is not that long.

Happy New Year.
Ian Llorens