IT was with great interest that I read the letters from correspondents on the Catalonian situation and the report on Clara Ponsati’s speech to the Radical Indy event at the weekend.
We have just returned from our annual holiday in Catalonia and witnessed at first hand the momentous events which took place this October. We first visited the Costa Brava seven years ago, taking a holiday in the sunshine to help prepare us for the Scottish winter. We have returned to the same area every year since, to reunite with the wonderfully warm Catalonian friends we have made there.
READ MORE: Clara Ponsati’s message of hope to Radical Independence event
During our first visit I realised with some surprise that they were fighting an independence battle similar to ours with great enthusiasm. Flags in support of independence were visible in every village, small town and city we visited.
When we visited in 2014 following our disappointment at the result of the referendum in Scotland I was greatly heartened by two incidents. During a tour of the beautiful historic town of Besalu, on the veranda of a flat in a narrow street a Catalonian flag and a Scottish flag flew entwined in the breeze. From that moment I felt at one with their struggle.
READ MORE: Europe must open its eyes to help Catalonia amid Spanish brutality
Later during that holiday we visited Figueres, and while wandering around we came across an independence rally in a square. It was peaceful, joyful with people of all ages mingling in the sunshine. I left my husband having coffee and wandered among the crowd. Soon I was in conversation with some young people who told me that they had been at a rally in Edinburgh prior to the referendum. They empathised with the Scottish people and took me to meet some of the organisers of their event. I returned to my husband full of joy and hope and sporting a Catalonian independence badge.
From that time I have followed their struggle – reading with interest every article published in the National. When they had their referendum two years ago I watched in horror the television news reports of the treatment of the population of Catalonia supporting independence at the hands of the Spanish police. For a democratic country, and member state of the EU to treat their population in this manner was horrifying. This was followed by the exile and imprisonment of the Catalonian ministers.
READ MORE: Catalonia: Thousands join Spanish unity counter-protest
On October 14 this year I joined a sombre vigil in the beautiful town of Roses for a short time. It was later in the day that I learned of the sentences of the Catalonian political prisoners, who had already spent two years in jail awaiting sentence. Frankly I am ashamed and disappointed that there has been no pronouncement by EU ministers or the EU Court of Justice condemning this affront to democracy.
For the remainder of our trip we wondered if we would be able to return to the UK on schedule as the whole of Catalonia responded to the outrageous sentences dealt by Spain to their compatriots. Strikes, protests rallies, blockades and silent vigils. Everyone looked concerned.
We returned to London as planned in time for the events of October 20 – the Remain Rally and the Saturday sitting of parliament. Now back home and reading Iris Jarrett’s letter (October 27), I wholeheartedly agree with her. We are living in very troubled times. I am, like many people in Scotland feeling very anxious about the future. The years since the EU referendum in the UK have been characterised by extremely poor leadership by UK Prime Ministers. No attempt has been made to be genuinely inclusive in decision-making, and years of duplicity and game-playing have resulted in a shambles.
I am thankful that in Nicola Sturgeon and Ian Blackford we have politicians who are calm, considered and respectful of the law. I understand the frustration of those who want independence without doing things “the legal and proper way”. But I would urge them to think of the situation in Catalonia and carefully reflect on the future.
When independence comes to Scotland, as it surely will, we have to live peacefully with family, friends and neighbours who do not share our goals, and likewise family and neighbours in other parts of the UK.
We must be positive, single-minded, strong and supportive of our leaders in the independence movement united in our goal. We must also continue to be vocal and supportive of our fellow independence seekers in Catalonia. In the words of Hamish Henderson’s Freedom Come-All-Ye:
So come all ye at hame wi’ Freedom
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom.
Isobel Gibson
Newburgh
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