The anthropologist and philosopher Ernest Gellner explains in his book Nacionalismo (Ediciones Destino, 1997) that “nationalism is a political principle according to which cultural similarity is the fundamental social bond” and adds that “the aspirations of the ultra-nationalist are destroyed if his nation fails to unite all the members of the nation and if it tolerates, within its borders, a significant number of people who do not belong to it”. This is why the ultra-nationalist mayor of Girona, Luc Salillas (CUP/Guanyem), full of nationalism and lacking the most basic democratic concepts, banned the installation of a giant screen to watch the European Cup final between Spain and England. The only “legitimate” nationalism is theirs. He made this clear when he said: “As long as I am mayor of Girona, there will be a giant screen whenever there are Catalan national teams”. Ultra-nationalists like Mayor Salillas want a unified Catalonia, with a single ideology, which is what TV3 has been promoting to its clients for decades. In the end, they do like the PP and Vox in Valencia and the Balearic Islands by removing any sign of Catalanism and everything that does not represent Spanish nationalism. Charles de Gaulle already said: “Nationalism is when hatred of others comes first”. All nationalists end up twinning.
It was quite funny to see how the Scottish nationalists went with the Spanish team and the Catalan nationalists with the English team, forgetting that Great Britain had abandoned them to their fate in 1713 during the War of the Succession. The cover of last Saturday’s The National, the newspaper that supports Scottish independence, attacks the English, extols the virtues of Spain and begs for victory in the election led by Luis de la Fuente, is striking: “Our message to Spain: save us from the victory of England.” In Catalonia, on the other hand, the columnist Enric Vila, a fanatical independence fanatic, wrote that “going with Spain today means approving 155 votes. “Going with England would mean agreeing to the referendum,” wrote the former ERC deputy, Joan Puig, from Blanche, now very far from his party, who said that “the Basques and Catalans, who were kidnapped by the Spaniards under threat, won the European Championship,” while, on the other side, some experienced footballers. “Gibraltar, Espanyol,” the mosquito brain cried out. From a psychiatrist
Salillas’ authoritarian reaction was not surprising. We have had plenty of examples during his first year as mayor: the Civil Guard parking lots, the radical opposition to the Princess of Girona Awards, the abandonment of the Plaça de Vi, an exclusive fiefdom of independence supporters, for a gathering of two hundred people. People celebrate the return of some Gironaites who spent a season in a magical country like Switzerland, while then they cannot prevent the provincial council from building an office building in a green space in the city. Populism and more populism. Seriously, can anyone who was truly leftist feel sorry that the humble Mataró neighborhood feels important for a day, even if it is for a football match? Or that hundreds of thousands of people enjoy what they consider their football team? This is how the Salillas, closed and obsessed with their ultra-nationalism, deal with it, but no matter how many authoritarian attitudes they show, they cannot hide that the television audience in Spain and England in Catalonia reached 2,187,000 viewers (the most watched program in Spain of the year), that in Spain and France it was seen by 1,673,000 Catalans and that tens of thousands of people took to the streets (also in Girona and other municipalities in the province, although they concealed their presence) to celebrate the victory of Spain (unlike the others, without burning any containers), as happens in any country in the world, whether you like it or not, with sporting achievements. Salillas should pay attention to the great Ryszard Kapuscinski, whom he quoted in his speech on the 135th anniversary of the Girona Diaries, when he said that “nationalism is fundamentally bad. The ideology of the 21st century must be universally humanistic, but it has two dangerous enemies: nationalism and religious fundamentalism. I should also think of what Winston Churchill said: ‘Democracy is the need to bow from time to time to the opinions of others.’”
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