This week I was in Barcelona in a very important trade fair. I really enjoy visiting the city, as it is beautiful, has very pleasant weather, the food is generally good (but salty) and I have many good friends living there.
One thing that always surprises me a little bit of the city is the character of the locals: Barceloneses are generally proud Catalonians who have their own language and customs different to the rest of Spain (or, as they say, FC Barcelona is more than a club for a slightly less than a country).
Regardless, visit it when you have a chance, just don’t do it when there is a trade fair as the place will be absolutely full.
Tag Archives: spain
Language differences
Shouldn't take you this far. The gist of the story is that the distributor of a Mexican horror film in Spain wants to dub it to "Spanish from Spain", regardless of whether the plot takes place in Mexico. You don't see Brits dubbing American movies or vice versa, do you? Subtitles, maybe, but it shows how unprepared and unwilling Spaniards are to listening other usages of the same language, regardless of whether they have a much larger number of speakers than those in Spain. Don't even get me started on their foreign language proficency (or lack thereof).
Absolutely ridiculous.
Two unrelated stories on immigration in Europe
- The European Commission has unveiled a plan to copy the American "green card" scheme to attracked skilled immigrants to Europe. While it sounds interesting, I would really like to know what it means in practice, since as we know in the end the individual member states decide how to apply the Commission directives. It would be a good idea, but I'm still sceptic as it could encounter too much opposition from anti-immigration politicians, even if of course business leaders clamour for it. Question number two is how would a plan like that affect the naturalisation of said foreign citizens. People worrying from a brain drain should see what happened with India and China: their people left mostly for the U.S. and came back with experience and capital to improve their original communities.
- A video was released of a Spanish man attacking an Ecuadorian immigrant in Barcelona because "she was an immigrant". Thankfully this man is now under prosecution. I started wondering how many of these attacks go unpunished. (via Alt1040)
FIFA date wrap-up
Finland 0-0 Belgium
Finland has almost performed seppuku, with its hopes to qualify to the Euro 2008 needing nothing short of a miracle. Two goals were ruled out for offside, one correctly, the other not.
Mexico 2-2 Nigeria
The senior team played against the Africans in Ciudad Juárez, and after going down 1-0, they ended up tying 2-2. A very interesting game.
Finland 0-0 Spain
In the commemoration of the centennary of the Finnish Football Association, both teams played a rather passive game in rather cold conditions. Nothing to play for and Finland’s 4th 0-0 tie in a row.
Mexico 2-3 Guatemala
A wrestling rather than a football match, with 2 players per side sent off, and the under-23’s giving a not-so-nice year end’s present to Hugo Sánchez, Mexico coach.
¿El periódico global en español?
Haciendo mi ronda usual de periódicos ahora que tuve un poquito más de tiempo, me topé con que El País de España ahora se hace llamar "El periódico global en español". Contrastándolo con los contenidos de su página principal, que se concentran en noticias españolas, e incluso con el nombre del periódico (¿o qué, "El País" se refiere a otra cosa y no a ese pedazo de tierra entre Portugal, Francia, el Atlántico y el mediterráneo?), he llegado a dos conclusiones: o es un ejercicio fallido de mercadotecnia que no va a llegar a ningún lado o realmente se lo creen y son más arrogantes de lo que pensaba.
Actualmente ningún medio de habla hispana cumple la serie de requisitos que le pondría a un medio más global (nótese que no digo global) como CNN, France 24 o BBC World, nótese dejar de verse menos al ombligo y más al exterior. Ese es un nicho de mercado que aún no está cubierto en nuestra lengua, pero francamente a Grupo Prisa no le veo cómo con su actual propuesta de valor, aunque acepto que desconozco mucho sobre el negocio del periodismo.
On China
A couple of random thoughts I have been munching on:
- Just finished reading this book. Even though many things are most probably not true, even if this guy did only 25% of what they claim he's worst than most of the other dictators in the world.
- Finnair's Asian strategy is working. So much so, that my direct flights HEL-MAD-HEL were full of Spaniards and Chinese coming and going on holiday (there were very few Finns). There were a couple of "little emperors" but nothing too annoying really. The comparison with their partner Iberia couldn't be more lopsided, since in their case the results from their Latin American strategy are a mess (if you fly within Europe service is pretty OK, but if you fly long haul the airline changes from Iberia to Siberia).
Nike Ad: "Being Spanish is no longer an excuse. It’s a responsibility."
Nike Ad: “Being Spanish is no longer an excuse. It’s a responsibility.”
Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado
One of the best ad campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. The Spanish inferiority/superiority complex is addressed head-on here by a sports apparel company.
RBD… ¡nooooooo!
No hay duda, tanto rock que se produce en hispanoamérica y lo único que pega en España es RBD y Paulina Rubio… ¡guácala!
What do I need an office in a hotel room for???
Absolutely useless stuff. No internet connection nor anything, just a waste of space in my hotel room.
I guess it shows the previously held belief that if you were a business man you would be holding meetings at your hotel room. I still have to find someone who does that… Stiff and bureaucratic.
In Madrid
I spent a couple of days in Madrid for business reasons, and as usual enjoyed it thoroughly.
Madrileños, unlike citizens of other capitals, like to stay up late, and it really shows. Furthermore, I was surprised by the level of stress of some of the people there.
Regardless, it is one of my favourite cities in Europe. Feels like Mexico, but the people are somewhat whiter and speak funny 😉 .