I agree that the way the citizens here in Barcelona are spraying tourists and acted with them on the latest protests is bad. That been said, tourism is actually a problem here. A working couple living here can't afford to have their own flat, even a 1 bedroom. They have to share a flat with others. All this due to rent increase because renting to tourists is more profitable. Some districts became tourist disneyland and don't belong to the citizens anymore. I was leaving nearby the Sagrada Familia before, during Covid that was perfect, but after the pandemic my wife and I decided to move away because of the tourists. Impossible to walk on the street, or even to access our builg because groups of zombie tourists, listening to their guides with headphones, not even caring about you. Impossible to sleep because of drunk people shouting at 3 in the morning, or the AirBNB rooftop in front throwing a party like a night club until 6 in the morning. People living here don't go to the beach, we can't there is no more space to put a towel on the sand. I can't take the metro with my daughter in the stroller, because it is packed with tourists with backpacks and suitcases. Population of Barcelona 1.6M, 32M tourists every year. Plus toursits behave differently. When you go to visit london, you have a picture in front of big bed, you go grab a fish and ships and some beer at the pub.... here in Barcelona, tourists behave like it is burning man festival. They are drunk in plain day, pee in the street or in the metro, act like they own the city, not even making the effort to put a Tshirt on. I agree that tourist bring some money to some business here, restaurants, hotels, etc... AirBNB owners are mostly foreigners investors because no one can afford buying a flat here, again due to tourism price presure so not a lot of locals see the benefits of it. I think that tourist activity should be regulated. I am not against tourism. But when you can't live in the city because of it, it becomes a problem.
@@thenomadcode Time for the police to issue fines to all those that can’t behave and break the laws. That being said, what did catalonians expect when they opened that huge airport in Barcelona
@@thenomadcode well explained. the problem is not only mass tourism and lack of regulations that protect plain citizens, it is also a growing gentrification,: people from all over the world are coming to live in Barcelona, and the prices of housing inevitably rise because of the skyrocketing demand. this contrasts with the idea of decadence spread in the video, no place in decadence receives so much migration. an economic boost, but a social crisis, I would say. you can find real decadence in other places, like for instance, Paris? besides, Madrid and other cities are facing similar social issues as Barcelona
This is interesting as a Montrealer -- almost everything you describe about Catalunya happened in Quebec starting in the late 70s and accelerating in the 1980s. Canada-wide companies moved to Toronto, and almost all new businesses with a Canada-wide vision set up in Toronto, Alberta or Vancouver. Every industry that was centered in Montreal in 1980 is now centered in Toronto. OTOH, it also means that our housing prices are more reasonable than Toronto or Vancouver since there is little population growth.
No population growth while people age and pass away means it's a declining place with a harsh future unless they innovate alot which I don't see happening due to the bureaucracy
well at least the rich achieved something in life before that person dies. his kids will probably inherit the fortunes and pass on to the next generation. cycle of life.
If you are not in the financial market space right now, you are making a huge mistake. I understand that it could be due to ignorance, but if you want to make your money work for you...prevent inflation
@@FegaroScheuInteresting, This is superb! Information, as a noob it gets quite difficult to handle all of this and staying informed is a major cause, how do you go about this are you a pro Investor?
I think Barcelona going down has been a policy by the central givernment since they organized a referendum. I read of pressure for companies to leave Catalonia to Alicante or madrid. The government now makes a lot of companies have double HQ in madrid too. The want the capital like London or Paris, where the capital is disproportionately richer than the rest of country. The rest are now dependent on the capital. I saw another news of the central government cancelling a direct flight from Barcelona to Tokyo but they will be in favour of madrid. They want madrid airport to be number 1 in Pain and i have read of plans to expand it from a national budget, not regional budget like the rest of madrid. So i will say its a delibrate choice by people with political power based in madrid. I have read how Birmingham in the UK stopped and its usually by decision makers in the capital because they can direct resources. Birmingham's economic growth was stalled to favour investment in the north of England and that was done in no other place than the capital london. You can read about them. A city doesn't resist Factories and offices spaces without polical intervention from the capital.
Despite the fact you are ignoring the content of the video, if Cataluña goes independent, absolutely everything would be centred in Barcelona. Your point is non sense
This has been a very, very interesting video. Already alot of people pointed the fact that Catalonia was seriously affect by globalization and industry outsourcing. In Portugal we notice that if an important international company wants to deal with Iberia and South America at the same time, they prefer Madrid (for its central Iberian position???) and then they also hire some staff from Portugal for support with Portuguese/English language. Sincerely I would prefer to live in Madrid than in Barcelona, love Barcelona but Madrid fells more relaxed and more easy going.
I don't think it is its central geographical position, Madrid is not specially well located other cities are much more strategically placed such as barcelona to connect with europe, Andalusia to connect with africa or anywhere in the atlantic to connect with America. However, Madrid is the capital and allows for companies to exert much more preassure on policies.
This video is the perfect example of using statistics to lie... Taking data to the specific year to match your thesis, Puting things out of context, not talking about investment execution...
It's not just Barcelona or Catalonia, nor even Spain; it's about the entire Europe and the US facing challenges. Globalization has shifted middle-class factory jobs to Asia and elsewhere, leaving only landlords and CEOs at the top of the pyramid, accumulating wealth while draining it from middle-class people. They invest increasingly in education, yet technology's rapid advancement adds debt and family pressure, reducing birth rates. Simply having a bachelor's degree no longer guarantees upward mobility; it's a myth. The current capitalist system's wealth distribution favors the rich, exacerbating inequalities as China, and increasingly, high-tech products dominate global markets. This intensifies competition, especially in Europe's heavily reliant automobile industry. India will join this competition in the coming decades. We're entering a late-stage capitalist debt crisis, where only redistributive policies and protectionism in local industries can slow inevitable damage. The AI hype further threatens job security. Capitalism's globalist tech-centric approach may prove ineffective as developing countries integrate, intensifying competition. Despite abundant productivity worldwide, human greed persists, rendering money seemingly pointless. This condition is a consequence of our nature; little can be done to change it until pepole can t bare it anymore and as history has show us man times, it ends in unecesary violent Revolution that sometimes lead to utopical idealism that can be dangerous...
You are right in many things about globalization but the real problem is that in many places in the west there is no more capitalism the state rules more than 50% of the economy, and that can’t be considered capitalism but socialism the problem is is socialism that is creating cast that is eating every thing productive.
I think that is missing that Catalonia was an industrial center since de XIX century and with the coming of globalization and factories going to China it became the rustbelt of Spain. In this regard Barcelona has fear better than Detroit.
You nailed it. It hasn’t always been like that, but since the last few years a Spaniard looking to start a career will more likely move to Madrid than Barcelona. In Madrid they make you feel as a local from day one. In Barcelona you will be feeling that you don’t belong. It wasn’t always like that (look at the times of the Olympic Games), but since a few years back the atmosphere is really toxic there . Companies understand that, and prefer to invest in Madrid. Same thing is happening in the Basque Country autonomous region, with now little “Spaniards” willing to move there (as opposed to the old times, when they were attracting lots of talented and hard working Spaniards).
Not to mention the stuburmess of speaking catalan e en eith spanish speaker. At school catalan is mandatory not representing the real situation of society which is almost 50% Spanish speaking . This policy affects pupils that are from other countries diminishing their performance while be forced to assist classes in a language totally imposed
@@WolfgangBrehmthey already have economic freedom of self determination. They have a freakin parliament that can create law and taxes, they have authorities that can freaking purchase asset. What they want now is diplomatic and military self determination. It’s absurb. They want to become a freakin country
I was in Barcelona in April and seeing signs like “immigrants yes, tourist no!” and watching Catalonian local news report “Italian government continues ant-diversity measures by intercepting Africans in the Mediterranean” told me me a lot. I’m a mixed bag of Basque/Spaniard descent and speak Spanish from the USA and the only place I didn’t feel at home was in Barcelona while the rest of Spain made me feel like I was at home.
@@catalanoic6459 I don’t understand what you are implying but if it helps I read Spanish so if you want to reply in Spanish that works for me. Sorry I don’t speak Catalan
As a foreigner who has witnessed the independence movement here for the past 12 years, it's been depressing to see families torn apart, businesses leave and a general division among the population rise. Populism politics poisoning the minds of a population with fictions of nirvana, if only self-rule could be self-declared. As you mention, the 100 families that control the region would no doubt lead far greater wealth divide through the plundering of the state's coffers. Lower taxes, less hate of other Spaniards, and a more open culture will be the things that will turn this place around.
Of course, it's very fun being a guiri here in Barcelona. I moved here because of family, but I get caught in the middle of this just by existing. Sorry I learned Spanish over Catalan first, jobs here and nationality require Spanish. Also people assume I'm a tourist just by the way I look so I get nasty looks and sometimes comments even when I am just trying to go to work. I can't wait to leave this country, I only regret not trying to live in Madrid because it is a far, far better place with kinder people.
@@Gewehr_3I’m sorry, the left in our country is getting too toxic, anything that is not a match to their ideology is a threat to them, it’s destroying us. Hope you can reconsider you leaving, I’m sure that the majority is happy with you living with us. Where I live every day are more and more foreigners with families and is really refreshing, but I live in the least left neighborhood in Barcelona. Have a nice day.
@@Gewehr_3 I'm sorry to hear that, the left is incredibly toxic in our region hope you can rethink you leaving and stay with us, in my neighbourhood is the most right wing in Barcelona and things are really different, come here that every day more families are coming here.
As a non-nationalist catalan (born in Bacelona and with catalan as my mother tonge) I always saw things as expressed the point made from 11:45 onward , I am happy to see it is expert-backed. It is indeed a deeply classist society that hides itself under a mantle of cosmopolitism. The raise of independentism is just the last move of the dominating class to make sure they stay on top, and if it has to be at the cost of kicking us to the bottom of Europe, so be it.
12:09 "People descended from Catalan culture tend to marry disproportionately other people of Catalan culture" Oh, you mean like people descended from every other culture?
@@Equilibrium-Manifesto It's very clear what he says. And what's more insane is the conclusion he makes right afterwards: "So much so that it is common knowledge that 100 families of Catalan origin control the city of Barcelona" Apparently, the reason why first and second generation immigrants fleeing from poverty do not reach a city's elite class in 60 years is because Catalans (as a whole) "disproportionately marry other Catalans". The flagrant bias in this video is baffling to me.
Preserving culture,traditions, languages and customs should not be seen as Nationalism point of view or Non inclusiveness. If we lose our identity of our ancestors then it's going to be the nightmare for our future generations.
Agree. Culture is beautiful and should be preserve. Especially those in Spain. Everything single one is beautiful. We all come from the same seed. I got to witness the madness of 2014-2020. I left Barcelona in 2020 as opportunities where scares and the coast of living was going up. I hope the people in Madrid and Barcelona can see that we all come from the same seed.
I agree that protecting culture is important, but how you go about it is also important and boy do the catalans go the worst way possible short of violence to do so. Hatred, insults, lies and even violence are not the way to go.
Most spaniards are very protective of their identity and rightly so although they over do it to poc and Latin Americans unfortunately is starting to happen in my country aswell because we have a aging population they are more closed minded. But we iberians kicked the moors and jews, so it isn’t out of character for us. Our cities been turned like sl*ts into ways to please foreigners turist, with mostly English menus and non native workers doesn’t help, selling a bastardized version of our culture, Americans don’t mind it doingit with their culture but we do. We have influences and influenced every continent,we together divided the world.
It feels to me that you guys decided how to view a complex subject and only bring sources of information that confirm your point of view, I think the best approach would be try to be more impartial and research both sides of the argument, and if I may, there are plenty of ways to listen for local pronunciation, just some effort avoiding butchering names will go a long way
@@visualeconomiken because even back then was kind of a share of power. And Madrid was nothing in the industrial sector (imagine in early XX Century), only a political power, so obviously Catalonia was better . Economy for Catalonia, politics for Madrid. But political power calls economic decision centers, specially banking and large companies, which went close to that power to have "contacts" and buy favors, so increasing this balance towards Madrid. But since the 90's there has been an effort to have EVERYTHING in Madrid (and indeed a lot of economic decision by leftist Catalan governments have been pathetic, with a HUGE NIMBY movement (now, with energetical issues specially). This is not going to end well.
This program discusses the false and manipulative narrative about Catalonia, blaming the Catalans for the economic decline. The state takes away all the surplus not only from Catalonia, but also from Valencia and the Balearic Islands, which then cannot be reinvested in the productive economy, forcing these territories to remain reliant on low-cost tourism. The capital, Madrid, manages tax money without any transparency, favoring certain Madrid-based companies with massive investments and aid. From Catalonia, we say: transparency now! Thieves! Manipulators!
The only Olympics held in Spain were in the secessionist region of Catalonia. The only Olympics held in Canada were in the secessionist province of Quebec.
Politicians did not promote independence well. Money and self government matter, but Catalonia is a nation, and this is the most powerful argument. However, one of the main Catalans's flaws is the fear of judgement, as nationalism is a dirty word for many, even for pro-independence people. Before 2010 it was often claimed that Catalonia was a nation, but this concept gradually faded away from the speeches despite the surge of independence sentiment; probably due to the emergence of (far right) populist-nationalist movements across Europe. Most Catalans define themself as "leftist" therefore politicians found crucial not to be associated with those other nationalist movements elsewhere.
I haven’t watched the video yet, but I will take a wild guess that the reason is that Catalonia votes for left wing politicians and Madrid votes for right wing politicians.
What about the centralist project being applied by Madrid central government since Aznar? What about the real investment in Madrid vs Catalunya?? Catalunya see year after year only around 30-40% execution from the approved budget. Madrid gets consistently 180% execution from the approved budget. So why do you think there are more taxes here in Catalunya? We need them to run our economy. Madrid doesn’t need any taxes, they get all infrastructure they need and they later apply those investments to the rest of the Spanish regions. For example, investing in Barajas airport counts as an investment for ALL Spain regions, but mostly Madrid people benefit from it. So it’s a matter of the policy the Spanish government is endorsing the last 20 years. It’s not only affecting Catalunya it’s affecting the rest of Spanish regions. If you compare all regional economies, all are being overrun by Madrid. So stop misinformating people, it’s a national project that has turned Madrid into an economic black hole…
Interesting stuff... thx! BTW, what is it about countries with Spanish cultures that so many of 'em seem to have such 'dysfunctional' politics and economies?
В этом видео говорится о спаде экономики Каталонии, Испания. В видео утверждается, что спад экономики вызван не самим стремлением к независимости, а скорее совокупностью факторов, включая: * Политическая нестабильность, вызванная движением за независимость * Рост национализма и разделения в каталонском обществе * Снижение инвестиций в Каталонию по сравнению с Мадридом * Проблемы безопасности из-за терактов * Более низкий уровень образования в Каталонии по сравнению с Мадридом В видео говорится, что эти факторы в совокупности делают Каталонию менее привлекательным местом для инвестиций и жизни для бизнеса и талантливых людей, что привело к экономическому спаду.
Don't. Lol. They're truly in denial for the most part. So sad to see the most prosperous region go down at such alarming rate. I'm from a rural region in Spain and we used to look at Catalunya as the region we wanted to become. Now they're the pariah of the country. Truly devastating. I live in the US now and it is similar to what California is going trough. California being like Catalunya and Texas being like madrid. They both, Catalunya and California, need to get their shit together and it starts by getting rid of their current leaders. Stay away from the far left, they are economy destroyers. Don't listen? It's OK, but accept the inevitable, total economic havoc. Don't cry later when it is too late.
@@robertofernandez7773 Never thought of that but the parallels between California and Catalonia are huge, from climate to economy, to taxes, to left wing politicians, to crime
Regarding the reasons for the independence movement, it is true that economy was very significant but I don't think it would have exploded without the judicial challenges of the statute of autonomy. On the economic side is also true there has been local mismanagement but some of the data can induce to error, specially regarding to the investment, a significant amount of investment in Madrid is counted as a general spending for the whole state such as some museums or the airport and most burocracy, government and legislative infrastrucure. There is also the fact that infrastructure budgetes for most communites are not fully executed while is is usually over 100% in Madrid. Regarding the fiscality and company flight, It is true that political instability was significant but some of it came from direct threats from the spanish government and even the monarchy to big companies which had some dependance on the spanish government to move their central offices which also led to be more close to the central government. I might be wrong, but i don't think the terrorist attack was that significant for mid to long term invesment. What I believe was and is still significant is the difference in taxes, Catalonia has a significantly higher comparative taxes wheter you believe they are too high or not.
In Catalonia and Barcelona, the regional and local governments have been unstable for years. And it looks like they will keep unstable for years to come. In this region, the only thing that all parties agree is raising regional / local taxes and more interventionist policies. It is becoming a tax hell.
It seems Catalonia - even with some independence - is the California of Spain. But i would not invest in Berlin. But its good that Barcelona and Madrid compete with each other.
It wasn't separatism, but their institutional weakness and selfish attitudes that's dragging themselves down and making separatism apparently attractive.
then, at 8:43 you are completely right. We have an awful government and almost every decision it takes is idiotic, mostly more and more taxes and controls that make no sense
Barcelona? why work when you can airbnb your apartment and live in suburbia. Tourism killed the drive/need to work. People in Madrid don't enjoy this tourism $ as much as Barcelonians do.
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Easy: Spain is a leftist country in general, and Catalonia, in particular, is one of its most leftists regions. Thus, things don't go well in Spain lately, and they go even worse in Catalonia. Madrid region, on the other hand, is a bastion of right-wing, and thus does better, even despite the central leftist government permanently opposing right-wing politics in the region. And historically, there were periods when right-wing governed in Spain and Catalonia, and applied right-wing politics; that's when life was getting better every day. Unfortunately, when right-wing politics work, people don't give them enough credits, and are easily seduced by leftists promising to do even better, which they never do.
Don't forget that, before these modern nation-states were gobbling up lands in Asia, Africa, and the Near East, they gobbled up their neighbors in Europe. Even if politicians cynically blame the capital for their own local mismanagement, you don't have to be a person of color to resent being ruled by distant people with a different language, history, and culture, particularly when you aren't rich. Unless the weaker economies of the EU turn around, I think we can expect growing calls for independence from various European ethnic groups. That the separation might just cause more problems than it solves will be a problem for future politicians.
Laziest reasoning possible, again showing no interest to look under the rug and just doing copycat from Madrid's newspapers discourse. Look at the budget implementation from the last 20 years where in Madrid has been of 184% and around 40% in Catalonia. Spanish government has even admited an acumulated lack of investment in Catalonia of 40k Milion €, equivalent of almost 20% of Catalan GDP. Madrid enjoys the amount of economic boost of being capital by artificially inflating the financial activity, that's why they pay more taxes, not because they are "cleverer". Look at the crony capitalism done in Madrid using public budget from the state government to streamline Ibex-35 companies's dividends. Last, catalan is not by far the language of the rich class in Catalonia, in fact the incredible majority of Barcelona elits speak since many years only spanish and are strongly supporters of spanish nationalism. Catalonia's economic problem stems from the impossibility to retain an industrial economy from the integration into EU and gobalization, especially when the state structure is clealry unwilling to provide support for such transition/adaptation.
In Catalonia, the upper class predominantly consists of Catalan-speaking nationalists (though not necessarily independentists), including the owners of companies like Grifols, Mango, Ferrer, and Esteve. However, it is true that there is now a significant number of Spanish-speaking upper-class individuals. Despite this, traditional Catalan families continue to wield considerable power in the region.
Jesus, you can't compare catalonia contribution to madrid, madrid has 500000 public central administration workers!! Its the capital with the highest share of national public workers, public institutions and decission centers in Europe. And they are privileged as a logistic hub and concentrate must of public investment.
As long as barcelona keeps the gays happy, the city will at least still have that important draw to the city. However, even in the gay scene, Madrid dominates. I agree Madrid feels waaaay friendlier but I can’t give up the beach. 🏝️
The autonomy of Catolonia has been worrisome for the Spanish central government as separatist movements beset the stability and economy of this region. To certain extents, the Spanish state has hindered and impeded the economy of Catalonia, incentivizing them to seek out independence.
@@kupecxa9843 a tiny fraction of people speak Gaelic - mostly confined to the western isles. There is no tension or division whatsoever between those who do and don't speak it.
@@Liamduffers2 I've been to Scotland and tbh they do speak another language! 😉 I had to constantly ask people to repeat themselves and the worse was that they had no problem understanding me. I kept on giggling many times just listening to people having casual conversation amongst themselves. Also nothing prepared me for how much they swore. My mom is French and she was scandalized by the language of a group of school kids on a train. By the time we arrived in Inverness, she wrote a lengthy message on FB saying that Scots are even more vulgar than Australians! 🤣
Catalonia has the 16% of the population in Spain but represents de 25 % of the exportations and 30% of industry. The first region in Spain in both sectors
Sure, awesome! So what you are saying is, Catalonia cares very much about money, and less about other problems the money grabbing are generating, like high housing prices, high living costs, focus on making money for the youth instead of rising children, and of course in your mind probably this means All catalans are rich and the wealth distribution is fair. Great thinking!
Madrid being ahead of Catalonia is a new phenomenon. The Spanish government has been trying to build up madrid. Madrid is now the centre of everything in Spain. They moved out a lot companies from different region to the capital because it has lower tax. It takes more than it give unlike Catalonia. Madrid has also had stable leadership.
@@iamscottish5826 did you watch the video? It clearly states that Madrid is the community that gives the most, companies moving to Madrid is not because of the actions of the central government, it’s because of the actions of federal governments voted by the people in each community. It’s not the central government making the companies move to madrid, it’s the companies itself moving to madrid because of the reasons stated in the video and in your comment, stable leadership, company friendly fiscal policies and a more United society. The central government is actually now formed by the socialist and the separatists and its main opposition is the right wing which rules in Madrid.
Very interesting video to get an outsider's perspective. Apart from many companies and foreign investment stopping because of the whole independence movement, the Barcelona-Madrid relationship has always been kind of hostile (notice I said Madrid, not the rest of Spain). As an example, my uncle used to work in the marketing branch of one of the main TV stations in the country, and one day they received a call from HQ in Madrid saying they needed to fire 40% of their staff because the personnel costs were too high. My uncle responded that the offices in Barcelona were managing X% of the clients in that company (can't recall the exact number but it was around 80% more than the clients that were being managed in Madrid) so if anyone had to fire staff it should be them. Their response? "Well we'll just take more than half of your clients and we'll be managing them from now on. So again, since you're now generating less money than the Madrid office, we please ask you to fire 40% of your staff". The same thing kind of happened with both airports when Barcelona's was the one with more affluence, and AENA redirected a lot of flights to Madrid. There is also the popular belief all around Spain that in Madrid they can "bend the law" to cater to foreign deals, while the other communities cannot (just look at the "Mbappe Law" as an example!). To make it as short as possible, the roads and rails division is due to the fact that when Catalonia needed roads and railroads because of the industrial revolution, most of Spain didn't need them since they weren't at that stage yet, so the government said if you want them you'll have to build them. Illegal immigration is also a factor in higher crime and the region feeling way unsafer than before, but I would say the main problem is one of mentality. In the past, Catalans would just wake up and get to work, not caring about wether we were the best or not. When the independence movement started, one of the main arguments repeated by the politicians went along the line of "we're better than the rest, we're in fact the best, we don't need Spain" and once people started believing they were the best, our hard-working mentality kind of died down. "Since we're the best, why put more effort if Spain is gonna steal from us anyway?" And these many factors all together are sinking our nation. TLDR: We're kinda fucked here but hey at least we'll always have siesta. Sorry for the long text!
Would Barcelonians allow mass immigration from Latin America, including wealthy individuals, if Catalan is no longer a requirement for many jobs in Barcelona? Currently, Catalan is not required for low-level jobs, but it is necessary for positions such as doctors or important public service roles. Hispanic Americans have a strong affinity for the Spanish language, which is central to Hispanic identity.
@@juanjhonsoy hey mate! As you mentioned the only jobs where Catalan is required are in the public sector, but there is some sort of agreement with Latin American countries specifically regarding some high-end jobs in which a lot of people can come work those jobs with lesser requirement (lately almost all doctors I've been to were Latino and spoke zero Catalan). Have to mention though, most Latinos prefer to go to Madrid, since they already have a huge community there and no need to learn an additional language. To answer your question, I would say the general feeling is that we would allow mass immigration from Latin America (since we find more affinity with them than with northern African cultures) but we would not agree to not have Catalan as a requirement, at least for public sector jobs, since Spain has constantly tried for centuries to erase the language from our daily lives and we are therefore very protective of it, meaning we want our public institutions, broadcast, newspapers, etc to be available in Catalan since the Spanish government does not care about it. PS: What most people agree on is that you don't need to be able to speak Catalan, but rather understand Catalan. We're used to having conversations in which one speaks Catalan and the other speaks Spanish and although initially weird it works just fine!
@@roux8671 A similar situation occurred with Latinos. The term "Latino" or "Hispanic" originated mostly in the USA. After the USA won the war against Mexico, they acquired large territories (California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona) where a significant Hispanic community already lived. Mexico and the USA agreed to leave these populations in these areas, with the USA classifying them as "white" so they would have the same rights as any other Anglo person. The USA believed that labeling them as white would facilitate their integration into a Protestant Anglo-Saxon culture. Several programs in places like Los Angeles and Albuquerque promoted the benefits of speaking English, being Protestant, and adopting Anglo culture. For instance, many schools banned speaking Spanish. Furthermore, when the USA conquered Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, or intervened in other Latin American countries, they promoted the superiority of English and Anglo culture over Hispanic culture. Many of these countries resisted, but not California, New Mexico, and Texas. By the early 20th century, Spanish was barely spoken in the southern USA. However, in the 1960s, mass migration from Mexico and other Latin American countries to the USA began. The Anglo culture initially rejected this immigration, but the partially Anglo-Saxonized former Hispanic families welcomed the new migrants. Eventually, there were calls to separate Latino/Hispanic families from the "white" label, leading to the creation of the Hispanic and Latino labels. Today, religion is no longer the main defining characteristic of being Latino; instead, it is the Spanish language. Nowadays, in the USA, identity is important. This is one of the reasons why many wealthy Hispanic celebrities have started to look at Spain, as the original source of culture and language.
@@juanjhonsoy woah that is fascinating, thanks for the little bit of history! Similar scenarios keep happening throughout history in very different places.
@@roux8671 Barcelona was once the wealthiest city in Spain, but due to massive immigration from wealthy Latin Americans, Madrid has now taken this position. Barcelona has the potential to be like Miami due to its splendid location, but its distinct Catalan culture and language, along with resistance to any Hispanicization, prevent this. If it weren't for this resistance, Barcelona could be like Milan, and Madrid like Rome, with Madrid as the capital and Barcelona as the economic and cultural powerhouse of Spain and the entire Hispanic world. Now, due to the independence movement, Madrid aspires to be like London for English-speaking countries or Paris for French-speaking countries. Both cities are very expensive, with London catering to wealthy British, Indian, and African families, and Paris to wealthy French and North African French-speaking people. Additionally, Latin America is not fully Hispanic. The USA has had and continues to have a significant influence there, particularly in socio-economics. In Latin America, countries often prefer American liberalism over European-style social democracy, viewing taxes as a socialist concept. This has led to significant class differences and high crime rates in both the USA and Latin America, even in predominantly white towns, unlike in the UK or Spain. Due to this immigration from Latin America, Madrid is embracing aspects of American liberalism with low taxes and minimal state intervention. In contrast, Barcelona, once known as the most European city in Spain, encourages typical European social democracy. Despite Madrid's low taxes, the influx of wealthy individuals has made it the city with the highest tax revenue in all of Spain, surpassing even Barcelona. Catalans are particularly annoyed by the fact that Madrid is now wealthier. Even more, the crime rate is higher in Barcelona than in Madrid, despite Barcelona spending a lot on various social benefit programs, while Madrid is more austere in this regard. Catalans hope that having their own taxation system will allow Barcelona to surpass Madrid again, but this is uncertain due to their pro-social democracy stance, having loss confidence from the rest of Spain and resistance to mass migration from Hispanic countries (or even to English-speaking tourists or expats) Even the most Spanish nationalist parties assert that Latin Americans are not foreigners in Spain. Wealthy Latin Americans are often considered even more Spanish than Iberians. However, the only issue remains Catalonia and Barcelona.
This is a video against Catalan independence. It is full of biases and not objective at all. Only very specific information has been shown, and the explanations are very simplified and poor. A shame.
If Madrid invests in Catalonia then there will be a higher chance they will take independence just like the UK government doesn't invest in Scotland much so quality of life life expectancy lack off job = people want to stay with the UK the catalonian government needs to stop their corruption so people's quality of life improves then focus on Independence I hope they getting independence just like I hope Scotland gains independence but not under the Scottish National Party.
That's seriously biased. Catalonia allways fought for their independence since, at least, the 30 years war. But alas, unlike Portugal they had neither soft morals, disregard for religion or a alliance wiht England.
Excellent video which really does highlight the issues of Barcelona. I first visited Barcelona in 1982 which was when it was still fairly rough but far less tourists than today. My Spanish wife and I often visit Madrid as her family come from Valladolid. Madrid is a powerhouse and it's no surprise that it's the number one financial city of Southern Europe. I don't really have anything to add because I think you explained very clearly what the issues are.
Intersting. Either you’re ignorant of the fact or chose to neglect that relations have been poisoned by the Spanish government. A key point that you failed to notice is that while it is true that Catalonia has a remarkable freedom in ruling its local infrastructure, health and education systems, it does not have a say in what budget it will use. So deciding to invest in maintenance and further teachers and healthcare workers is pointless if Madrid decides that you’re not getting the money to pay for them. Money that, as you correctly point out, goes out of Catalonia to subsidise other regions in Spain (which I am fine with), most of which will go to Madrid. Yet another point that you got completely wrong, is that Catalan parties are pushing for the use of Catalan language exclusively in public spaces, particularly in education. This is wrong to the point of dangerous malinformation. While it is true that to occupy many public servant jobs you are required to master Catalan at a C1 level in the european language framework (which is the next thing to native speaker level, so very high), it is not true that catalan parties try to make catalan the only language in either schools or public spaces. In fact, it is perfectly possible and very common to live in Catalonia without knowing any catalan as long as you know some spanish. Indeed, Catalan society is more closed than society in Madrid, but what you fail to understand is that this difference comes from the fact that Spanish citizens can be comfortable in knowing that their language and culture are safe (yes, even in Catalonia), while catalans have over centuries learned that their language and culture is not welcome in their own country, and will be chipped away at, and removed entirely if they don’t actively support it. All in all, you raise some good points, but there are some fatal errors in your premises. However, I cannot fault you too much. From what I can see, your understanding of Spanish regional governments workings and history is rather limited. I suggest finding an expert for the next project. Whoever worked on this has considerable holes in their understanding of this topic.
As much as I love this city, nobody ever considered Barcelona as the "Capital" of Spain. What a wrong beginning of a video 😂 seriously giving a movie as an example of it's importance... no wonder it's in English and not many Spanish people will watch this. I agree Madrid and BCN both compete in economic terms but the economic growth of BCN has been planned centrally (by the dictatorship) in terms of investment in the past. And politically and socially BCN has never competed as capital. WRONG DATA!!! Now reply all you want to but you will be misinforming. The reason why I don't like this is because separatists of my city want to hear these wrong statements to boost their purposeless motivation to divide a land that's been old together and has many more things in common than differences.
A victim of the the conservative's PP party's continuing unfair treatment. Why else would they change their stance and seek independence. It was the PP gov that did not make investments forcing Cat to do for themselves. You say that yourselves.
I can say the same for my own hometown Iligan City, when it comes to politics in business and business in politics. In other words, we have our own "Regressive Business Mafia"
if smaller countries are so weak, why are small nations like Switzerland and Luxembourg so rich and not conquered by their much more powerful neighbors? Switzerland has a GDP almost 4 times that of giant Nigeria, and far more influence in international politics.
