Reading and traveling (a cure to intolerance)

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For the past few years i have been experiencing a continuos reorganization of my ideas. A continuous change in the way i approach life and the contact with all the other human beings around me. A process of constant evolution, a result of internal growth over the years. I believe this evolution has been greatly sped up since i started to live abroad.

It is Sunday evening and I am watching a live football match from the Czech 1^st division (Gambrinus liga). I am watching it surrounded by hundreds of Czechs shouting, cheering and clapping, drinking beer and eating sausages. I am sharing this moment with a French, a British, and an Indian. I don't care at all about the result or football in general, but i think it is a magical moment. An experience which, like many others, I will never forget because it describes well my life over the past years. A cultural exchange of which i am extremely proud.

It has been 4 years since i first left home to live somewhere else, far from my family and my country. I went to London with my cousin. I was studying at Uni at the time but i really felt i needed a break. Some time to put my thoughts in order, to clear my mind, to experience something new, to get a new perspective, to learn more about life and people, to learn English...when i think that 4 years ago i could hardly speak any word in English...So I did it. I left for London with my cousin, both os us were very enthusiastic and had incredible dreams of how that time would be. Of course it didn't happen the way I thought.

It was quite tough. My time there taught me a few important things: the world is not fair, things are not easy at all, you have to fight yourself if you want something to happen, it will not fall from the tree if you wait. I realized that i was still a child and as such, i still needed to learn a lot and get a lot of confidence in myself. I got quite disappointed with myself because i saw a person capable of giving up quite easily at the time. However, a experience that brings up your weaknesses is a wonderful experience. It gives you the opportunity to find a problem and then, you can start thinking about how to solve it.

I met incredibly horrible people in London. I couldn't believe there could be such assholes in the world. London also taught me that. London didn't work out very well for me regarding work. I went with the idea to work there. I thought i would make quite a lot of money, i would meet incredible people etc etc. The first part did not work well. I hardly worked and when i found someone who would give an opportunity i was humiliated, abused, insulted. I assume my guilt regarding finding a job. I can imagine all the effort i could put now in searching for a job and i know i gave up too easily. I was defeated almost before i started. I was a child, who just left home thinking life is easy.

Despite all that, i actually realized when i left London that the experience had fulfilled my expectations by far better than what i expected. I did meet incredible people, both bad and good. I am glad i met those assholes. You cannot have a good understanding of life by looking just at one side. Life is not that simple. But I also met beeeeeeeeeautiful people. Those who help you see the beauty of life, who make you love life more and more every second you spend with them. People like Marco, my good Italian friend who i call my “soul mate” and with whom i keep in touch although we haven't seen each other in almost four years. People like Franceso and Melanie, my “English family”, with whom i share some incredibly beautiful memories that will always be kept in my mind as real treasures. I met amazing people, it gave me an incredible lesson, i learnt about myself and life, and i learnt a lot of English. Most importantly, London opened the door. It was the starting gun, the journey had began.

I remember my first time in New Zealand. One step further in the journey. My real contact with nature. The rivers, the sea, the forest, the sky...it was a really new experience that opened my heart and mind to the unknown. I remember sharing all those beautiful moments with Marta, an incredible person to whom i owe some of those major changes in my heart and my mind. I remember meeting Tom for the first time, thanks to whom i love the Kiwis with all my heart. I remember camping, swimming, hiking, diving...and i remember struggling to understand the Kiwi accent! The Kiwis, the maories, their attitude towards life...the parties, including an amazing festival in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful tiny beach with the most wonderful people, including two crazy French guys i will never forget.

I remember my year in Denmark and the rich exchange between students. The contact with a very different country and its people. I found Denmark to be very different and although I believe it is not a country for me, i loved every single day of my stay there. The contact with a new Uni, the lab, the Danish culture, their horrible weather...beautiful. I remember the initial Danish coldness but also how charming they are once you get to know them better. Their honesty, their sincerity, their satisfaction for their country and their way of life, their innocence...I remember the common dinners and the long, endless talks about languages, history and politics , our countries, lifes, dreams...all the activities we did together that made me feel i was creating a new family which is spread all over the world. A family composed of many different flags, the Danish, the French, the Romanian, the Italian, the Greek, the Austrian, the British...they know who i am talking about but if i had to write all their names it would become endless. This is the memory i have from Denmark, in no place before and after i have created a family of friends like this one. I will not forget the exchange that made me meet people from all continents and all different backgrounds.

Then back to New Zealand for a whole year. What can i say about this? A year which provided me with the best insights about myself. The student life in Dunedin, the moments of reflection while hiking, the nights under the stars, the bonfires at Long Beach, the endless walks along the coast, sleeping in the middle of the forest...but the most amazing thing was to see that after so long i can still be marveled at people's kindness. I remember my trip hitchhiking through the North Island and through Australia and i remember that i have too much kindness to give back in my life. All the rides and the stories from those who stopped for me. Their invitations, those who put me up, those who invited me for dinner or for some beers, those who showed me around and for a few hours or days, shared their lives, their thoughts and their dreams with me. This was inspiring, and the teaching was invaluable.

And of course i also keep amazing friends from this time, friends like Nick, Carl, Adam...it makes no sense to continue, i wouldn't finish. New Zealand brought insights about myself, filled my life with experiences and people and gave me my princess, with whom i shared most of the experiences i am talking about. I never thought a country could give so much.

And now here i am, more than a year living in Czech Republic and what else can i say that i haven't said yet? This is just the continuation to a journey that lasts for 4 years. Living in a country that has given me the chance to finally become a real scientist, sharing my life with my princess, visiting beautiful cities and towns and trying to get immersed into the Czech culture. I am lucky and since i share my life with a Czech, this has become very easy. I know things would have been very different if i had come here by myself. Thanks to her, I have got into a Czech family and i have met many Czechs. I have participated in their meals, their parties, their family gatherings, their traditions, i have been told about their history...this is a real treasure, to be accepted and absorbed into their lives in such a way, providing me with an insight that would have been impossible to achieve on my own. I could tell lots of stories but this is becoming way longer that what i expected. I just want to say that i am still fascinated with this country and i feel i still have lots of things to find out about it. Besides, i still need to continue fighting with their language. This is giving me a hard time. The number of times that i feel disappointed with myself, when i feel lazy or an idiot for being learning so slowly. My frustration when i cannot understand or i don't know how to say something. But this is part of the beauty of the slow process of learning a language, which also includes funny situations when you say something and you expect it to have a complete different meaning from what you actually said! A hard language which is giving me a very hard time but which i am actually growing very fond of.

In summary, after this endless stuff. I look at myself 4 years ago and i compare it to the guy who is writing this and i realize how much we have to learn. This is just the beginning. There is almost no place for fixed and immovable ideas. Most of them are just waiting to be beaten by a new experience which gives you a new insight, a new different perspective. I realize how much we have to evolve and grow. Intolerance, bigotry, racism...they are things which are no restricted to a particular nationality, or religion or whatever. They are restricted to ignorants, people who have not read or traveled enough. Intolerance is a result of ignorance, the most dangerous thing of all. I am very glad i have shared my table with white, black and yellow people. I am very glad i have shared my table with Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and atheists and that we have done it in harmony, respecting each other and finding extremely valuable the exchange between all of us.

As i said, i think there is almost no place for fixed and immovable ideas. But there are a few which to me are unbreakable. We are all human beings, equal beings and have a lot to learn from one another. Tolerance is essential and fixed ideas should not lead to the submission or the exclusion of some. I am still fascinated with the human being and i hope my life continues flourishing as much as it has done in the past years. To me traveling has had the major impact on this but this could not have been possible without an initial preparation and this is where my parents come into play. They provided me the ground for this understanding. They made me love reading and traveling. They taught me tolerance and the desire to know. And besides, they have always been there to support me on anything, both my success and failure. They were there to encourage me to take some steps and they were there to help me when i needed it like in London.

The bigots, nationalists, religious fanatics, fascists, racists have something in common. They are simply ignorants, but ignorance has a cure. I finish this post quoting one of our best intellectuals, Miguel the Unamuno:

“El fascismo se cura leyendo, y el racismo viajando” (Fascism is cured reading, and racism traveling)

“El nacionalismo es la chifladura de exaltados echados a perder por indigestiones de mala historia” (Nationalism is the craziness of the exalted spoiled by bad history indigestions)

                                          http://www.redessociales.es/tag/union-contra-el-racismo/

The crisis and Spain: an answer to a comment

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This is a response to a comment in my post “The crisis and the Spanish revolution”. I think kim misunderstood a part of the story. I am afraid i didnt make myself clear so I am trying one more time and doing it through a post because this is too large to be put as a comment.

I will refer to one of your sentences first: “...and albeit you hate the Germans with all your heart...”. I want to believe you were either kidding me or too tired and you didnt know what you were writing. I just wanted to make this clear as there may be many people reading this. Come on...i dont know where you got this from but...no comments, i think it is clear it is simply false and nonsense.

Now let's go for another sentence: “However, what really puzzles me is that you claim that low Spanish interest rates made the Germans interested in putting money in Spanish coffers.” It looked like you were quoting me but...i haven't said that at all. What seems to me is that you kind of took two sentences and mixed them up to create that. You didnt understand what i meant. There was a policy of low interest rates in the whole Europe. The German banks had accumulated a lot of money and so what they did was to invest money in other countries such as Spain. The low interest rate allowed Spain to borrow money man. If to borrow money you need to pay back 5 times the amount in two years, well, you think about it twice (wise people at least). If you can borrow money at a very low interest rate, then you start to think well, i take the risk, i borrow. I dont know where you understood this thing of the low Spanish interest rate making Germany invest...I haven't said that at all. I am not an economist but i suppose the interest rate concerns primarily to the one who is going to borrow the money. Perhaps you are having a misunderstanding here between the verbs to borrow and to lend because in the end you say something that kind of tells me we both agree: “A low interest rate indicates that it is CHEAP to borrow money from a given country”. Well, exactly man, that is what i mean. It was very cheap for Spain to borrow money from German banks. That is what they did until the point of extreme indebtedness.

Kim, revise the use of the verbs to lend and to borrow. I quote you again: “...people would be willing to borrow money to the country....You do not gain much right now if you borrow German money.” Didnt you mean “to lend”?

Let's go with the next thing. Yes, the low interest rate should indicate a positive perception of the debtor, in this case, Spain. I agree. I did not say there is something conspiratory in those interest rate changes. What i say is that any single person with a decent IQ could foresee what was going to happen with the housing bubble. No one can predict when a bubble will burst man, but people are aware of the fact that a bubble is being created. They story of the housing bubble did not begin with the crisis. We heard about it over the years, since i was a child. If you talk about a bubble that means you are aware of it and as you said: “at a certain time, the speculation ends with a broken bubble”. If you know that, they know that too, and they did nothing against it. In fact, they foster it. It is not about conspiracy. It is about the fact that speculation has driven our country into serious troubles, and those responsible for it must pay and not benefit. I am shocked when i read that you say that they Spanish government should have incresed the taxes such as the VAT. This is what you call “text book manoeuvres for political science students”. OK, let's look at the story again:

So the very low interest rate fosters the housing market (it is cheap for them to borrow money). This anyway can only discourage the banking market. However, in Spain they are very smart and decide to do the following: give mortgages to every one. They give mortgages to people whom you would never ever lend 5 euros. The bargain begins. I don't have to explain everything again. The speculation was clearly visible. For a bubble to burst, it first needs to be created. This bubble was created due to the incredible explosion in building, way above the demand and with astronomical prices which did not correspond to the real costs and the wages. I give you an example: a flat which was about 132 000 euros in 1998 (it was in pesetas and not in euros at the time but it doesnt matter) had a value of 400 000 euros in 2005. That is 3 times more expensive in 7 years (and believe me, this is a bad example). Of course i have to accept that many regular people participated in this. Some people saw bussiness in this and they were buying houses to then almost immediately sell them at a much higher value.

Banking-savings banks-housing market. They destroyed it all. They couldn't predict when it would happen, but they knew it would happen just as you wrote: “...the speculation ends with a broken bubble”). You kind of contradict yourself in the same paragraph. Do not do that Kim. By the way when i say Germany, i do not mean the Germans as a whole or a country. I mean those who are responsible for it. It is fair to acknowledge that the housing bubble could not have happened without the money influx coming from Germany. It is simple, without the German money the Spanish banks could not have financed the housing bubble.

But i was saying that i feel shocked when you say the Spanish government should have increased the taxes, which according to you it is “text book manoeuvres for political science students”. I am astounded with some other comments: “Firstly, if Spanish banks are not bailed out and thus supporting the German banks, the crisis might spread to Germany...We simply need Germany to guise Europe as a somewhat credible place. Whatever you think is fair, the market does not care about. They need to feel that Deutsche Bank is strong and sound and so forth. As long as Germany stands, Europe survives.”

You also say: “This is by the way something you completely misses out on. What happens in Spain, gravely affects the rest of Europe....“The hole of Europe is afraid of Spain" meaning that Europe is afraid that Spain defaults as that would drag Europe closer if not into the abyss. Thus, the German government has no interst in seeing a default of the Spanish government. Let's put a comment in all this:

I dont know why you think I miss out on that point. I am very well aware of the fact that, if Spain leaves the Euro, the German banks collapse and with it the whole European financial system. I am very well aware of that and that is why they will not let it happen. But this is not going to happen man, they are jus taking the measurements they always wanted to take.

I say i am astounded, i say i cannot believe what you write. It seems then that we do not have to look for the right and fair thing to do? Let's look at it again please:

When Spain joined the European Union most of the industrial and agrarian sectors were dismantled and our economy was based on building-housing. This has been fostered by banks and politicians. They found a bargain, they thought: Yes! We are going to make a lot of money. So the construction companies went into debt over the years. Many families, usually with a lot of money also participated in the speculation, going into debt and buying several houses to then make money out of it...the banks were pushing and pushing and pushing this...and the politicians just put the cherry on the cake. That is, we can clearly point at those who hold responsibility for what happened, yet we do not punish them and do something about it?

The bubble bursts and banks start taking all the houses back, leaving people on the street. But of course these banks are also in debt and owe a lot of money to foreign countries such as the German ones. The houses they take back now worth nothing so of course they go bankrupt. The answer is that the banks must be rescued and how do we do that? With public money, with our money. The truth Kim is that the German banks invested in Spain thinking they could get profit from the Spanish housing bubble. The crisis began, they got scared and stopped investing in it. Everything went wrong and now the German banks demand their money bank. There will be no crisis for them unless Spain leaves the euro. The truth is that right now, there is an incredible flow of money from Spain to Germany, enriching the Germank banks and keeping the German bonds very safely. It is a fact. There is no crisis for Germany unless Spain and other countries of the periphery leave the Euro and they would do anything in their power to avoid it. Of course Europe is afraid of Spain, but for the moment they make profit.

I dont know if there is any need in saying all this. You seem to know it very well as judged by your comments: “ if Spanish banks are not bailed out and thus supporting the German banks, the crisis might spread to Germany...Whatever you think is fair, the market does not care about.”

The Spanish banks, holding a big part of the responsibility for the crisis, went bankrupt. Spain is having serious troubles, people are suffering but...nobody wants to save Spain, they just want to save the creditors, that is, the foreign countries such as the German ones which gave money to the Spanish ones.

Example: 100 000 millions of euros (can your mind really grab the idea of such an amount of money?) were approved by the German parliament. Money to save their own banks as it was clearly stated by Peter Boefinger, German government economic adviser. I quote him: “This assistance is not to these countries in trouble (like Spain) but rather to our own banks who own a lot of private debt in those countries.”

And what about the ECB? Well, it is more of the same and this is even more dramatic. You think of a central bank such as the U.S. Federal Rserve, which is supposed to exist to estimulate economy. What does this mean? To push the “on button” and create money out of nothing. They make up money and use it to buy U.S. Government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. As far as I know, as stated in “Modern Money Mechanics”, they do this in order to keep reasonable interest rates in those bonds, that is, it protects the State from speculation. This is the theory and i think it is better to leave it here.

However, the ECB has not bought any debt in a very long time. And what is what they are doing now? They lend money to private banks at a very low interest rate! These banks, owing most of the Spanish debt then buy public debt with very high interests. The amount of money lent by the ECB to private banks in the past year is above a trillion Euros! What the hell is going on here? So they send over a trillion Euros of public money to the private finantial sector? And all this with the claim that this would in turn imply the renewed flow of credit into all those families and small-sized enterprises which were in debt. They have seen absolutely nothing. Only from time to time they buy some few government bonds in a way which solves nothing.

Shouldn't the ECB not allow the interest rate of the government bonds to go over a certain limit and thus nullify speculation by the finantial market? The problem is that i always thought the ECB was different from the U.S. Federal Reserve, in a sense that it was created to control inflation. Of course, when it pushes the “on button” and creates money out of nowhere it goes against its goal, against the reason why it was created. The ECB function should be redefined and establish clearly what it is for. Now it is pushin the “on button” and thus going against its function and it is injecting this money into private institutions...this is a very bad joke. This lead to a very funny situation in which Spain was trying to reduce the public deficit but the interest rate on its bonds continued growing. The risk premium has only been alleviated when they ECB said it would finally buy public debt, proving that the ECB, and not the financial markets, determine the interest rate.

So they buy public debt and in exchange for it we have all these wonderful measurements: increase in taxes, retirement at the age of 67, privatization and more indebtedness (after all, when the ECB buys public debt, that debt was to be paid). These things seem to be to you typical text book manoeuvres. Let me try to understand this.

We have banks responsible for what happened. They claim Spanish society has to go through sacrificies to solve the problem. They pay nothing for what they did. We have politicians which also hold part of the responsibility. The pay nothing for what they did and implement those measurements which suffocate the Spanish people. What the government is doing is simply what a normal person who is a parasite and useless would do when in debt. If a parasite is in debt because it is spending too much, way above what that person earns, and suddenly finds it has to pay all that debt, what does it do? Think of a person who is renting a house on the beach to some German family. This person thinks, OK, i rise their rent. The government is simply doing that, OK, i have no idea how to make money and i do not change the economic engine of the country, i do not make a more progressive and fair fiscal policy...i just rise the taxes and get more money out of everyone, even though people are struggling to survive. Correct me if i am wrong but, how on Earth is this going to estimulate the economy? Another thing the person does is to start selling stuff. OK, that is what the government can and will do and it is called to privatize. Think of Greece, where most of the debt is owned by Germank banks. If Greece leaves the Euro...OK so i am hearing all the time that Greece should sell monuments, islands...what the hell man? If a person has no money, that person stoppes delaying payments. Well that is all what this delayed retirement age is about. The government says I have no money so continue working until you are 67, you will be paying taxes and i will not have to pay you. And finally indebtness, which i dont even want to explain because i think it is clear and this is becoming painful.

You say this has to happen? Otherwise Germany will collapse and with it the whole Europe. We do all this and people do not pay for what they did? I thought when you have a problem, you need to attack the roots of that problem so that it doesnt happen again. If we dont tear those roots, how do you know it will not happen again? That the market is not fair? If you say so, why do we have to play the rules? If they are so afraid i think they can do much better. If they are willing to tell the Spaniards what they should do i think they could also attack those who created the problem. There is no problem solving if you do not attack the problem, it is that simple. But it seems that text book manoeuvres say that if somebody commited speculation and drove a whole country to hell, regular people should pay for it and those who created the problem can continue making profit. How on Earth is this going to solve the problem? I do not claim we should leave the Euro, or let Germany go bankrupt or anything like that. I claim the problem must be solved, and will never be solved if those responsible for it do not pay. The problem is that those who hold power in all countries are very comfortable with this situation and continue making profit while implementing all those measurement they have been longing for.

I think the difference between your opinion and mine is deeper. It is the fact that i do not accept all this whole system as i think it is unfair. I do not want to play these rules. You seem to acknolwedge it is unfair but in your words: “...the market does not care”. It seems that you well adapted to all these rules after studying them for many years. I always find aberrant, although not surprising, that people who supposedly have socialist ideas and seem to despise capitalism, get very well adapted to all this monetary system and its rules. In the end this whole money thing seems to always win. Whether capitalism, or fascism, or communism or any other “ism”, in the end it is all about power and money and we all seem to have to adapt to “the markets”, whether fair or not. The monetary system dictates this. It is like a bible. It is text book manoeuvres.

The Crisis and the Spanish Revolution

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What do we do when we see that the world we live in simply makes no sense at all? What do we do when we see that the entire thing just seems to be about to collapse and anything around us just looks like a pure absolute dunghill? But there is no point in trying to attack all the nonsense present in this world. I have neither the energy nor the time. Let's not talk about the uncontrolled consumption, a product demand which cannot possibly be sustained by the resources that this planet provides. The resilience of this planet is incredible but i think numerous evidences show that the bargain is about to end. Yes, let's not talk about consumption. Let's not talk about the fact that goods are becoming poorer and poorer and less durable simply because it keeps the whole consumption machinery growing and growing. We are maintaining an exacerbated consumption, which is putting at risk every single form of life in the planet, by incredibly “creative” strategies such as adding a planned expiring date to all electronic devices, which moreover are filled with precious metals and other components that the planet is no longer able to regenerate. Does this not have the name of insanity? That is, instead of going towards a more efficient and sustainable system, we are digging our own grave, something i find profoundly despairing.Let's not talk about the fact that the well being of a country is measured in terms of things such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which only indicates something as simple as money circulation. That is, now the standard of living is measured by a market value that includes 100% nonproductive things such as warfare. A market value in which for instance, health care may account for a significant percentage of it despite having the meaning that there are more sick people!Let's not talk about the fact that the most profitable economic sector on the planet is finantial trading, an arbitrary distribution of money which accounts for 0 production. A world in which things such as warfare are profitable, a world in which companies invest more on comercial advertising than in the production of goods. A world in which we need to have x number of possesions in order to be happy! Just buy, buy and buy, work and buy, work and buy, keep the cycle while a child dies every five seconds in this planet as a cause of malnutrition and hunger. That is the money value. Money, created out of nothing and estimulating more and more consumption.

But let's not talk about all this. Let's focus, and talk about something in particular which after all, also puzzles me as i find complete nonsense on the whole thing. It turns out that the Spanish crisis is due to a combination between a terrible housing bubble and people's obsession of living beyond their means. Thus, it turns out that we are just pigs which have created a huge debt by speculation and runaway spending. It turns out that the whole European survival is threatened by Spain. But wait, is it really that simple?

When Spain joined the Euro, the interest rates were very low and why was that? Surprise, the Germand and French economies were in recession and needed to be reactivated. Germany, which is now defending meeting the Maastricht treaty at any cost, did not care at all when it overflowed the budget deficit and public debt up to 14 times during its recession the first years of the new millenium. But i was saying that the interest rates were very low then and, what did that mean for Spain? A huge money influx from the German banks straight into the Spanish ones. This opened the door for that terrible housing bubble. Our Spanish banks have been massively funding the estate agencies while lending money to the regular people so that they could buy all those houses that were being built. And what happened with our politicians? Well, our politicians were too busy trying to get some part of the cake. A very substancial part of the mechanisms by which local governments obtained money consisted of selling terrain. Funding through the reclassification of land, that is, to determine what is or is not buildable land. You can imagine the huge amounts of money that developers and builders were eager to pay to local governments to obtain the permission to build. Who paid that in the end? People through a very increased housing price. That is, we have Spanish banks borrowing money from German banks. We have Spanish banks lending money to builders so that they can build. We have builders paying a lot of money to local governments and raising the housing price to exorbitant levels and we have the regular people asking the Spanish banks for more money to be able to pay those exorbitant levels. Isn't this called insanity too? We had very low interest rates in the beginning but an interest is after all, an interest. No matter how low it is when you set one it means that money needed to pay that interest does not exist at the moment. Money has been borrowed, and borrowed and borrowed and thus we can say money has been created out of debt. We have created an enormous hole impossible to be repaid and they wants us to believe that this could not be predicted? I was a child when all this was happening. I am not an economist and have very little idea about it but, i dont need numbers or any scientific explanation to see that the whole story was doomed to collapse. The Spanish government knew it, and the Germans knew it too but hey! Why to stop something while it is still profitable? The truth is that the German banks found a great cake on the Spanish housing bubble.

It is incredible how many people in other countries still believe that what we have is a result of trying to live beyond the means. That our public spending was simply too much. Well, we have actually not seen any of that money. Spain has one of the lowest rates of public spending per capita among the countries of the EU-15. In 2007 Spain had a surplus of around 2% of GDP, above the German one. What happened then that by 2009 this was transformed into a deficit of about 11% of the GDP? The whole crisis begins and the Germans stop giving money to the Spanish banks. The whole thing collapses. The housing bubble collapses creating an enormous hole in our economy. The state revenues depend on labor income and therefore, once the housing bubble burst, driving the unemployment rate from 9 to 18% in two years, the revenues decreased dramatically. Add to this the low contribution of the “high incomes” to state coffers and its tax fraud, the thousands of millions of euros that the politicians have been injecting into the saving banks (literally controlled by them) and the unfounded monumental works such as airports or high-speed train stations that lack passengers (some of these are incredible cases of corruption) and there you have it.

But anyway this is also just more bullshit. The Spanish public debt in 2007 was one of the lowest among the EU-15 (and that was because our welfare state was a joke compared to most of those other countries). This debt is increasing extremely quickly because of the huge interest rate imposed to the Spanish State when it borrows money to foreign countries, a disproportionate rate which does not fit reality (who is benefiting from this? You guess). But again, this public debt represented a very small percentage of the whole debt of Spain. Most of the debt is private: banks and other private institutions and, as a consequence, families. Once again debt due to the low interest rates and the collapse of the hosuing bubble as a result of a building process that was way over the demand and with exorbitant prices in comparison to the salaries and the real costs.

That is, we have Banks-Housing-Politicians. The three of them together are responsible for what Spain is going through now. What happens now? We have Spanish banks, which own about half the entire debt of Spain, asking for sacrifices to people while a massive influx of money from the State goes into the Spanish banks. The other half of the debt is on foreign countries like Germany. What do they do in Europe? They inject money onto the Spanish banks, because in the end, this money will get back to the German banks. That is, European banks lending money to Spanish banks at a very low interest rate so that the Spanish banks can buy government bonds at a much higher interest rate. The best business ever. If they really wanted to help, they could have given that money to the Spanish credit bureaus, to address the lack of credit in Spain.

So yes, while the Spanish banks are getting a huge influx of capital from European banks and from State public funds, the situation of millions of families in Spain becomes a real drama. The banks say that all these sacrifices are essential. They even dare to say that the slow economic growth is due to the very high salaries in Spain, which prevent us from being competitives. The measurements adopted are the ones which were always pursued: cut wages, eliminate social protection, raising the retirement age...meanwhile those responsible for a bank's bankruptcy obtain incredibly high severance packages, our politicians maintain all their privileges and the German banks continue to enrich themselves with the flow of capital from Spain to Germany, keeping very safe German government bonds. All this is done with the following excuse: “There is no alternative”. I suppose here is where we can say that money, like energy, is never destroyed. Unlike energy, money is not transformed, it is simply redistributed more or less equally, and it is clear where we are now. It is simply a SWINDLE, a FRAUD.

And the Spanish society. What does it have to say about it? It has been more than a year ago, on the 15^th of may 2011 when the Spanish people went to the streets. The “Spanish Revolution” began and people demanded some absolutely necessary changes such as a fare electoral law, a real separation of powers, the end of political privileges, payment in kind regarding mortgages...demonstrations all over Spain against a particular species called “the politicians”, which does not manage well the resources and which dooms Spain to its death. The Spaniards became a source of inspiration for many other people all over the globe. You could see demonstrations in many other countries, either supporting the “Spanish Revolution” or using it as the example to follow (or both). I was surprised when shortly after my arrival to Prague i found a whole floor of a big art gallery dedicated to the “Spanish revolution”.

Time went by and the movement lost strength, partly because of some radical groups within the movement but mostly due to external forces. All those who consistenly despised, ridiculed and poisoned the movement with lies and insults, partly idiots and partly those interested in the destruction of that movement. The movement lost strength but has never been dead. There were many people supporting that movement in the beginning, there are too many “outraged/indignados” in Spain. Time continues and more and more pressure is applied on the people. It is just a matter of time.

Two more waves are coming. On the 15^th of September there will be a (possibly massive) demonstration against the cuts made by the Spanish government and requesting a referendum so that people can vote on the cuts. On the 25^th of September, there is a planned massive arrival to Madrid under the name of “Ocupa el Congreso, 25 septiembre”, in order to surround the Congress of Deputies and stay there indefinitely, until the dissolution of the courts and the opening of a constitutional process for the drafting of a new constitution. This last one has been promoted by anonimous people through internet and they invite the whole citizenship to participate. These are some of the claims:

- The resignation of the entire government, the dissolution of Parliament and the call for a general election.

- That these elections are to convene a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution,

- An audit of the public debt of Spain, with a moratorium on debt payments until it has been clearly defined the items that must not be paid by the nation, as they have served private interests who used the country for their own purposes and not those of all Spanish citizens. They also demand the prosecution of all those who show to be suspicious of such maneuvers, and to respond with their property in case of being convicted.

- The reform of the electoral law in order to truly represent the will of the sovereign people, which is not true in any way with the current one.

- The immediate repeal of all the reforms carried out by the Popular Party, being not only a disaster for the country, but having been imposed on betrayal of the democratic will of the people.

-A fair tax reform, where the wealthy pay more. They also demand the repeal of the tax amnesty decreed by the government, whose injustice is a real insult to honest taxpayers.

-The abolition of all privileges of those exercising political responsibilities, and the implementation of strict control mechanisms on the performance of their duties.

I dont know what will happen. I dont know whether this will work out or not. I dont know what to expect from it. I just know that the Spanish society is boiling, that people's patience, like the Earth's resilience, has a limit and those who hold power are doing all what is possible to go over the limit. I wrote this post in English because these things need to be shared. This does not only affect Spain but humanity. I wrote it in English so that you who are not Spaniards can know that the “Spanish Revolution” is not dead and that many Spaniards will continue fighting. The Spaniards also need support from the outside. The 15^th and the 25^th of this month will be tense in Madrid and the whole of Spain and whether this works or not, it is likely to be followed by many other waves. You can participate by sharing this with friends or other people, by just talking about it. You can support in many different ways, just do it. Let's not keep this only within Spain but export it. Be aware that the Spaniards are getting stronger and stronger and that this is unstoppable.

Homage to Spain

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In times like the ones we are living now, when there is no room for optimism in my country. These are times when there is no room to remember the wonders Spain contains. It feels like you cannot feel proud anymore of what we own, of our heritage, of our beauty, of our history, of our country. There is only time for the crisis, the unemployment and the social drama. People forget that it is now, in these moments, when we really need optimism and surround ourselves with as much beauty as we can. There is always place for beauty in our lives and we should also write about that.

As a Spaniard who lives in a foreign country, i have many times felt quite disappointed when the time came to talk about Spain. After the conversation, i could only feel a bitter aftertaste. People who just wanted to show how passionately they could defend a certain position regarding a very difficult and sensitive issue despite not having the slightest idea about it (i.e Catalonia or Basque Country and separatism). People falling into really bad cliches, and people who ignored even the existence of a country called Spain. To all this i have to add a new group of people in the past months, who the first thing they do when they find out you are a Spaniard is to ask you about the crisis, to make brilliant questions such as: how can a country function with an unemployment rate that is over 20%? Some people should be more sensitive and also think a bit more before formulating a question. I have a special mention for that stranger who used beautiful adjectives such as “swines” to refer to all the Spaniards when he heard some Spanish coming out of my mouth. It seems that it is not time to write well about Spain.

The worst thing is however to feel that there is so much beauty in Spain that is unknow to most of the people... I would like to hear much more than simply “tapas”, “siesta” or “mañana”, accompained by a smile, when i say i am from Spain. Perhaps they think that by saying that we will engage into some special complicity. Spain is much more than that and believe it, Spaniards do not spend all their time just eating tapas and sleeping around doing nothing. To all those who want to know more about my country and to all those Spaniards who are sick of just reading and listening to sad things, i hope you enjoy this. This is a homage to my beautiful country, Spain.

Think of the first human populations migrating to Europe. Of our earliest predecessors and you will think of Spain. It holds the oldest record of human occupation in Europe, consiting of a lower jaw that has been dated to about 1.2 million years old. The jaw appeared together with flint tools at Sima del Elefante cave deposit, next to la Gran Dolina, where the first human fossils of the species Homo antecessor were found. A country full of precious records of ancient times, with some of the richest deposits, including rock art, tools and human fossils dating back to the lower Paleolithic (800.000 B.C).

When you think of Spain, think of a country that has hosted the oldest urban realm dating back from the Bronze age and whose city was “Tartessos”. Think of one of the most advanced cultures of the era and one of the first civilizations of the West. This civilization extended around the valley of the Guadalquivir river, in current Andalusia. They appear in Greek sources which are un turn based on Phoenician stories. Herodotus described it as “beyond the Pillars or Heracles”, so important in Greek mythology and which, by the way, are the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar.

Spain, ancient land where some of the most fascinating civilizations lived or used to trade. The Phoenicians, trading partners of the Tartessos people, who founded Gadir in 1100 B.C (current Cádiz, and possibly the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the whole southwestern Europe). The Phoceans, greek sailors who founded Ampurias around the 600 B.C. The Iberians, which may have arrived as early as in the Neolithic period and inhabited the eastern and southeastern Iberian Peninsula. The Celts, arriving through the Pyrinees and giving rise to a set of different settlements (galaicos, astures, cántabros, lusitanos...). Imagine the trading and cultural exchange between all these civilizations. Art, culture, alphabet, agriculture, currency, urban development, ceramic production, craft industry... When you think of Spain, think of the Carthaginians, founding cities like Ebusus (on moder Ibiza) or Carthago Nova (Cartagena) and creating huge armies of mercenaries to fight the burgeoning Rome. Think of the Celtiberian infantry or the Andalusian cavalry, the best of Hannibal's army, with which he arrived at the gates of Rome. Think of all these civilizations and you will have a minimum idea of the world heritage they left in Spain. The ruins in Tartessos; the Carthaginian necropolis of Terracota, Puig; the Greek city of Emporion (incredible ruins); the numerous Celtic hillforts like the one in Baroña; Ullastret, the Iberian village...think of all the burial chambers, city walls, amphorae and other ceramics, the new crops like the olives or grapes, the Phoenician and Greek alphabets...

When you think of Spain, think of Scipio Africanus defeating Asdrubal Barca in Tarraco and conquering Carthago Nova during the Second Punic War. The Romans would stay in Spain for 6 centuries, but the conquest would not be easy. Julio Cesar needed 7 years to subdue the Gaul. The Romans needed two centuries to subdue Hispania, from the Second Punic War (II B.C) to the times of the emperor Augustus and that is why the Romans refered to Hispania with the following sentence: “The first to be invaded...the last to be dominated”. Think of the long siege of Numancia or of Viriato and his guerrillas. The Romans brought us their culture, their language and their law. Think of cities like Sagunto, Tarragona, Mérida (Emerita Augusta), Itálica, Lugo, Astorga, León, Toledo...think of their theatres like the one in Mérida or the amphitheatre in Itálica. The Arch of Triumph in Medinaceli or the public works such as the bridges of Alcántara and Mérida (the last one with a length of 792 m and 62 arches), the impressive aqueduct of Segovia or the modified lighthouse “Hercules Tower” in La Coruña (the only Roman lighthouse and the oldest running one in the world). Think of Hispanic writers like Seneca and Lucano, and of the Hispanic emperors Trajano, Adriano and Teodosio.

After the first germanic invasions, finally the Visigoths arrive (V A.C) as the allies of the Romans to subdue the Swabians, Vandals and Alans, getting back the most romanized provincies while the Swabian realm kept its independence until the sixth century. Neither the hispanorroman aristocracy nor the Bizantine Empire could handle them, the Visigoths arrived and were determined to stay. The Visigoths converted to Catholicism at one of the Councils of Toledo. Hispania was politically and religiously unified. The oldest standing church in Spain is a legacy from the Visigoths, called Church of Saint Juan, in Baños de Cerrato, Palencia. It is the year 711 and there is conflict. Witiza the king is dead and the pretenders Agila II and Roderico (Don Rodrigo) become enemies. History would be repeated and just as the Romans asked the Visigoths to helpe them with the germanic tribes, Agila II requested this time the help of the Arabs. They defeated Rodrigo in the battle of Guadalete, they arrived and did not leave. In 5 years they conquered most of the Peninsula, which became Al-Andalus, first a province of the Caliphate of Damascus, to then become an emirate and finally an independent Caliphate with Capital in Cordoba (the biggest capital in western Europe and the cultural hub of the whole Europe). This caliphate would collapse due to the civil wars, and split into a number of Taifas, that would be taken first by the Almoravids, and second by the Almohads.

Science flourished and while other parts of Europe remained in darkness, Al-Andalus shone. Through Al-Andalus the astrolabe, the compass, paper (appearing in the year 732 and the first paper workshop founded in Cordoba in 1036) and gunpowder (first reference of its use for military purposes in the siege of Algeciras, the year 1343 although according to the chronicles of Alfonso X its first use in Spain was in the conquest of Niebla, 1262) arrived to Europe . Al-Andalus brought incredible advances in sciences such as medicine (use of plaster to treat bone fractures, surgery techniques, anesthesia, hygienic standards...), astronomy and mathematics (huge advances in algebra and trigonometry, the numerical system still in use nowadays and different catalogs of stars), botany (use of hundreds of plants for medical purposes), agriculture (irrigation and drainage systems, windmills, and many new crops and flavors like sugar, rice, jasmine, saffron...) or chemistry. Al-Andalus became the bridge between East and Europe, through it philosophy flourished, not only thanks to translations of Greek works etc, but also throught thinkers like Averroes. When you think of Spain, think of the beautiful muslim legacy, with amazing art and architecture (Alhambra in Granada, the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, the Golden Tower in Seville, the Aljaferia in Zaragoza...).

However, when the muslims came they didnt know that the inhabitants of Hispania never falter and, just as they did with the Romans until exhaustion, they fought the muslims to victory. This time, under the banner of Christianity and the idea of the lost Hispania, the Hispanic people would expel the muslims. A small group lead by Pelayo offered the first resistance already in the year 722, when they defeated the muslims in the Battle of Covadonga. Pelayo then founded the kingdom of Asturias and, for the next 7 centuries, the christiants extended their dominions until, in 1492, the Catholic kings conquered Granada. When you think of Spain, think of the Toledo School of Translators. When Toledo was reconquered by the Christians in 1085, a group of scholars made an incredible work during the XII and XIII centuries, translating many of the philosophical and scientific works from classical Arabic, classical Greek and ancient Hebrew and interpreting many Greco-Latin classical texts. The multi-cultural richness of Spain was admired and incomparable and many European scholars dreamed with a chance to go and study there. Under the King Alfonso X of Castile, translations occured in the Romance language called Castilian and thus, the Spanish language flourished, the language that has more native speakers worldwide than any language other than Mandarin Chinese.

When you think of Spain, think of Cristopher Columbus and the Atlantic expansion. Think of all those brave men who abandoned their land in search of a new future, in search of adventure. Think of “La Pinta”, “La niña” and “La Santa María” arriving to Guanahani after two months surrounded by ocean. Think of all those who made of Spain the first global empire, an overseas empire with territories in all continents (Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned 6 centuries). It is a common mistake to think that the sentence “The empire on which the sun never sets” was originally coined to describe the British Empire. It was originated with a remark made by fray Franciso de Ugalde to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain. It is not the purpose of this post to open a debate about colonization. We all know many wrong things occurred and this is not a claim that Spain should become an empire again. Please refrain from comments in that direction. I just acknowledge the bravery and the thirst for adventure and knowledge that pushed many Spaniards to enroll in a ship and travel beyond what was known. Think of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean. Think of Fernando de Magallanes, or of Juan Sebastián Elcano (first person going around the world and therefore demonstrating the sphericity of the world). These people began the history of the Pacific Ocean as the “Spanish lake”. Think of Legazpi, or Pinzón, think of scientific expeditions such as that of José Celestino Mutis y Bosio (botany) or that of Malaspina (enormous amount of material in botany, geology and zoology plus 70 new nautical charts). Think of Japan, California, the Philippines, Siam, Formosa, China, Indochina, Guam...think of all the sailors that explored the Pacific Ocean way before the Brithis Cook or anyone else and you will think of Spain. The influence of Spain in the development of modern geography and cartography is of extreme importance. Spain was a pioneer in cosmology during the XVI century, when the “House of Trade in Seville” was created to encompass all matters regarding transatlantic shipping, to study mathematics and astronomy, to develop instruments...

Spain's contribution to the world is enormous and unfortunately, extremely underestimated. When you think of Spain, think of the Spanish Golden Age during the Hasburg dinasty. Think of the great Miguel de Cervantes who founded the modern novel and wrote masterpieces like “Don Quijote” or “Novelas Ejemplares”. Think of Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca and their contribution to comedy and teather. The Spanish rogue exercised considerable influence in Europe. The German romanticism always found inspiration in Spain and playwrights like Calderón became their aesthetic symbol. Think of universal literary myths like “La Celestina” or “Don Juan”. Think of the incredible poets Francisco de Quevedo and Luis de Góngora. Think of artists like Diego Velázquez or Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, of Zurbarán and Ribera! Think of “El Greco”, who, although not originally from Spain, found a new home in the flourishing and radiant Spain. When you think of Spain think of “El Escorial”, its unique architecture, its library with more than 40,000 volumes, its reliquaries...When you think of Spain think of Goya and his “Black Paintings” and other works, a clear aesthetic revolution. When you think of Spain, think of that unique “Generation of '98”. What an unmatched number of intelectuals! Miguel de Unamuno, Valle-Inclán, Azorín, Pío baroja, Antonio Machado...Think of the “Generation of '27”: Dámaso Alonso, Federico garcía Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Pedro Salinas, Rafael Alberti...Any field in the XX century such as literature, art, science, philosophy...has been enriched with the Spanish input. From philosophy to cinema, thinking of the greatest such as Ortega y Gasset, Gregorio Marañón, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Severo Ochoa, Ramón y Cajal or Luis Buñuel. The Spanish contribution to European culture and world heritage will be always admirable.

Spain, land of contrasts, rich also in natural wonders. When you think of Spain think of “Sierra Nevada”, the largest mountain range in western Europe after the Alps. Think of fantastic National Parks such as Doñana, Timanfaya, Aigüestortes i estany de Sant Mauricio, Teide, Garajonay or Islas Atlánticas. Think of incredible formations such as “Las Médulas”, “Torcal de Antequera”, “Bárdenas Reales” or “Lagunas de Ruidera”. Think of a country with 44 Unesco World Heritage sites (both natural and cultural), second only to Italy. And last but not the least, yes, the food. The castilian roasts, morcilla, cheese, jamón de Guijuelo...gazpacho, salmorejo, pescaíto frito, queso and pisto manchegos, pollo al chilindrón, sopa de farigola, crema catalana, pulpo a la gallega and all the seafood, paella, fabada, cocido, cochifrito, chistorra, gambas al ajillo, the cod and the hake in the tradicional Basque cuisine...all the embutidos (chorizo, jamón, salchichón, lomo etc) and of course our tortilla de patatas. It is simply magnificent and incomparable. Not a single country can tackle our culinary culture. Not a single country can match our lifestyle, our culture of life, our “tapas”, our human contact in the day to day.

This is my country, and no matter how long i am away from it or how much i dislike many things of it, I have, and will always love it.

"Oyendo hablar a un hombre, fácil es

                                                                           acertar dónde vio la luz del sol;

                                                                           si os alaba Inglaterra, será inglés,

                                                                          si os habla mal de Prusia, es un francés,

                                                                            y si habla mal de España, es español."

                                                                            Joaquín M. Bartrina