Referendum Neverendum

Writing in the local paper. Local Issues with a global take. I never translate literally and the editor trims at will to make it fit. Here’s my version, then theirs.

I’ve lived through
two referendums in my life. I may have been too young to fully realize what was
happening during the first and it’s true that the second found me a spectator living
on the American side of the fence, but as a Canadian, I have always been aware
of the Quebec question.

Since the day I learned to read, I have seen that all
packaging in Canada comes in two languages and even before that I would have
heard the national anthem sung in both. Quebec has been and will be an
unresolved question, even though it is around three thousand kilometres away
from the richer, oil producing region where I was born. And that’s the point,
these types of things won’t go away by pretending the law will save us. Small
mindedness is a difficult bug to eradicate and common sense seems to be a scarce
commodity.

As I write this, the outcome of the hijacked election eight hundred
kilometres from here is uncertain but that’s not the point. No matter what side
was chosen, the vacancy sign out here in Extremadura should have been hung out
and lit up long ago. Where are the delegations from Caceres and the rest of
Extremadura rolling out the red carpet for the Catalan companies who might have
to soon pay duties on products they sell in Zaragoza? Sales pitches really have
rarely been easier. Keep your factory Martorell and watch as each car costs you
a fortune in taxes as you move them into Europe or relocate to the cheaper stretches
of open spaces we have around us. Worried about finding workers? No worries, we
have plenty of people who would love to join your team and I imagine that more
than a few of your current staff would love to return to the land of their
ancestors.

I feel sorry for the Catalans whose right to choose has been hijacked by a false pleblicite but if they still insist on exchanging their Euros for
Pujoles, that’s their choice. I don’t see why Extremadura can’t capitalize on
their folly. Be it this one, or those to come.