Correspondence from Spain Barcelona - Tarragona, sovereignty with a taste of Catalan cream

As sovereignism has made a strong comeback in European chancelleries and on the agenda of ordinary people - whether culturally, economically or fueled by TikTok and historical resentments - I thought I would dismount a little and travel through lands where the idea has deep roots and inflamed nerves: in Catalonia, that stubborn province of Spain that dreams of a state in the shadow of the Pyrenees and the port of Barcelona. Since the route established by Hello Holidays (Hello Premium Tours circuit) was clear: Girona - Barcelona - Tarragona, a kind of symbolic axis of Catalan identity, in order to understand not only history, but also the smell of today, I got lost, as much as possible, in the streets, squares and parks. One thing is clear, it smells interesting: of historical passion and civic revolt intertwined with a feeling of electoral nausea.

• Barcelona - hot heart

I passed Girona at speed, I don't have much to say, but as I entered Barcelona I felt for the first time that specific Catalan thrill: it's not anger, it's not despair, but a form of silent and tense pride, like a flamenco song danced in silence.

The locals don't talk about independence out loud, but in bookstores the shelves are full of titles like "Història de Catalunya", "El dret a decidir" or "La República que no fue". It feels like a city that voted "yes" in 2017, and that still keeps campaign posters like relics (The region declared its independence from Spain in the Parliament of Catalonia, amid a constitutional crisis caused by the issue of the 2017 independence referendum. This Referendum was declared unconstitutional, illegal and raised great suspicions about its correctness, not being verified by any independent organization. Once the Catalan parliament declared independence from Spain, it also suspended it instantly. The next day the Spanish Senate triggered Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution, and the then Prime Minister dissolved the Parliament of Catalonia, dismissed the Executive Council of Catalonia and called early regional elections). The story of Catalonia's independence is much, much older, but we will not go into historical details.

In Barcelona, things are complex. The capital of Catalonia is a living paradox: cosmopolitan, open, but also radicalized in places. It is the city where you can go from a Gaudí exhibition straight to a protest with yellow and red flags, without blinking. The balconies are full of messages, against politicians, against tourists, in favor of football teams or with declarations of love. Here, the history of sovereignism is less romantic and more pragmatic. With a GDP above the Spanish average, many Catalans have the feeling that "we give more than we receive" and this is where it all begins: the frustrations, the demands, and more recently... the ironies. Roasts with soup a la Madrid - be it in the form of laws, sanctions, or articles of the Constitution - the Catalans are now also blowing yogurt. They talk about autonomy with reservations, about self-determination with nuances. They no longer shout "independència!" on every street corner, but they are not giving up on the idea either. I keep it on low heat, like a crema catalana - sweet, but with a hard crust on top.

• The Mioritic sovereignist at the Sagrada Familia

I also met Romanians. The paraphrase should have also contained the word happy, but they didn't seem to. I crossed paths with the fierce sovereignist from Dâmboviţa at the Sagrada Familia. A lady from the security guard heard us talking and approached us in our native language, asking where the flag the guide was carrying was so we could spot it. Someone joked and said that maybe it was stolen, considering the "fauna” that swarmed around the famous cathedral. The answer came drier than a local wine: "That was stolen too, because you stole our country!” There was no need to answer, the lady was in a position of strength in that place and seemed very willing to show us, the thieves of the country, who holds the power, at least at the gate of the Sagrada Familia.

• Tarragona - deep history

In Tarragona, a Roman and romantic city, with a seaside amphitheatre and wooded hills, sovereignism seems to have taken a break from politics and entered the museum. But don't be fooled. Underneath the calm appearance, Catalan identity is just as present: in the language in schools, in local festivals, in the flags flying on balconies. Not with anger, but with an inherited tenacity.

Catalonia no longer screams like in 2017, but it is not silent either. It lives in a precarious balance between belonging and rejection, between history and modernity. If European sovereignism is a reheated political dish, then in Catalonia it is a local recipe with a complex taste: sweet, bitter, spicy. And the traveler, like me, remains somewhere between curiosity and respect, with a question in mind: "Where does the love of identity end and the politics of rupture begin?"

Until we have the answer, it's worth drinking a local vermouth l, let's listen to a group of pensioners playing dominoes and gossiping about the world in Catalan and re-read a sentence from a wall in the area: "Som i serem" - We are and we will be.