CHAPTER 15
DON’T TALK ABOUT THE SPANISH
Especially not in the company of Isabel’s Dad, Marco. Not so long ago you just needed to drop the noun ‘Spain’ into any sentence, at any time in an evening’s social get-together and he would have launched into a five thousand word tirade about THEM.
Today, though he has come to accept that Portugal has been taken over by the Spanish. He told me just before Christmas about a recent poll, part of which I have pasted below.
"A survey from 2006, shows that 28% of the Portuguese think that Portugal and Spain should be one country. 42% of these would put the capital in Madrid and 41% in Lisbon. 96.5% thought that the economy of Portugal would fare better in a union with the economy of Spain and more than a half would accept Juan Carlos I of Spain as head of state.
Note the crisis of Portuguese economy at this moment. A similar survey in Spain, after the Portuguese one, showed that 45,7% think that Portugal and Spain should merge, this support is especially higher in the younger population (18 to 24 years old) and communities near the border with Portugal.
But in Spain only 3.3% would prefer Lisbon as capital, while 80% would prefer Madrid. 43.4% think the country should be known as Espãna/ Espanha (Spain) against 39.4% preferring Iberia."
WIKIPEDIA
(Actually Wiki I think you have got the accent in the wrong place. I believe it should be España, not Espãna. Espanha is the Portuguese spelling. – Ed.)
I think that the results are very revealing about national attitudes.
The Spanish are go-ahead, dynamic and want to re-conquer the world.
The Portuguese (who are a nation just waiting to be conquered again) just lie there and take it.
A better name might be a combination of the two country’s names, bearing in mind that Spain is approximately six times bigger, in all respects.
How about Espangal?
The flag could be two stars - one big one and one tiny little one lazily orbiting around it, surrounded by lots of other stars (the number of states currently in the EU)....
DON’T TALK ABOUT THE SPANISH
Especially not in the company of Isabel’s Dad, Marco. Not so long ago you just needed to drop the noun ‘Spain’ into any sentence, at any time in an evening’s social get-together and he would have launched into a five thousand word tirade about THEM.
Today, though he has come to accept that Portugal has been taken over by the Spanish. He told me just before Christmas about a recent poll, part of which I have pasted below.
"A survey from 2006, shows that 28% of the Portuguese think that Portugal and Spain should be one country. 42% of these would put the capital in Madrid and 41% in Lisbon. 96.5% thought that the economy of Portugal would fare better in a union with the economy of Spain and more than a half would accept Juan Carlos I of Spain as head of state.
Note the crisis of Portuguese economy at this moment. A similar survey in Spain, after the Portuguese one, showed that 45,7% think that Portugal and Spain should merge, this support is especially higher in the younger population (18 to 24 years old) and communities near the border with Portugal.
But in Spain only 3.3% would prefer Lisbon as capital, while 80% would prefer Madrid. 43.4% think the country should be known as Espãna/ Espanha (Spain) against 39.4% preferring Iberia."
WIKIPEDIA
(Actually Wiki I think you have got the accent in the wrong place. I believe it should be España, not Espãna. Espanha is the Portuguese spelling. – Ed.)
I think that the results are very revealing about national attitudes.
The Spanish are go-ahead, dynamic and want to re-conquer the world.
The Portuguese (who are a nation just waiting to be conquered again) just lie there and take it.
A better name might be a combination of the two country’s names, bearing in mind that Spain is approximately six times bigger, in all respects.
How about Espangal?
The flag could be two stars - one big one and one tiny little one lazily orbiting around it, surrounded by lots of other stars (the number of states currently in the EU)....
posted by face to face at 22:35
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