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Catalonia up-close

Many Frisians feel sympathetic towards the Catalonians. They can relate to the feelings that the Catalonians must have regarding their minority language. Because of this, 27 November, EBLT, the University of GroningenTryater, and Mercator European Research Centre organized in Ljouwert (NL) an evening full of insights and discussions concerning the Catalonian situation.

The evening was kicked off by Froukje de Jong en Cor van der Meer. Prof. dr. Goffe Jensma fan de RUG made a comparison between Fryslân en Kataloanië by discussing the regions' history and their economic situations. Sybrand Grasdijk, journalist in training from Groningen, had visited Catalonia during the prelude to the referendum, and made a documentary about it, of which a shortened version was shown. Dr Eva Daussa, linguistics teacher at the University of Groningen, discussed the cultural, historical and political context of the conflict. She related the words from Franco: they could do with Spain as they saw fit, as long as it would remain a whole. It's one of the reasons that, for the government in Madrid, Catalonian independence is simply not an option.