Spain

Here's my thoughts on Spain and by a certain extension Western Europe.  I've been to Europe now three times in the past seven years, Ireland in 2008 just before the financial crisis hit, Germany and Italy at the end of 2011 during what would have been the depths of the recession in the Euroland and Spain this year.  Spain at least has the feel of the US back in 2011 when things here felt like they were starting to get better.  This is also in line with what the data and the European markets are telling us about their economies.  Spain, like a lot of other places in the world right now seems to be headed in a direction that few can see what the end destination is like.  Like other places, Spain is headed somewhere with the EU but we don't know where yet.

I can do pretty well in Spanish-a vestige of my days living in Villahermosa, Mexico.  As such I can read newspapers converse and order food in restaurants.  I was surprised at how warmly we were treated in Spain.  I was also surprised about how little events outside of Spain seemed to affect the national conscious.  Outside of the crash of Germanwings flight 9525, a flight that had originated in Barcelona, most of the newspapers dealt with stories inside Spain.  I never for example saw the ongoing crisis in Greece on the front page of the newspapers.  Now it could be that the week we were there was an anomaly as it was Holy Week and as such more or less a holiday season there, but outside events seemed of little concern to the locals.  One other thing, I never saw more than about 10 minutes of TV while there so perhaps international news is more consumed via broadcast.

Barcelona reminds me of Chicago in how it industrially expanded in the 19th Century, the "2nd City" complex it seems to have with Madrid and the friendliness of the people.  We have Frank Lloyd Wright,  they have the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.  We have the Sears Tower {or whatever folks are supposed to call it now}, they have La Sagrada Familia.  We have great sports teams, they have FC. Barcelona.  We have Wrigley Field and the United Center-well known sports facilities in the US, they have Camp Nou-where FC Barcelona plays.  We have deep dish pizza and Chicago style hot dogs, they have Tapas.  I could go on and on...Did I mention the people were friendly?

Finally I'll say this about Spain and the European Union.  From my experience having been in five countries of the EU in the past few years, there is a general consensus that a united European face to the world is a good idea.....As long as Spaniards can be Spaniards, Germans can be Germans, the Irish can be themselves etc.  The consensus breaks down at least among the masses when one country has to reach into its pocketbook to help another.  Germans don't want to bail out the Spanish and the Spaniards have no interest in helping Greece.  There is no real internal system of transfers like we for example have here that sees net dollars flow on a per capital basis out of California and into Mississippi.  That's going to be a hard problem for them to solve if they ever can.

Until then though the food was great!!!