March 29: Freedom or imposition

Sometimes, minor incidents explain major issues. There has been a lot of talk about a language incident broadcast on Spanish television. Speaking Catalan, a resident of Alcanar explains his political position to a Spanish TV reporter. The journalist asks him to speak in Spanish. The man refuses to, because we are in Catalonia. The journalist insists, because we are in Spain. The TV network summarizes the incident in a tweet: "Protester berates reporter: Talk to me in Catalan, we’re in Catalonia".

Obviously, this is false, and everyone who watches the video realizes it. The protestor does not tell the reporter what language he is supposed to speak. He only claims his right to speak Catalan. But I’m convinced that whoever sent the tweet was not aware that they were lying blatantly. And that is what makes it significant. They didn’t realise because the protestor and the reporter (and his television station) speak two different languages, and I’m not referring to Catalan and Spanish. The protestor says: I have the right to speak what I want, because I am in Catalonia. The reporter says: you have the obligation to speak what I want, because you are in Spain. They speak two languages: the protester, the language of freedom; the reporter, that of imposition. And of course, they do not understand each other.