This was a really great way to practice my Spanish. I sat in the front of the bus with the driver and tour leader, Ana. She is from Barcelona, and she has lots of opinions about the government, and Catalunya, and society in general. It was funny, we were talking about how the Catalans want independance, and she said it never really mattered to her, but then she recently found out that a lot of her family is for the independance. Also, she explained that the flag that represents the independance (the same as the Catalan flag, except it has a star added to it, a concept borrowed from the independance movement of Cuba) is seen more in the North. These are the people that want the independance more, and speak more Catalan than Castellano. These people are more isolated and live in small villages. They vote every November to see how many people want the independance. More than 40 percent want to be an independant state. Ana also said that there still are a lot of Catalan people in France as well, because Spain's border used to reach up into France more. These people on the border still speak the Catalan language as well.
We also talked about the new abortion laws, and the Partido Popular, and the corruption in the government. She made it sound like at all levels there is corruption in the government.
Also, I asked her if in Spain there is a credit score system, like we have in the United States. She had never heard of it, but she said that what happens in Spain, is that if you don't pay your bills, you are put on a "black list" that everyone can see and they won't serve you.
First we went to Mont Louis and had Cafe con Leche and a croissant. Mont Louis is a very old village that was built to protect France from invasions. Now the French Commandos use it to train. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Entering France
It was snowing while we were there
These are the French Commandos training
And then entering Spain again
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