The Turning of the Tortilla: Four Days that Shook the World

10/3/2012

I'm sorry, but I can´t confine my blog posts to tourist updates, wine tastings and the delights of sunbathing or skiing in the Granada province. Then again, why should I as there are plenty more blogs out there that do it far better than I. You see... (lean closer I'm going to whisper this in your ear)...I didn't move to Spain for the climate!!

Nor for the price of alcohol (20 years ago, believe me there was a difference!), nor for the opportunity to spend my remaining days roasting on a sun-bed.

I came because something drew me here, something about the history of this country. A history that showed a population that was capable of the most extraordinary acts when necessary. Yes, at times they can also be complacent and docile, but there have been plenty of examples in history when the tortilla finally does turn:

"Pronto llegará la hora,
que la tortilla se vuelva.
Los pobres comerán pan,
y los ricos mierda, mierda."

Im reminded in particular of the moment a Vet sparked off a popular revolution in Granada in the 1860's (See Beards and Hunger in Andalusia) or (The Bread and Cheese Revolution video).

I'm reminded of Seventy years later when the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera ended, euphoria ran high and so out too went the King of Spain, and he was sent packing on a train to London with his royal whiskers in an humiliating twist. (See Chapter on "How to Start a Republic" in Inside the Tortilla) .

And of course there was the infamous electoral victory when the Popular front (No relation to the Partido Popular) won the 1936 General Elections. Such moments released a wave of collective energy that surprised everyone, particularly the establishment that quickly found itself without a base, without support and without a mandate.

Perhaps Im wrong and all will quieten down, austerity measures will produce the benefits that are claimed, Spain (ie.us) will payback the extortionate loans to cover the debts of the banks, and the unemployed, hungry and the poor will content themselves with the crumbs under the table. Perhaps.

Others though, think different. One of which is an independant filmaker and journalist Brandon Jourdan. Catch his short video below for another perspective than that of the BBC or TVE.