A photograph from Alghero, Sardinia, taken during the Correllengua flame arrival and coinciding with the Sant Joan de la Porta Llatina celebrations, showed young people wearing scarves. These scarves bore embroidered legends in white and yellow: "1412: the Victory" and "may it save us from betrayal". This image, according to the author, conveyed a message from Sardinian Catalans to those in other islands and the Iberian Peninsula, reminding them that Catalonia Nord is part of this broader Catalan identity.
Celebrating a 1412 Triumph
The Sant Joan de la Porta Llatina festival in Alghero commemorates a Catalan victory against French and Sassarese forces in 1412. The scarves worn by the young people symbolise this historical triumph. During the celebrations, people sing ancient and powerful verses, described as harsh and uncompromising, reflecting a people who have won and do not apologise for their victory. These songs, similar to 'La Marseillaise', are from those accustomed to winning, according to the author.
Seeing these scarves, which also featured the logos of Plataforma per la Llengua and Obra Cultural, prompted reflection on Catalonia's national days, such as the Onze de Setembre and Vint-i-Cinc d'Abril. These dates often reference defeats like Almansa and Barcelona, which have frequently been used as slogans in Catalonia. It is often noted as unusual for a nation to commemorate a defeat as its national day, a practice theorised by historians and sociologists to define a melancholic and patient understanding of history. This view, while once seen as insightful and even flattering, might not represent the full truth.
Reconsidering Catalan Identity
There are Catalans, particularly in Alghero, who celebrate victory rather than defeat. They sing songs of triumph and ensure their children wear scarves commemorating the battle year, so they never forget their ancestors won. In Alghero, there is no hesitation in proclaiming a Catalan victory. This observation leads to the suspicion that what was considered a national virtue, such as dignity in defeat or persistence, might simply be a custom of losing.
It is important to remember that the Nueva Planta Decrees of Philip V affected four regions, not three. They were imposed on the Principality, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Mallorca, and, often forgotten, the Kingdom of Sardinia. Sardinia was an undisputed Catalan kingdom, a true Catalan state in the Mediterranean, not merely a Catalan colony like Sicily, Naples, and Athens. However, unlike the peninsula and other islands, the Bourbon king failed to impose the decree in Sardinia, marking a significant divergence in its history.
The Weight of Accumulated Defeats
Almansa and the fall of Barcelona, followed centuries later by the Francoist insurrection and the defeat of the Republic, deeply marked peninsular Catalans. This series of accumulated defeats has layered a defeated and sombre Catalan identity over an authentic, proud, and even joyful one, like a persistent patina that now seems to be the very wood itself.
In Alghero, however, the original Catalans, those who have not experienced defeat, can still be found. They sing victory songs without shame and celebrate the victory of being Catalan. Observing them reveals a simple yet uncomfortable truth: the reduction of Catalan identity to the four Spanish provinces that monopolise the name, an administrative and political fact, has not only impoverished those outside these provinces but, more significantly, those within them.
If Catalan identity is recognised solely as the strict Principality, then it is necessarily defined by defeat, retaining only layers of bitterness and the archetype of a nation that knows how to lose with dignity. However, if Catalan identity equally encompasses both Barcelona and Alghero, then the existence of victorious Catalans cannot be denied, challenging the notion that being Catalan is synonymous with being defeated. Limiting the idea of Catalan identity, by accepting only what Spanish and French authorities have decided it is, harms not only those outside the four provinces but also, and perhaps most of all, those in the Principality, who find themselves confined to a single tone of lament, despite having many other options available.
For this reason, the author believes the young people of Alghero have, perhaps unconsciously, offered a concise and accurate lesson: Catalans are not a people condemned to defeat and resignation; Catalans also know how to be victorious. After centuries of peninsular isolation, it may be time to visit Alghero and learn from them.
