The Scars of Catalonia

16th Midwinter Market in Balstraat, Brugge

From the beginning of November, I have started Dutch class which I enjoy though the journey, carrying heavy books, is not to my taste!! Ivo, the school, is in St Kruis so it involves walking, waiting for the bus, then walking some more after the bus. Would be fine were it not for my little mobile library hoisted on my shoulder. I go twice a week to the Writing half of Level Three; the other kids in the group all do four times three hours a week for which I sincerely admire them. However, it is too much for me as I also need energy for fun and socialising!! I have decided not to do the Speaking half of the week’s lessons though I need it. If allowed will continue, if I reach the grade, to Niveau Vier and beyond!! Reading, writing, but hardly speaking!

The Homeless Jesus by Timothy Schmalz

My first day home, Saturday 9th December, I joined a large crowd of people in the Heilige Magdalena Church near Astridpark for the dedication and unveiling of a new statue called The Homeless Jesus. The ceremony was in the church, fortunately because the weather was sub-Arctic, and though I could understand nothing, I did enjoy three pieces played by a young man, on different cornets, I think. Amazing Grace sounded particularly plaintive. Various men spoke; the priest in charge; someone in charge of Church Fabric; the OCMW voorzitter, Dirk de Fauw; a lovely man

 who works with refugees here, and the Bishop, Lode Aerts. Predictably, the Bishop’s homily seemed endless. Perhaps my non-comprehension of Flemish exacerbated the undue length of the speeches but one hour did seem over-long! Outside, a huge wooden crate was magically opened to reveal the recumbent, anonymous figure lying on a bench and it is life-size and impressive. It will remain in front of the church I believe. I will go back tomorrow to find space and peace to look at this modern sculpture properly. However with the help of the indomitable, omniscient and frequently annoying Google, I discover that, since 2013, this statue, by a Canadian, Timothy Schmalz, has been installed in major cities a round the world. Glasgow was the first to be honoured in the U.K. The whole enterprise, speaking as it does to the insidious homelessness problem which has grown, is backed by Churches and homeless charities.

En route home I was impressed by the tourist throng, assuming it to be more crowded because of the Christmas Market which is dazzling this year. But not so. I learned from a Flemish friend that the frequent flags and drapes in red and yellow 

Catalan demonstration in Brussels 9th December

seen around Brugge, signalled the invasion of the Catalans. Apparently, the local head of the NVR, a right-wing party seeking Flemish independence, [and therefore, one might add, fellow travellers] had invited the Catalans to visit Brugge after the enormous demonstration they had mounted in Brussels last Saturday, in support of Carlos Puigdemont, the fugitive Catalan Prime Minister who fled to Brussels recently rather than face arrest in Spain with his fellow politicians. As readers will recall, the Catalan ‘problem’ boiled over into quasi-rebellion this Autumn and the Prime Minister of Spain, Rajoy, withdrew Article 155 of the Spanish constitution to suspend the regional autonomy of the Catalans. I read a recent article by Paul Preston in the New Statesman, [December 1-7] which described in detail the history of the Catalan situation over the last hundred troubled years. The scars of Catalonia were revealed but also the widespread Spanish distrust of the Catalans.

Lea Stein's artistry

As friends had a stall at the 16^th Midwinter Festival on and around Balstraat in the St Anna district of the city, off I valiantly trudged through the snow Saturday late afternoon. It was delightful but a little less successful than normal I suspect because of the slush and rain and cold which deterred some, understandably. This particular market is notable for the number of craft stalls present and it is altogether rather more upmarket than many Rommelmarkts here. I spent ages admiring some marvellous brooches by Lea Stein, a Parisian jewellery designer of impeccable taste and style, practising in the 1930s. I have had one of hers and loved it for several years. Dismayingly, I discover that they have grown in popularity which means ‘have become more expensive’. Damn! Eventually I bought a wooden jewellery tree for my six year old grand-daughter due here for Christmas and a sort of pale wooden Christmas tree about ten inches tall, which magically folds flat for transport home……

A Catalan visitor in Brugge,

waving to a boat load of friends below.

I stopped off at ‘Terrastje’ on Genthof nearby on my way home for a chat with Ian and a Brugse Zot. There I learned that I had missed ‘the Catalans’ who had been in, and further, that there were reputed to be 50,000 of them in Brugge this weekend. I had seen a number around the streets plus two boatloads on the canals and all were looking remarkably content. They didn’t seem to represent a secession crisis which is threatening to rip Spain apart.

Terrasstje, Genthof, Brugge