Not long ago Spain also won the Euro Cup – the biggest sport competition in Europe. Football that is. After the game people went into the streets to celebrate. The Spanish flags on display, honks, partying, “We won!” people were screaming!

What is interesting is that these are two of their best players of the tournament:

Yamal and Nico. Yamal’s father is a Spanish immigrant from Equatorial Guinea, and his mother is Moroccan. And Nico’s parents had to cross the Sahara’s desert to immigrate to Spain “illegally”.

Also two of Spain’s best defenders are called Robin Le Normand and Aymeric Laporte – not a fucking chance these are Spanish names! These guys are born in France.

Speaking of France, this is their football team:

No, this is not an African team, it is the “french” team. Most of their players have African roots. In fact when they won the World Cup in 2018, 87% of their team was made up of immigrants (them, their parents, or grandparents). And historically this has always been true for France.

Even their most iconic player Zinedine Zidane is of Algerian descent. His parents immigrated to Paris and he has described himself as a “non-practising Muslim”.

Lastly this is how the other finalists of Euro 2024, England, would look without immigrants:

Overall the African immigrants were some of the best players of this Europe football competition.

Keep that in mind!

So when their supporters shout “We won!” waving their nation’s flag, who is “we”? Who is Spain, France, England?

Food and Football, two very culturally grounded things in Europe, are all made up of bits from other parts of the world. And so is the case with every sport and dish from anywhere on this globe.

Snippet from Culture Cancer - tromsite.com/2026/07/culture-c…

#football #spain #worldcup #culture #catalonia #soccer #europe #england

Snippet from Culture Cancer:

When Sasha had to take a course about protecting the marine environment in Catalonia, since she was working as a diver, all of the materials they were being provided were in Catalan. None in Spanish. Despite the fact that so many divers in this region are from outside of Catalonia and do not speak Catalan.

[Mind you Spanish is also an official language in Catalonia]

Actually half of the teachers for this course chose to only speak Catalan, despite a few students saying that they do not understand Catalan well, only Spanish.

One teacher asked if there is anyone who does not understand Catalan – Sasha and 3 others said they do not – and the teacher loudly, proudly and confidently said that is his right to speak Catalan and he will do so, albeit more slowly. As if you can slow-talk Korean to me, and I will get it, despite not understanding Korean.

The final exam was, of course, in Catalan only…

What is more important, enforcing your preferred language or protecting the environment? If that course was about protecting the environment, then that should be the most important, no?

I cannot imagine someone coming to Romania, where I am originally from, and I or others to refuse to speak a common language with them. To exclude and marginalize them. This is an awful situation that makes the marginalized ones hate on you and your language.

This situation in Catalonia made me think about Cancer. How cancer is basically normal cells going rogue. They work against the other cells and eventually the body. And we risk to do that among each other, which leads to a cancerous society that is going downhill.

But we cannot simply accuse some Catalans for being cunts with others. Cuntalans! Maybe we are the cunts, the outsiders?! Maybe there is a reason why they behave like that!

#catalonia #catala #catalan #spain #diving #tromsite #trom #language #discrimination

Snippet from Culture Cancer:

In fact I’ve been living in Catalonia for 15 years now and I noticed a concerning trend. At least from my own perspective. Despite people here knowing Spanish perfectly fine, at times they may only choose to speak Catalan with you, even when you try to speak Spanish with them.

When I was taking driving lessons and was in the car with other Catalan students, I would mention that I only understand Spanish and not Catalan. And yet they would only speak Catalan with themselves and the teacher. Marginalizing me. The teacher had to awkwardly translate from Catalan to Spanish for me, despite the fact that everyone in that car knew Spanish…So why not simply speak Spanish then!? For me is a no-brainer.

When you have to deal with the hospital here, they will always send you messages or print medical results or treatments into Catalan, despite you making them aware that you do not understand Catalan. A reminder that Spanish is also an official language in Catalonia.

It is so awkward to go into a shop, open the conversation in Spanish, and only be replied in Catalan. So they understand, but refuse to speak Spanish. By “they” I do not mean all, but a good chunk of the people I have interacted with. Granted I rarely interact with people. But still, this is something well known in Catalonia.

#catalonia #language #marginalization #culture #trom #tromsite #catalunia #catala #catalan #spain