Expat hopes for peace in Spain

Expatriate Catalonian Queralt Scott (and WHS Spanish teacher) hopes for a peaceful solution to the troubles in her former homeland.
PHOTO / Stuart Munro.

A former Catalonian and now Whanganui resident watched with mixed emotions as violence and turmoil boiled over in her home country.

Whanganui resident Queralt Scott comes from the area of Spain known as Catalonia
She watched with horror images of people with bloodied faces resulting from police violence in Northeastern Spain on October 1.

The people were voting in a referendum that asked the question - "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?"

The Spanish government had declared the referendum illegal and sent 4000 police clad in riot gear, armed with rubber bullets and carrying batons to the polling booths.

Mrs Scott says it is a complex situation.

"Politics is one of those topics that is easy to give your opinion - like religion, it is not my field and I find it a bit complicated when somebody asks me about the situation.

"I am from Barcelona, from a Catalan family but I can only speak for myself and for my experiences.

"In my own family, there are different versions of how to explain the Spanish reality nowadays.

"Everyone has different ideas about what would be the best solution to make everybody happy.

"The only certainty is that something has to change," she says.

By Liz Wylie
Wanganui Chronicle 18/10/17