So I was supposed to blog about 3 news articles (Local, National, International) for class but I have yet to do that so here it is.
First I will start by saying that it has been very interesting being here for everything that has happened in Northern Africa. I think that I have gotten a completely different perspective than people in the USA because Spain is one of the closest countries to where the problems are.
One of the most resent articles that I read in El Periodico, a Spanish newspaper, was that Gadaffi's son died in Bombings by NATO. I still try and read the news in the USA and stay on top of current events and I get my new from the Yahoo buzz feed. The buzz feed shows the top articles of the last few hours and lists about 30-50 articles. On the Yahoo list it was listed as the 33rd most popular article, where as in El Periodico it was the 3rd article from the top. However, on official websites such as the NY Times, it was right up on the top of the webpage. One thing I like about yahoo though is that the articles on the list are listed as the most clicked on, and not what professionals think is the most important news. Basically, in my mind the Spanish public cares more about what is going on in North Africa more than the American public because of the distance. It is difficult for the Spanish to ignore what is happening because the EU is having a lot of issues with immigration and some other issues related to North Africa. I also glanced down through the comments in El Periodico and noticed one person with a Catalan flag as their profile picture. They said that the one responsible for the deaths is in fact Giddafi, and this is the result of the war provoced by the dictator. I couldn't agree more.
I looked at El Pais for some National news. El Pais means the country so I thought this would be the best source. One thing that I noticed right away was that Zapatero's name was on about half of the articles listed on the home page. It made me realize two things. The first is that this is a political newspaper, and the other is that the average Spanish person pays attention to politics, which I don't do in the US. Now after translating and reading a few articles, the reason for the heavy politics is that the elections are on May 22 (which I should have known). I read an article that was titled "It would be terrible for people to stay home on May 22." The main issue was unemployment which is in fact a major problem in Spain. We, in the US think that unemployment is a problem but compared to Spain, it is hardly a problem. Here is another major difference between the USA and Spain and even Catalonia and the rest of Spain. Catalan people work hard and most of the money comes from Barcelona. This is one reason for the Nationalist movement in Catalonia because they don't want their taxes to be given to the poorer areas in the South where not that many people work hard.
I went to El Punt (the point) to look at the local newspaper because it is a Catalan newspaper out of Barcelona. The first article listed was about futbol, of course. Futbol here is way different than any sports in the USA. Imagine the best players from every sport, all playing one and all of the fans only follow one team. That is what it is like in most of Europe and Barcelona especially. People follow it religiously. Practices of soccer teams cancel practice because no one shows up, and teachers talk about it in class. The article was about last nights loss to Royal Society, or Real Sociodad. I am surprised that it didn't mention the upcoming game on Tuesday against Real Madrid. The rivalry between Barça and Real Madrid is like the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox but backing up the rivalry is the general "hatred" between Catalonia and the Royal Crown in Madrid. Lionel Messi, the 23 year old Argentinian Superstar, is like a god here. Earlier this year he broke the record for most goals in a season with 50 something and he has won the European player of the year award the past 2 years. I guess futbol is so popular because they are really good. If they were not as good it probably wouldn't be so present but I love it and I have gained an appreciation for the sport from being here.
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