Matthew Tree: “Catalonia will only be fully understood abroad if it becomes independent [from Spain]”

Barcelona (ACN).- ‘How to explain this country to foreigners?’ This is the question that you ask yourself after reading Matthew Trees' latest book and is also the book’s title in Catalan. This English writer arrived in Catalonia 26 years ago and ended up settling down in what he describes as “one of the most complicated corners of the European continent”. This does not mean that Tree hates Catalonia or considers it an impossible place to live or do business in; quite the contrary. In fact, Tree loves living in Catalonia and is in fact very critical not with Catalonia itself but with the Spanish State in general and its attitude towards Catalonia in particular. According to Tree, “Madrid moves the goal posts every time the match doesn’t go as expected”, which means every time Catalonia questions or does something that displeases Spain’s establishment and Spanish nationalism. “This is an insult to collective intelligence” affirms Tree. In fact, he predicts “from an objective observation and not from a nationalist point of view” that “in five years time, Catalonia will have become an independent nation” if Madrid is to continue with the same attitude and does not introduce a radical change. This English writer reached this conclusion due to the large quantity of people that he believes is “fed up” with the Spanish Government’s treatment towards Catalonia, a quantity that in his words “has been growing” in the last years. Tree also denounces a generalised attitude to overshadow Catalonia’s political reality and culture, an attitude he has experienced himself on several occasions in Madrid and abroad, for instance at a conference he hosted in the London School of Economics. All these factors make him reach the conclusion that “Catalonia will only be fully understood abroad if it becomes independent [from Spain]”, as stateless nations do not have a place in most people’s mindsets. Matthew Tree’s book is available in English via online shops with the title ‘Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside’.

Matthew Tree (London, 1958) has been living in Catalonia for the last 26 years. He settled down in Barcelona in 1984 but he first arrived in Catalonia in the late 1970s. He arrived with little knowledge about Catalonia, its language, its history and its political and social reality. He was surprised with what he found and, after a small time he became both puzzled and intrigued, he decided to go deeper and try to better understand the Catalan reality. In 1979, he started learning and speaking in Catalan, a language he perfectly managed after some years. Tree integrated into Catalonia and fully grasped its complex political, social and cultural reality, a reality he thinks very few foreigners really understand, especially when they come as tourists or when they work as foreign correspondents in Madrid and report about Catalonia from there.

“Catalan nationalism is not understood abroad”

In fact, Tree denounces the fact that most foreign correspondents in Spain settle in Madrid and thus have a limited vision of Spain’s complexity. Tree believes that the majority of them do not even understand Catalan reality, and what is worse, many do not even care. They approach Catalonia thinking Spain is a homogenous country and try to fit Catalan political reality into their mindsets shaped on Madrid or on their Nation-State background. Actually, Tree thinks that many tourists also have the same attitude after having spent some few days in Catalonia. Tree criticises some journalists and quotes some of their articles. For instance a British journalist once wrote that foreigners were “obliged” to learn the Catalan language in Catalonia. According to Tree, some foreign correspondents write articles about Catalonia from ignorance with biased sources from Madrid and even “with a bit of anger”.

For Tree, one of the causes for this hostility is the word “nationalism”. Foreigners, especially from Central and Northern Europe see Catalan nationalists as a threat. Tree points out that the word “nationalism” has very bad connotations in the UK and is associated with intolerant ideologies such as the British National Party’s. In addition, in English, “a nation” is a synonym of “independent state” and thus “nationalism” is associated with an intolerant ideology from an arrogant and self-focused independent country. However, Tree explains in his book that “nationalism” has a very different meaning in Catalonia. It is the expression of the vindication of the Catalan political reality and culture, which has been oppressed for decades.

How Catalonia is seen abroad

In his book, Tree gives many examples of how foreigners do not understand Catalan reality or how they do not know anything about it. When CNA interviewed Tree, we asked him “how he would present Catalonia to foreigners”. Tree answered by pointing out to a greater problem: “most of the time they do not even see us”. “I met a Dutch person, with a very good education, who did not even know that Catalan was a written language”. This person “was completely surprised when he discovered a wide literary tradition”, coming from early Middle Ages. According to the English author, for many visitors, “Barcelona is a sort of ‘world city’, which is in the middle of a cultural emptiness”.

“This is a country where you need to speak minimum one language and be able to understand two”, being Spanish and Catalan. The advice Tree would give to foreigners who want to spend more than 6 months in Catalonia is “to start firstly by learning Catalan and secondly Spanish”, “because the latter will be learnt by osmosis”. He would also warn foreigners about the diversity and the complexity of the country. “You have just landed on one of the most complicated corners of the entire European continent”, says Tree.

‘How to present Catalonia to foreigners?’

Tree reached these conclusions years ago and has spent the last ten years explaining them to foreigners through articles in British media such as ‘The Times’ or through various conferences. Tree collaborates with many Catalan media, from newspapers to radio and TV, such as ‘Avui’, ‘El Temps’, ‘Catalonia Today’, ‘Rac 1’, ‘Catalunya Ràdio’, ‘TV3’, etc. He compiled some of these articles in his new book, which has the Catalan title ‘How to present this country to foreigners?’ The book can be found in English via online bookshops with the title ‘Barcelona, Catalonia: A View from the Inside’.

Tree believes that any initiative like CNA that tries to explain Catalonia to the world is “very important”. He praised the Catalan News Agency as well as the Institut Ramon Llull’s exhibitions and activities in London or New York. However, he regretted that the initiatives were too small, that they only reach a small group of people - people who are already interested on Catalonia. These initiatives “help, but they are just drops into the ocean”.

Catalonia to become an independent nation “in 5 years time”

Tree concludes that “the only thing that will make Catalonia fully understood abroad is its independence [from Spain]”. “This is an objective fact” and not “a Catalan nationalist” statement, as “I am not a nationalist”. According to this foreigner who has been gradually becoming a native, Catalonia’s independence from Spain is to happen “in 5 years time”. 

This will happen because the Spanish Government “moves the goal posts when it thinks the match doesn’t go as expected”, and this “is an insult to the collective intelligence of everyone living here”. Tree explains that in the last few years, he has met people who never would have thought about desiring Catalonia’s independence from Spain. However, as they are “fed up” with Spain’s attitude towards Catalonia, now they are pushing for it. Tree mentions the triggering by the Spanish Constitutional Court in 2010 of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, which had been approved by referendum in 2006, as one of the examples of what pushes Catalans towards being pro independence.