Retirada/Catalonia

January 30, 1939 almost 100,000 people arrived in the tiny village of Argelès-sur-mer. They were freeing Franco and the Spanish Civil War. More would come. They were herded into concentration camps on the freezing beach and reinforcements were called in.

The people of the region continue to think of themselves as Catalan on both sides of the French-Spanish border. I wouldn't dare call any of the oldsters in my village, French. They are Catalan.

To show their pride in their heritage, all the street signs are slowly becoming double: One in French and one with the ancient Catalan name and the Catalan flag.

Barcelona wants to hold a referendum to become a separate country, free of Spain. The Madrid government does not want to lose the richest part of their country and has taken draconian measures to stop it including arrests.

It could turn ugly quickly...Syria's civil war started with a few demonstrations. Cracking down only brought more and more resistence.

Polls have showed if there were a referendum, the separation movement would lose by a small measure, but with the reaction of Madrid, I can see more people who were against separation changing their minds.

Stay tuned. The worse has yet to come.