Well, in the normal way of things, as the time approached for me to leave the office, I suddenly became enthusiastic about finishing what I'd been doing all day. So I managed it - later than I'd have liked. Spooked by the LSE's dire warning that people would be turned away who weren't there 15 minutes early, I decided not to risk the traffic, and caught the Tube instead. And what an ordeal that was - I was to be glad my chestiness is nearly gone! Stood all the way - but it's not that far. The issue was in changing lines at Bank - and all the stairs I had to climb! Oh, and I was wondering where the infamous curved platform was, with some of the largest gaps on the Tube - sure enough, I found it: Central Line. The trick is to head for either end of the train - that's a less curvy part, just as it's also the least crowded.
I found the New Academic Building without difficulty - it's on Sardinia Street, just off Kingsway. And then I just kept on walking around it until I came to something that looked like an entrance - the nice lady at the barriers assured us that she didn't need to see our tickets, just directed us to the stairs down at the far end of the lobby. When I got downstairs, I was lucky I got my ticket to display properly - they were already letting people in, 20 minutes early. I ended up to the centre, near the back.
The speaker was Dr. Pedro Sánchez, leader of the Spanish opposition. The MC, a jovial chap, nonetheless made it very clear from the start that no barracking would be tolerated, and that in the event of any nonsense, he would end the talk. And after a brief introduction, Dr. Sánchez got to the podium, where he was to spend the next 45 minutes or so.
Impressions: 1. He's very softly spoken! Maybe it was because he's so tall, and the mic was too low for him, but we could barely hear him. Things did look up some when he was answering questions afterwards, and was sat closer to the mic.
2. He's a politician, so he gives political answers. Politicians always strive not to talk in absolutes, so it was interesting to see which points he'd choose to make strongly. Like, for instance, the fact that the Catalan politicians broke the law in holding a referendum being the important point - I wonder whether, had the audience not been so predominantly Spanish (my impression, at least), he might not have got a more hostile reaction to that, given that the overwhelming international impression remains that a peaceful referendum was suppressed by jackboots.. (This was one of the reasons why international observers failed to recognise it as having reached international election standards: which makes it highly hypocritical of him to have brought up that fact, as though it were all the Catalans' fault.) I also noted that he mentioned the misuse of public funds - but made no mention that that charge has been laid in relation to buying the polling boxes for the referendum, which, naturally, the Spanish government refused to supply.
3. I guess history isn't his field - he stated quite unequivocally that Catalonia was always part of Spain, when I could have told him it wasn't - it was part of the Frankish kingdom, ruled over by the Count of Barcelona. It subsequently achieved de facto independence, until in 1137, the Count of Barcelona married the Queen of Aragon, and their son eventually inherited both territories - from which time, they've been united. Granted, it's a long time ago - but for heaven's sake, I'd expect an educated man to have known more about the origins of his country!
I'm afraid that this left me with little patience for what he had to say for the rest of the evening. Anyway, he did have a few more points to make - for example, that the referendum was contrary to the Catalan constitution: and he showed an interesting photo of a half-empty Catalan government chamber, where they were voting on this referendum, apparently - the half (or so) of the house who didn't agree with it were apparently abstaining by their absence. Perhaps they anticipated the nightmare to come, and were sensibly in hiding.
Afterwards, it sounded as though every questioner was Spanish - and it looked as though pretty much the entire room wanted to get involved. It wouldn't have been half as much fun without the requisite protest, which was left to the very end:
Those of us who fancied a drink congregated in the lobby, and this time Ye Old White Horse wasn't nearly as busy as last time! Henning was generous enough to buy a round - I must repay the favour, someday soon. Anyway, we took ourselves outside, while the good weather lasts - I was happy I'd brought a jacket.
And as we congregated around a barrel, the Spaniards in our group gave a more nuanced analysis of the whole situation than anything I think I could have expected from the good doctor. They pointed out how this isn't a new situation, how referendums have been held before - it's the violence this time that made it stand out. They also pointed out how it was a bad idea for Puidgemont to make a run for it, thus condemning his compatriots to a longer time in prison, as flight risks (of course, that might have been his purpose). Perhaps the strongest point they made was the division that this has caused in Catalan society, which might not have a majority in favour of independence, but does have a sizeable minority who favour it - and that division is only growing deeper. Who knows what consequences may lie down the line for them?
At any rate, a fascinating evening in good company - and a lively debate with one of the Germans in our company! Always a good group for an outing, and this proved an enlightening topic.
Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats, for Red, at Wyndham's. Terrible time I had, booking this - I accidentally let my old billing address (I've moved since my last booking with them) go through on the form, the payment was rejected, and I couldn't get back into the page to edit my address! Neither could I start a new booking - everything I tried gave me an error message. Dreadful site. I finally e-mailed them, and they said to ring back during working hours and they'd amend my booking, or if they hadn't heard from me after one working day, they'd cancel it. Not fancying paying for a premium-rate call, I let them cancel, and rebooked myself. Carefully replacing my address with the correct one!
On Thursday, I'm headed with London Social Detours to a talk on Shakespeare and the Wandering Mind, at the Wanamaker Playhouse - my first trip there in over a year, goodee! They were sold out when I tried, which is why I'm willing to go with her and pay her booking fee.. Payable on the day, so I'd better get some more cash out. And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.
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