Thoughts on the crisis in Spain

I am reluctant to write about the struggle that ravages Catalonia and Spain. To be sure, I am not a scholar on this conflict. I am simply a person who lives and works in America but loves and laughs in Spain. 

I love Spain. My wife is from Córdoba, Spain an Andalusian city bursting with charm and citizens that are filled with a love of life even in the most difficult of economic times. We were married in Spain and our first son was born in Spain. Over our seventeen years of marriage, we have spent every summer and winter working and playing in the Sierra of Cordoba and along the Costa del Sol. I am an unabashed fan of how the Spanish play the game of football (soccer), the Spanish cuisine as well as the sense of pure joy that the Spanish carry in their being. To experience Féria in any Spanish city is something I can recommend easily to everyone. 

Also, I love Barcelona the center of the beautiful and industrious region called Catalonia. Throughout my career as an advertising executive and now as a business owner of a technology-enabled solutions company I have come to Barcelona as often as possible. There is something about this City with influences of Gaudì that gets the creative juices flowing. 

When I headed a digital ad agency network across Europe I held all of my network meetings in Barcelona. It was the one city I could always be sure everyone would enjoy. 

In April, for the last five years, I have headed to Barcelona to teach digital media at Blanquerna, a leading communication university in Spain. While my language skills perhaps leave much to be desired the students have humored me as I have muddled my way through my lectures on media buying and planning, online reputation management, digital cause-related marketing, branding and artificial intelligence. 

When I launched my Company's Spanish office I set up shop in Barcelona and happily hired talented people from the City and brought in equally talented business partners from Madrid. 

Now my love for Spain and for Barcelona is being challenged. I have dear colleagues and friends in Barcelona passionately demanding a divorce from Spain. I am part of a warm Spanish family deeply hurt and angered that a region of their beautiful country would even think about much less attempt a coup d'etat. 

We live in a moment where Spain is doing many things right together. In sports, there is no doubt of the Spanish dominance on the football/soccer pitch. The Spain national team looks unbeatable once again and is still basking in the glory of a recent World Cup. The Spanish team is led and anchored by Pique (Catalan) and Ramos (Andalusian). Either Real Madrid or Barcelona win the Champions League every year and their stars continue to dominate the awards for best footballer in the world. Nadal on the men's side and Mugurutza on the women's side hold the current tennis Grand Slam titles for the US Open and Wimbledon. And Sergio Garcia won the green jacket at the Masters. In Spain, if you play any sport you better be ready for a real challenge.

Culturally the Spanish continue to impress and delight with films from standard-bearers such as Almodovar, architecture from Calatrava and sculpture from Plensa. And the food...the Spanish nation is a wonderland documented time and time again by Bordain, Batali and recently Coogan's comedy A Trip to Spain. 

Economically the Spanish have suffered after the last recession. We have a generation of young Spaniards that are highly educated but lightly employed. This problem must be resolved but there is a shimmering light in the distance as the Spanish economy emerges from the worst of the recession before other European nations partially because of their shared commitment to the hardship of cuts which caused everyone pain.

Business-wise I have seen the rise of Spanish global brands in my lifetime. Every fashionable but cost-conscious woman or man now knows Zara and Desigual. Every NBA fan now knows the league sponsor BBVA and Banco Santander continues to be an active US sports sponsor. And I have witnessed the creation of a truly global business event in the form of the Mobile World Congress.

I cannot claim to understand the history or the political difficulties between the Catalonian state and Spanish nation but it is clear the wounds run deep and remain unhealed. While I am the son of a historian I cannot help but think that in this occasion the Spanish are all too well versed on the parts of historical conflict. Somehow the past is a wall that blocks the parties from seeing a collective future. 

But what do I know? We Americans seem to be f'ing up our own political and social society in disturbing ways. We have a polarizing president. We cannot get control of our addiction to guns and gun violence continues to spiral out of control. We are certainly not the beacon of light for the world we once were. 

We also struggle with our own patriotic challenges as our leading athletes kneeling to make us reflect on the critical problems facing disenfranchised races, genders, and groups in our nation. We have much, oh so much, to work on and many issues to tackle. 

But in the same way, I expect Americans to unify and work together and compromise to move forward I urge my friends and family in Spain to do the same. Sit down at a table. Grab the finest Rioja, slice the jamon and manchego with "pa amb tomaquet" and wait for the paella to be served. Argue about Messi vs Ronaldo or the Costa Brava vs the Costa Del Sol. Even squabble about Barcelona vs Madrid. But keep talking. Like a child of parents contemplating divorce, I beg that you at least try to stay together. Spain is truly a unique country and I for one would be very disappointed to see it torn apart. Juntos somos mejores.