2015-10-16
1936
A visitor from Barcelona arrives at Madrid government office in mid-afternoon, and is surprised to find only the cleaning lady there. «Don't they work in the afternoons?» he asks. «No,» she replies, «they don't work in the mornings. In the afternoons they don't come.»
Lazy Madrid, busy Barcelona: it is just one of many stereotypes about Spain's great rivals. Mostly, the stereotypes are born of Barcelona's bitterness at its second-class status. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a proudly autonomous region, but Madrid is the capital of Spain. This causes resentment. It makes Barcelona the largest city in Western Europe not to be a national capital.
Over the years governments in Madrid did their best to limit Barcelona's political power. Barcelona has the liberalism that often characterizes port cities. An old-fashioned seriousness in Madrid, isolated high up on Spain's central plateaus, contrasts with the light-heartedness of Barcelona, open to Europe.
These old caricatures still hold true. No visitor to government buildings in the two cities can fail to be struck by the contrast between them. In Madrid, there are ancient wooden floors, antique furniture and walls covered with paintings by Spanish old masters. In Barcelona, designer chairs and tables are evidence of the place's obsession with modernism. And yet, these days, the similarities between the two cities are as striking as the contrasts. Madrid is hardly lazy any more. Nor is it old-fashioned. Indeed, it has become almost outrageously modern. To judge by the local cuisine1, you would think the place was a port: although far from the sea, seafood is a miraculous Madrid speciality.
As banks and businesses have been drawn to Madrid, it has become as much a commercial and industrial centre as an administrative one. Barcelona, meanwhile, has been experiencing a rise in bureaucracy.
The rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona is bound to remain fierce, not least on the soccer field, when Real Madrid and Barcelona compete for Spanish supremacy. 1 cuisine —кухня
Test № 20
I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следующие утверждения.
1. According to the old Catalan joke, people at a Madrid government office are lazier in the morning than in the afternoon.
2. Barcelona is the largest city in Spain.
3. Visitors to Madrid find that it is hardly lazy any more.
4. Nowadays Barcelona doesn't feel competitive with Madrid.
