Barcelona is a beautiful place to live. It is a place of beautiful architecture, historical monuments, plentiful art and sculpture, a beach, mountains close by, rich culture, good shopping and excellent food. It is one of the top places in Europe to visit. Now, however, it is becoming known as a place of terrorist attacks and political unrest.

The Catalan parliament organised a referendum that has been declared illegal, and the future has suddenly become uncertain. Will we be part of the kingdom of Spain? Or an independent republic? Spain is firmly in the driving seat at present, but no one knows what the future will be.

Everything is peaceful and, for most of the time, there is no sense of anything being wrong. I have sat in our local plazas and, apart from more flags hanging from buildings, it is like any other warmish autumnal day. Feelings are polarised and it is hard to say what the majority opinion is. There is considerable uncertainty around and a level of anxiety among many. As a chaplain, I rarely have had as many pastoral conversations…

John Chapman is Chaplain of St George’s Church, an international Anglican church in Barcelona

___

This is an extract from an article that was published in the December 2017 / January 2018 edition of  Reform

Subscribe to Reform