That other pain

     This country welcomed me with open arms many years ago when I had to flee the land where I was born and raised.

     That is why what we are experiencing in recent times hurts me. After forty years in Spain I think I have some right to express my feelings.

     All the people I have interacted with since I arrived here, the señora I served until recently, the friendships I have forged, Juani, the woman at the grocer´s, my painting teacher, my colleagues... They have made me feel that I had my new home here, that I was one more, that I could count on them; however, I am perplexed by the evolution that society in general and politics in particular are having.

     Dear Fran, I ask you: How can an Autonomous President publicly call the president of the government a son of a bitch and quedarse tan pancha? But the worst of all are those who laugh at the insult and applaud her. How can a bully brothel bouncer become an advisor and trusted man of an entire minister? How can the Catalan issue be dealt with by deceiving citizens again and again? Why keep giving examples.

    In this corner of the world they don't know what they have and they run the risk of losing everything.

     Y. a.

     Mary