Do they have nothing better to do in Frankfurt? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
by pinkagendist
Everyone around here is up in arms about a recent article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. A reporter with much too much time on his hands has written about Sotogrande and its residents. It’s titled ‘An Oasis in Andalusia’ and he begins with:
“Ganz Spanien ist ein Land der Arbeitslosen. Ganz Spanien? Nein. Ein von unbeugsamen Millionären bevölkertes Dorf in Andalusien trotzt der Krise. Und golft einfach weiter. Von Hendrik Ankenbrand Auf dem Weg ins spanische Sotogrande teilt die Autovia 7 die reisende Menschheit in Arm und Reich. Seats, Opel und Motorroller tuckern auf der kostenlosen, aber nicht mehr ganz taufrischen Autobahnvariante bei Tempo 70 über die Dörfer der andalusischen Costa del Sol. Range Rover und Porsche hingegen schnurren ab Málaga mit Höchstgeschwindigkeit über …”
Silly, to say the least. Inequality exists all over Europe. Germany is no exception. All major cities have their peripheries. You leave Paris and suddenly you go from Haussmanian buildings to entering a landscape that would be at home in a Charles Bronson movie. The same is true in London, Madrid and even Berlin. It’s the same all around the world. Favelas in Rio are directly behind luxury apartment blocks. Manhattan and its outskirts have people from all walks of life. Singling out Sotogrande is rather disingenuous and irresponsible. It also fails to address the history of this region of Spain, neglected and relegated to poverty by General Franco for decades. Andalusians were communists and left-wingers, that was something that didn’t please the regime. Were it not for Prince von Hohenlohe in Marbella and Mr. McMicking here in Sotogrande (and all the people who followed their lead), the region would never have been developed to the degree it has developed, becoming a major tourist centre in Spain that attracts millions of visitors every year and has become a premier retirement destination for people from all over Europe. All of the Spanish owned businesses in the area exist to provide services for these (now large) communities. The jobs in the hotels, clubs, polo-fields, restaurants, golf courses et al all depend on these communities. To flippantly make fun of it doesn’t do justice to the progress that has been made since the 50′s and 60′s.
Unfortunately the article isn’t available without charge anymore. The paper’s probably got to finance the author’s trips to Andalucia…
Absolutely…
It’s not very interesting. He goes on and on talking about house sizes and polo etc- in the end he exaggerated a lot, and it was more comical than serious reporting.
that is kind of the style of the “FAZ Sonntagszeitung” which is the sunday edition of the FAZ. It is a bit “lighter” and less serious than the “normal” FAZ. This can sometimes result in “tabloid – style” reporting…
You knew I would love this and couldn’t resist a quick response – what happened to my siesta?
My German is crap although I could manage it for archaeology journals. I can understand Range Rover too. Ah, sehr gut. Or something like that.
But as said earlier, this region was poor for years before Franco. He just made it worse and killed the ones who didn’t agree with him.
You can’t live in Andalucía and claim to know the present without knowing the past. Or some such thinking. I do hope the new James Bond film is going to be in Gib soon. Ooops.
Back on topic. We tried to get into Sotogrande years ago. Prob before you were there. We were in our Series 3 Land Rover. Snobby shitheads wouldn’t let us in. WTF was wrong with my Land Rover?
It certainly was poor- but the point of the article is to highlight inequality here, when Sotogrande and Marbella (and Gib) actually serve as major money makers for the region. What would be of La Linea without Gibraltar?
Has Germany no equivalents?
Not one, but MANY equivalents. They’ve got it in every major city- and when the wall came down, ugh- the contrast between east and west Berlin was incredible. Which makes this little piece of ‘reporting’ all the more childish.
Now that is interesting. What about the media message that says Germany has melded together so well? Because I went to Berlin – through the wall – back in the days of adventure (and fear).
It was spooky, to say the least, but I haven’t been back for years. You are saying it’s not all hunky dory?
Totally NOT. One side is very blonde and unreceptive to diversity, they also happen to be poorer… Good old (and fun) west Berlin is still as cultural and diverse as ever.
So I thought mate – it’s the same policy of ‘othering’ that was used to portray Greek folk as feckless and responsible for the economic collapse. Now International Capital has it’s sights on Spanish people and culture so the propaganda machines are being rolled out.
If the Spanish stand up to the Troika, everyone else will follow – a big battle is coming.
Viva Espana!
-cough- I don’t suppose you could sort of translate that for those of us who don’t speak German?