A LOOK BACK

I’ve decided to dedicate this final column of the year to a review of the articles I wrote for this magazine in 2024, taking into account my commitment to be more positive in my writing. At the end of the article, I’ll give you a tally of how I feel I got on in that respect.

We started well, as January saw me writing in glowing terms about the Catalan health system following a health scare at the end of 2023. Yes, a positive start as I began the year with gratitude – both for Catalonia’s healthcare professionals and for surviving a surprise hospitalisation. A simple ER visit for congestion escalated into a heart procedure after alarmingly high troponin levels were detected. The experience left me shaken but immensely thankful for the kindness and expertise of the doctors and nurses. It also gave me a new lease on life: “I enter 2024 not only with gratitude but a first-ever bucket list”.

In February, I vented about my struggles with a Spanish social media agency hired to boost my online presence. Didn’t take long for the cynicism to creep in, did it? Miscommunication, missed deadlines and unapologetic attitudes led me to muse about differing cultural approaches to customer service. I wondered whether the company’s behaviour, which I saw as unprofessional, might be considered perfectly acceptable locally. My question hung in the air like the proverbial bad smell: “Is it me?”

March sucked me into to the dreaded world of Barcelona’s rental market. My tale of renewing my flat rental contract unfolded like a comedy of errors, involving shady agents, illegal fees and curt responses to my queries. Forced to accept a dubious contract, I summed up the ordeal with a nod to Lou Reed: “Somewhere, a landlord’s laughing till he wets his pants”.

Returning from a trip abroad in April, I discovered my scooter had been towed due to sudden roadworks. Despite my best Withnail-style demands for justice, I was told the towing was lawful and fined 131 euros. My takeaway? “Learn the rules, mate,” though the experience did seem to exemplify the Kafkaesque bureaucracy faced by residents in Barcelona.

In May, I tackled the language of international reporting on Catalonia’s independence movement. Dissecting the portrayal of figures like Carles Puigdemont, I accused international journalists of parroting Madrid’s bias. The column highlighted how loaded language can subtly manipulate readers’ perceptions.

June and July saw me reflect on my years here, as Catalonia Today celebrated its 20th anniversary. I shared memories of working in translation and football commentary, highlighting moments like having my own local TV show – The Week in Football – and being Barça TV’s online English commentator. Meanwhile, September’s column on summer in Sant Gervasi captured my frustrations with noisy neighbours and the oppressive heat, contrasting these with the rare joy of a neighbour’s blues piano.

October’s column focused on Barcelona’s transformation into a tourist magnet. I described navigating Les Rambles as “a contact sport” and lamented the city’s gentrification, while November took a culinary turn, addressing food waste in Catalonia. From limp lettuce to post-calçotada leftovers, I called for smaller portions and better planning: “Eat what we’ve cooked, and cook what we’ll actually eat”.

So how did I get on in my attempts to be more constructive in my 2024 columns? Well, a brief recount seems to have it at Positive anecdotes 5 Moaning again 5, with one tie (I’m calling the scooter column “balanced”). Overall, a draw then. But hang on a minute, by my reckoning, that’s an improvement on years gone by. Let’s see if I can look beyond the world’s woes in 2025 and tip my writing in favour of being positive by this time next year…

Opinion