Spain is different

In 1960, the Spanish Government launched a campaign under the slogan  "Spain is different" that changed the fate of country forever. The once isolated nation, still suffering the consequences of the Civil War, saw how suddenly, millions of European tourists discovered the history, beauty and strange habits of our country.

The success of that initiative made Spain what it is today, the second most visited country in the world ( now you will probably understand better why we don't like French )

Almost 60 years after that campaign we still are different. Very different.

But hey, it is not because we don't try to open to foreign contributions. For instance, it is easier to listen to reggaeton on the radio than flamenco and there is no corner in the country without a Starbuck water ( sorry I meant coffee ) outlet. We are even willing to pay three times more what it costs in a regular local place, wait 5 times more and have basically a tenth of the flavour. That's what I call commitment to internationalization.

In this effort to look more like the rest of the world, our dear and always imaginative Government has decided to start celebrating Halloween, changing our tradition of paying tribute to our ancestors and eat ( yes, it is not an authentic celebration if there isn't plenty of food and special cakes for the occasion).

But to have a proper Halloween celebration, a proper villain is required to terrorized the population. The name of Jamie Oliver first came to mind. What can be more scary than adding chorizo to a paella. It is undeniable that the Spanish population still have nightmares about the whole "paella-gate" thing. But although ideal the suggestion was soon rejected,  as it could backfire with the British and we may loose Gibraltar forever.

Second option was to create the fake news that Julio Iglesias was about to release another album in English, but then the Spice Girls anticipated their return a few days ago, so nobody could beat that horror.

Last but not least, they though about giving the Catalans independence, but just the rumour of it threw thousands of the local politicians onto the streets to beg the authorities for that not to happen, afraid they will loose their chances to keep robbing the citizens with the excuse of nationalism.

And then when our tall President was about to announce he backtrack (yet again), from the promise of national Halloween extravaganza, the brain of one our smart Ministers finally had an idea: what if we bring our old dictator back to life? said and done. A squad has been prepared to go and dig up his grave in time for the event.

Personally, I would have chosen other famous ( or infamous ) past citizens to dig out, for instance famous Architect Gaudi, the person responsible for making all the world think that we are lazy and can never do things on time. The famous "mañana , mañana" started when they asked him when was the Sagrada Familia will be finished. And lets not talk about Picasso, responsible for making the world believe with his portraits, that all Spaniards look weird and drive everyone in the country to imitate his style in search of fame. The famous old lady that restored a medieval painting in a "Picassian" way comes to mind...


Only time will tell if our Government will succeed in its attempt to put our country in the world stage, but as long as it does not frighten the tourists as much as it is frightening the population we should be ok.