Raza en España: Dos Cosas Interesantes.

(Why am I starting with a picture of the Obamas and Oprah at Williams- Brice last year? Because I can)

Sparing you any sort of surface-level analysis of the ethnic makeup of Madrid (therefore also carefully avoiding terms such as “melting pot” for the benefit of all involved), I noticed two really interesting things a few weeks ago.

A few Sundays ago I was walking through el Rastro, Spain's giant open air flea market. Amid the stalls selling Real Madrid scarves and cheap jewelry I noticed a vendor selling Spanish, American and Confederate flags (see below). I honestly do not understand who in Spain is in the market for a Confederate flag, and, when I first noticed it, I had to look twice to make sure I wasn’t just seeing things.

The second event occurred when I went with my women’s studies class to see “Los Abrazos Rotos,” the latest film by Pedro Almodóvar.

Before the movie started, where previews would have been in the U.S., they played a montage of black and white photographs from the American South under Jim Crow laws. A predictably melancholy song was playing in the background, and it was a bit disconcerting to see something so specifically tied with the U.S. in front of a completely Spanish film. The only explanation I could think of at first was that this was the beginning of a preview for a movie in the vein of “Remember the Titans,” but then the sad music gave way to a much brighter song and a giant, smiling photo of Barack Obama was displayed on the screen. There was a tag ling at the bottom that I can’t remember, but I think it said something along the lines of “Change is finally here.”

Maybe the Barack Obama spot was paid for by some independent donor and maybe the Confederate flag, like Che Guevara and the CCCP logo before it, has just become a slightly tongue-in-cheek fashion statement. Maybe this is an example of the whole “when the U.S. sneezes Europe gets a cold” school of thought. I don’t know. I just thought I’d share those experiences and see what people thought!

This blog sponsored by "Los Abrazos Rotos" (the "Broken Embraces" is the English title) Go see it!