Spanja nsejnieha

Fl-istennija tar-referendum tar-Renju Unit dwar il-Brexit, ftit li xejn ingħatat attenzjoni fl-aħħar ġimgħat għal ġrajja politika importanti oħra għall-Ewropa: l-elezzjoni tal-Ħadd li jmiss fi Spanja, it-tieni waħda f’sitt xhur hemm.
L-iżvilupp ewlieni jidher li se jkun li wara l-alleanza ġdida tiegħu mal-partit ċkejken tal-eks-Komunisti, Podemos il-partit xellugi li ħareġ mill-protesti fit-toroq kontra l-awsterità ta’ xi tlieta/erba’ snin ilu, se jsir it-tieni l-akbar formazzjoni politika fi Spanja.
Jekk jiġri hekk, il-kwistjoni se tqum: is-Soċjalisti li jispiċċaw fit-tielet post se jkunu lesti jidħlu f’koalizzjoni ta’ gvern ma’ Podemos? Ftit ilu, dan irrifjuta l-appoġġ tiegħu lis-soċjalisti meta huma pprovaw iwaqqfu gvern.
Jekk ta’ Podemos jirnexxilhom isostnu koalizzjoni, tliet pajjiżi tas-sud se jkunu mmexxija minn gvernijiet b’dominanza tax-xellug-xellug: il-Greċja, il-Portugall, Spanja.
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Fil-għoli
Dejjem rajtha bħala soluzzjoni effettiva għall-isfida dwar kemm se ndumu ngħabbu l-art Matlija bil-bini, dik li ntellgħu torrijiet fil-għoli. B’hekk niffrankaw fl-uzu tal-art u nipprovdu aktar postijiet fejn in-nies toqgħod u taħdem, mingħajr ma nkomplu nkissru l-wirt ta’ bini li ħallewlna ta’ qabilna.
Illum naħseb li għandhom raġun dawk li qed jgħidu: attenti mill-ħafna proġetti ta’ bini fil-għoli li qed jitħabbru. Veru li ħafna minnhom huma aktar miraġġ milli realtà ta’ proġetti. Biss, anki jekk tnejn minnhom biss jittellgħu sas-sulari li qed jissemmew, jista’ jkollna problema.
Binjiet hekk iridu jkunu ppjanati bis-sens, bi trasparenza, bla omertà u korruzzjoni. L-infrastruttura għalihom trid tiġi konfermata, mhux bħal fil-każ skandaluż ta’ Tigne, tibqa’ tiġi injorata mill-awtoritajiet, minkejja l-obbligi li kienu marbuta ma’ dak il-proġett.
Għadna ma żviluppajniex il-prattika meħtieġa biex dan l-ippjanar jitwettaq.
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Kultura
Ħbieb tiegħi ħadu għalihom meta dehru artikli fl-istampa u f’siti tal-internet li semmew is-soċjetà Maltija bħala waħda mill-anqas fl-Ewropa li tgħożż il-qari u l-kultura.
Ipprovajt insabbarhom. Għedtilhom kif fl-Ewropa u barra minnha, dejjem isibuha ħaġa aktar ħafifa li jlumu lill-pajjiżi ż-żgħar milli lill-kbar.
Biex inkun onest: ma għamiltx dan b’kuxjenza safja. Il-verità hi li fostna l-arti, il-kultura, l-qari u l-letteratura baqgħu l-għalqa tal-ftit, li faċli tikkunsidrahom bħala elite. Terġa’, oħrajn li popolarment mitqiesa bħala l-elite, u jriduha ta’ hekk, jikkonsistu minn ftit mijiet li aktar interessati f’fejn jidhru u kif jidhru, milli fl-andament kulturali.
Biżżejjed tiftakar kif l-aqwa gazzetta tal-Ħadd tippublika s-suppliment tagħha, li fost suġġetti oħra jittratta l-kultura, taħt l-isem ta’ ESCAPE.
B’xorti tajba, għandna saffi ġodda ta’ attivisti żgħażagħ li jridu jiftħu orizzonti kulturali ġodda. Xieraq li jmexxu dibattitu wiesa’ dwar kif dan għandu jsir.

English Version – What about Spain?

As in recent weeks, we awaited the UK referendum on Brexit, we hardly gave so much attention to another development that is quite important in European terms – this Sunday’s elections in Spain, the second one in six months.

The major gamechanger will apparently be the new alliance forged with the small ex-Communist party by Podemos, the left wing party that emerged from the streetprotests of some three/four years ago against austerity policies: the alliance could become the second largest political formation in Spain.

If this happens, the question could arise: will the socialists who would finish in third place, be ready to participate in a coalition government with Podemos? Not so long ago, Podemos refused to support the socialists when they tried to set up a government.

If Podemos manage to get a coalition going, three southern countries would be led by governments with a left-left leaning: Greece, Portugal and Spain.

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Up high

I always believed that constructing high rise towers could be an effective solution to the challenge of how to limit urban sprawl. It could be a way by which to economise on land use, while providing increased living and work space for people, without damaging further the building heritage left by our predecessors.

Today I tend to agree with those who say: better be careful about the many highrise projects that are being announced. It is true that most of them will turn out to be ephemeraland will never become real life projects. However even if only two do get built, with the double digit skyline by way of storeys mentioned for them, problems might arise.

Similar developments need to be planned with care, transparency, and no underhand deals or corruption. The infrastructure that they need should be defined and confirmed, not as happened in the scandalous Tigne case, left hanging by the authorities, despite the obligations that were embedded in that project.

We still have not developed the practice to ensure such planning.

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Culture

Some friends of mine were displeased when media and internet articles referred to Maltese society as one of the least in Europe to value reading and culture.

One can try to console them by pointing out how both inside Europe and outside, it is always considered easier to slate the smallerrather than the bigger countries.

However, to be honest, it is difficult to provide such consolation with a clear conscience. The truth is that among us, the arts, culture, reading, literature have remained interests limited to a small minority, whom it would be easy to classify as an elite. Moreover, others who are popularly considered as the elite, and who expect to be so considered, amount to a few hundreds; really, they are more interested in where they can be seen and how, rather than in cultural matters.

Significantly, the leading Sunday newspaper publishes its weekly magazine which covers culture among other subjects, under the title ESCAPE.

Luckily, new groupings of young activists havebeen emerging who try to open new cultural horizons. It would be useful if they could lead a debate about how this could be done.