Scots have kilts, what do Catalans have?
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Separatist protesters demonstrate during Catalunya's National Day in central Barcelona (Albert Gea Reuters, / September 11, 2013)
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MADRID (Reuters) - When Catalonia's local language was reintroduced in the northern Spanish region's schools three decades ago, Nati Grabiel was on the frontlines of the effort, training teachers to educate in the Catalan tongue.
Today, the 72-year-old retired schoolteacher is on another crusade: trying to convince the world that Catalonia should break away from Spain. She and five other pro-independence senior citizens are travelling to the United States early next year to shoot a film that explains Catalan culture and history.
"There is no going back. No, no, no," says the dynamic, white-haired Grabiel.
Grabiel's cinematic adventure is one of many marketing efforts, including movies, books and web projects, to promote a growing movement to make the region of 7.5 million people - 16 percent of Spain's total - an independent state.
Around half its residents would choose independence in a yes-no breakaway referendum, according to polls, and they are pushing for a vote similar to the one Scotland will hold next year on leaving the United Kingdom.
The central government has resisted the move, saying a referendum would be unconstitutional.
Most Spaniards struggle to understand the campaign for independence, since Catalonia has significant self-governing powers and last year received a financial rescue of billions of euros from Madrid. But many Catalans feel they would not have needed a bailout if their taxes weren't partly used to support poorer regions.
Catalonia's drive for more control over taxes and public spending has gained force in the last two years as all of Spain has undergone painful austerity measures to cut a dangerously high public deficit. Tensions between the region, which makes up a fifth of the Spanish economy, and Madrid over budget and other issues have raised the prospects of a break-up.
In hopeful anticipation, Catalans are trying to get their voices heard worldwide. Magazine editor Claudia Pujol recently raised more than 150,000 euros in an on-line campaign to produce a book of photos and English-language essays "Catalonia Calling". She says the book will be mailed to 10,000 world figures such as U.S. President Barack Obama, Pope Francis, former footballer Pele and Hollywood star Nicole Kidman.
"Everyone knows Scotland - the kilt, the whisky. But they don't know much about Catalonia, so we want to make it an international 'brand' and publicize our struggle to become an independent state," says Ferran Civit, one of the leaders of the Catalonia National Assembly.
His group, an independent civic organization, has organized mass demonstrations for independence, including a human chain formed on Catalan national day September 11, when hundreds of thousands of people held hands across the entire region.
CULTURAL, DIPLOMATIC DRIVE
Though Catalonia is one of Spain's most prosperous regions, with major banks and industry and the vibrant art and tourist city of Barcelona, resentment over perceived cultural and economic discrimination has grown over the past few years.
Public use of the Catalan language was widely banned under dictator Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975, and education had to be in Castilian Spanish. Since Spain returned to democracy, Catalonia has implemented a Catalan-dominated curriculum.
Catalans like Grabiel have chafed at what they see as central government attempts to water down their Catalan education model by increasing daily class hours in Castilian.
"I want people to understand it's not all in our heads. They took away our language and culture. It's been centuries of hardship," she says.
The new marketing efforts are, therefore, aimed at celebrating and promoting Catalan culture and history beyond Spain as a way of putting pressure on Madrid, promoters say. Some books and films celebrate famous Catalans such as Antoni Gaudi, the sardana folk dance and food customs such as squeezing raw tomato on bread; others have a more political focus, such as two recent English-language essay collections "What's up with Catalonia" and "What Catalans Want", aimed at explaining the independence drive to outsiders.
Some saw Catalonia's 2011 ban on bullfighting as part of a drive to emphasize its distinction from the rest of the country.
There is also an official diplomatic drive underway via Catalonia's mini-embassies in New York, Brussels, London, Paris and Berlin, which together have a 3 million euro budget. The region's publicly funded Public Diplomacy Council, or Diplocat, is organizing seminars around Europe.
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