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The bad feeling between the Catelans and Spain has been festering for the best part of a century.
I think you would need to look at the suppression, and subsequent destruction off, the Cathars as in the 13th century.
Just a smidge longer.
Aroogah-
To be honest, I doubt the students scrawling Catalunya Lliure on toilet doors at the Universitat de Barcelona when I was there 17 years ago much cared about the history of the Cathars. Being a regional separatist/nationalist has long been a part of Spain's counter-culture, initially as a reaction to the Franquismo but it has stuck around after that ended. I don't mean to denigrate the identity by saying so, but the 'ancient hatreds' trope is as inaccurate as the idea that this isn't a real, felt identity. Past history is mobilised as a narrative to reinforce current feelings of community, even if elements of that history are contested.
h2o
The bad feeling between the Catelans and Spain has been festering for the best part of a century. There are plenty of people still alive who remember life in Catelonia under Franco. It wasn't pretty.