The first time I heard about Barcelona was at age 11 and I was watching the '92 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony. I thought, any city that can light up an olympic torch with a bow and arrow has to be freaking awesome! Ten years later at age 21, I finally got to visit Barcelona, the first and only Spanish city I've ever visited prior to moving to Madrid, and I loved every minute of it! At 26, I excitedly and happily went there for a quick trip and, I left sad and heartbroken. By the age of 27, I'd grown to despise Barcelona by association of the last trip and the fact that living in Madrid makes you kinda anti-Barcelona. And now at the age of 28, I find myself moving to this city that I love and yet, hate. Why all the hatin', you ask? Well, I have a few reasons.
For one, I'm more familiar with Madrid. When you ask most tourists which city they prefer, they will say Barcelona. They say it's beautiful and it's got both beach and mountains as opposed to landlocked, flatter Madrid. I agree with all of this. On the surface, Barcelona is incredible. There's a ton to see and you have the choice of seeing it from the beach or from the top of a mountain. Either way it's amazing. Madrid, on the other hand, can be seen in one day and it's for sure got nothing on Barcelona's architecture. But to me Madrid is not about what it looks like. It's the lifestyle; it's the feeling; it's the people. Once you're surrounded by all of that, you can't help but love it.
Okay, so maybe it's because I've just lived there long enough to be a Barcelona hater. I guess I should also explain the Madrid - Barcelona rivalry. It is something that I, as a foreigner, would probably never fully understand. Madrileños have a tendency to trash talk Barcelona, as I'm sure the people of Barcelona do to Madrid. Some of it is political. I've encountered Madrileños who think it's unfair that they can't easily work in Barcelona due to the fact that they can't speak Catalan, while it's easier the other way around. For some, it's all about sports. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona rivalry is pretty intense. Personally, I think it's just a case of two big metropolitan cities trying to get the "who's better than who" title. Madrid hates Barcelona because it has more international fame, deeming it the "cooler one", and Barcelona hates Madrid for slowly taking over economically, making it the "soon to be cool one".
I can't really explain exactly how it works. In a way, it's very subtle. You don't quite realize how much it affects you. It starts out with you agreeing with all the Madrileños, "Yeah you're right, Barcelona is dirty"; "People from Barcelona are definitely not as nice as Madrileños"; "I hate Barca players. They're such chulos! Go Real Madrid". I started to notice my Barcelona hostility when I started bashing it with not just Madrileños but with other Americans living in Madrid. And also when I'd meet people from Barcelona and I'd automatically say "Oh no, you're from Barcelona. I don't know about that dude." Case in point, Francisco. Thankfully, he took this reaction very well.
Or maybe the dislike is simply due to nerves. Some people say that this move should be easy especially since I've done it once before. Although this is true, I still can't help but be nervous. Barcelona is quite different from Madrid. They speak a completely different language that confuses the crap out of me; I will be living with a boyfriend (this in itself is scary enough), and; I have to start over again: find friends, find a job and start a completely new life.
Ufff! I obviously have lots of personal issues to iron out. I really do want to grow to love Barcelona, and I feel like I can. I'm curious to see how I'll feel about Madrid after living there. Let's hope that I find a balance between both and learn to love them equally...
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