the journal of cross border studies in ireland - The Centre for Cross ...

war came to an end, and free Spain fordemocracy.A Pyrenean mountain village in Cataloniawhen large sections of the populationof villages which had been loyal tothe Republic and many other Spanishrefugees used this border to get out ofSpain and into France, are now distantand part of history. But nothing is assimple as that. The paths were alsoused by priests who needed to flee fortheir lives from Republican Spain in 1936and 1937. The same mountain guides,working for money, led the priests tosafety as they later did those fleeingboth Hitler and Franco. Any diggingup of the past has to deal with the factthat some of the more affluent refugeescoming from France, many of themJewish, were robbed on the Spanishside of the border. The paths were alsoused by the maquis between 1944 and1946 who believed that if they coulddestabilize Franco´s regime by acts ofterrorism, then the Allied Forces wouldsee fit to follow their example, as theNo border in Europe is simple. NoLisbon Treaty is likely to affect, forexample, the position of Andorra, whichsits on the border between Cataloniaand France as a semi-independent,tax-free principality. Because of themountain roads and paths best knownto the locals which pour out fromAndorra, vast quantities of cigarettes,alcohol, electrical goods and much moreare smuggled. Since policing in Spain inthe years after Franco was as fraught asin Northern Ireland, a Catalan speakingpolice force was set up in Catalonia,but, since the border with France is anational border, the force used to stopsmuggling are the old Guardia Civil, whodo not speak the local language or knowthe territory. Their lack of knowledgeplus the mobile phone as the smuggler´ssecret new weapon mean that they arehighly ineffective. This border, like theIrish border, is filled with delicious waysof making easy money involving a localknowledge, a culture of secrecy andwatchfulness, and a sense that manypeople are involved at various levelsin a tight web of conspiracy againstauthority.Nor does the border here separate twodifferent nations, with two separateidentities which are absolute. This isperhaps more obvious in the BasquePyrenees with the idea that the Basquecountry straddles the Spanish-Frenchborder, but it exists also here in thePallars. Although less Catalan is spokenon the French side in every generation,there is a still a strong feeling amongpeople on both sides of this border that24JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND No.5