VANDALS spray-painted the Spanish flag on the car of an Armuña de Almanzora resident from Cataluña.
The patriotic Catalan had recently hoisted the breakaway region’s flag on his terrace to voice his support for the independence movement.
But that didn’t sit well with at least one of the town’s 300 residents. The very next day the man’s 4×4 had two large Spanish flags spray painted on the hood and door of the vehicle.
The victim doesn’t have quite the Catalan heritage that might be expected. Both his parents are from Armuña. They moved to Cataluña before he was born, then returned when he was older.
Nor is he the only Catalan with Almerian roots. Interestingly the president of Cataluña, Carles Puigdemont, who defied Madrid to call an independence referendum, is one quarter Almerian.
Puigdemont is known for proudly listing no less than six surnames on his official forms. All are classic Catalan names, helping promote his image as a pure-blooded son of Cataluña.
But the reason there aren’t eight surnames, to include all of his great-grandparents, is because the missing two are Almerian. One great-grandfather was from Dalias, and one great-grandmother from Cuevas del Almanzora.