Sara Høyrup

Høyrup on Catalonia • 23rd December 2021

THE 5-YEAR OLD WHO MADE CATALAN EXTINCT

The powers that be in my former region in North-Eastern Spain never let a chance go to waste to set Catalonia's two language communities at loggerheads with one another. The real Catalan question, conflict or crisis -call it as you please- is entirely internal: between Catalans.

LA HOYRUP • 1st June 2019

Public Diplomacy Under Oath

MASTER'S THESIS | INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL JOURNALISM – Diplocat's role in the secessionist attempt: In the fall of 2017, Spain trembled. In its northeastern corner, the region Catalonia tried to wrestle free by means of two secession laws, a referendum and several declarations of independence. In the spring of 2019, the ensuing trial against the separatist leaders took place in the Spanish supreme court.

LA HOYRUP • 1st June 2019

Introduction to the European Union

BASICS – Everybody wants to come across as a green democrat for freedom. But the confusion does not end with the names of the political groups in the European Parliament. Treading through the maze of confounding names for the other institutions, here is a clear layout of what it is all about.

LA HOYRUP • 15th March 2019

How the World Was Saved

HISTORY – During the Cuban missile crisis, the Russians sent the Americans mixed messages, and the Americans took their chances reacting only to the one they believed to be from Krushchev personally, while ignoring the following harsher one believed to be from the Politburo. The two messages could simply not be understood as the rational output of a unitary actor.

LA HOYRUP • 15th March 2019

The Throne Trembles in Algeria

ANALYSIS – "The non-believers go to pick up the believers at the mosque to march together. The Algerian youth is modern and well-prepared. They are politically mature. And they have a lot in common with young people on the European side of the Mediterranean. Like them, they want a chance."

LA HOYRUP • 10th March 2019

Åsne and Aage in the Orient

LITERATURE – Where Seierstad is shiny and self-centered, Borchgrevink is serious and empathic. While Seierstad is brimming with contempt for the premodern societies, they fill Borchgrevink with a longing away from the overly quiet and feminized Scandinavian reality.

LA HOYRUP • 7th March 2019

The American Welfare Candidate

ANALYSIS – There is no doubt about it: Bernie Sanders loves Denmark, and Denmark loves him right back. If it were up to the Danes, this mild-mannered gentleman would be leading the world’s only superpower. So why is the entire globe stuck with the man with the orange skin color and the dubious mental state? And does the left-leaning candidate Sanders stand a chance this way around?

LA HOYRUP • 18th February 2019

Crossing Simón Bolívar

ANALYSIS – More populist and dictatorial than Socialist as such, the late Chávez’ Bolivarian revolution has led to yet another version of authoritarianism in the guise of social justice. This is why, even when the people wants rid of this regime, it will not go away willingly.

LA HOYRUP • 17th February 2019

Mitigating a hard Brexit

ANALYSIS – In the light of the risk of a no-deal scenario for the British exit from the European Union, the European Commission has adopted a series of contingency proposals on 30 January 2019. The purpose is to mitigate the consecuences of a possible hard split on UK and EU citizen alike, by allowing current cross-boundary activity to run their course.

LA HOYRUP • 25th January 2019

The State of Trump

ANALYSIS – While we have been waiting for the American President to snap out of his tantrum, get on with the tedious toiling of administrating, and thus be allowed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to inform the world of the State of the Union, we have taken stock of the first half of Donald Trump’s tenure.

LA HOYRUP • 23rd January 2019

Cross-Channel Correspondence

ANALYSIS – On January 14, letters were sent back and forth between London and the continent. First, the British Prime Minister Theresa May wrote to the European Union that the United Kingdom is in the process of leaving, in an orderly or abrupt fashion; or perhaps not at all, as British Remainers keep campaigning for. At noon, the Union had its answer ready.

LA HOYRUP • 22nd January 2019

La paz irlandesa peligra por el brexit

ANÁLISIS – En estas fechas que no sabemos si el Reino Unido se va de la Unión Europea o se queda, y de qué manera, conviene analizar qué consecuencias tendría un brexit duro sin acuerdo para Irlanda. O acaso un brexit blando con un acuerdo que vende la paz irlandesa en pos de otros intereses, ahora que la derrota del plan forjado por la primera ministra Theresa May y la Unión Europea deja el futuro incierto.

LA HOYRUP • 10th January 2019

Spanish War Games

ANALYSIS – Spain is selling spare parts for combat vehicles to Venezuela and producing naval vessels for Saudi Arabia. Protesters hold the Spanish King responsible, while the Socialist prime minister refers to contracts signed by the former Conservative government.

LA HOYRUP • 21st October 2018

”Poor Press Coverage of Catalan Crisis”

INTERVIEW – The Catalan journalist Juan Pablo Cardenal talks about his forthcoming book on the secessionist lobby in his home region. His research concerns the lobby’s impact internationally as well as locally on the press coverage and public opinion.

Foto: Sara Høyrup

LA HOYRUP • 9th October 2018

"Only half the population"

INTERVIEW 2/4 – I talk to Jonathan Wilson about the secessionst process in the region he has lived and worked in since before the Olympics 1992.

LA HOYRUP • 9th October 2018

"A vote for civil war"

INTERVIEW 3/4 – I talk to longtime Catalonia resident Jonathan Wilson about the stalemate in Spain's rebellious Northern Eastern region.

Foto: Sara Høyrup

LA HOYRUP • 9th October 2018

Peaceful secessionists?

INTERVIEW 4/4 – I talk to the Northern Irish immigrant Jonathan Wilson about what it means when the Catalan separatists claim to be non-violent.

LA HOYRUP • 16th October 2017

The Role of Translation in the Refugee Drama

COMMENT – No training, no certification, no preparation: Welcome to the Danish asylum interpreting

LA HOYRUP • 18th July 2019

On the Banalization of Democracy

ESSAY – Europe is ill prepared for populist campaigns running contrary to any healthy concept of democracy. While the European institutions have timidly withstood the Catalanist lobby’s winging and whining, member state media and parliamentarians have warmed to the secessionist claims of group rights. Little does the claque care that these supposed rights are made up of self-serving ”misunderstandings” of international legislation. Everybody loves a good cause; and simple narratives make the media’s job as watchdog so much easier.