Eternal blame: boomers and the left at war over the flag

Boomers versus the left: the fight over the flag

The diagnosis is brutal and, therefore, popular: Spain is doomed because part of its population hates its symbols, its history and its own flag. The finger-pointing doesn't stop at the anonymous citizen; it targets boomers and their supposed patriotic shame, raised between the Transition (Spain's return to democracy) and 1990s television. That generation which, according to the accusation, filled the rear-view mirror with little flags and their mouths with criticism of anyone who didn't stand for the anthem.

Portrait of the enemy: from the flag to the properties

There are no official figures to measure hatred of one's own nation; the battle is fought in the terrain of grievance. Without any stamped paperwork, the 1990s boomer is sketched out: two children, and three decades later four properties and a monthly income of 8,000 euros. It's the identikit picture of the traitor: the one who disowns the country that allowed them to prosper. The stereotype is crude, but it describes a real resentment.

The rhetorical twist: swapping 'boomer' for 'left'

A simple change of label solves the riddle for the opposing camp. Swap 'boomer' for 'left' and the diagnosis holds: the real cancer would be the left, the independence movement and the parties that support them. In this reading, the one who hates Spain isn't the comfortable veteran but the heir to the communist tradition. Both sides agree on at least one thing: no private individual should be hassled for displaying a little flag on their wrist or rear-view mirror.

The heart of the problem isn't patriotism, but the mirror: each side sees in the other the caricature of its own antiestéticars. As long as finding a culprit remains more profitable than finding a diagnosis, the war over the flag admits no truce.