Barcelona, Dan Brown and the Russian Revolution

Was it more than coincidence that Barcelona received world attention in the 2nd half of 2017, for more than one reason?

The famous “The Da Vinci Code” author DAN BROWN centered his 2017 novel “Origin” on the city of Barcelona. His novel “Origin” was officially released  on the same day (October 3rd 2017) as the general strike in Barcelona in response to the police violence and perceived aggression by the right-wing Spanish government  after the Referendum vote (October the 1st) for independence for the region of Catalonia.

The police had been called in previously in August to deal with a  terrorist attack in Barcelona (17th August 2017) that grabbed world headlines.

The day after October 3rd 2017 (the 4th), the BBC broadcast a repeat of a TV program on Barcelona first shown in May 2017: “Barcelona: An Art Lovers’ Guide” (BBC4), one of a 3 part series. The series repeat began before October – on September 27th.

October 2017 marked the centenary of the “October Revolution” in 1917 in Russia, when left-wing politics became the norm in Russia. Catalonian politics in the 20th century strived to be mostly left-wing, but obviously suffered during the Right-wing Franco regime. During the  Spanish civil war in the 1930s, the left-leaning British author GEORGE ORWELL entered (and exited) Spain at Barcelona where he spent time as a soldier opposing the right-wing fascist government.

October the 13th was a Friday in 2017. Unlucky for some? “The Knights Templar” were supposedly arrested and disbanded on October Friday 13th back in 1307. Previously they had been a very powerful Catholic military order, until the Catholic church decided to bring their influence to a halt.

Catalan independence fits in with the Ruling Elite’s plan for the dismantling of the traditional nation state in favour of smaller regions and city states that will be subordinate to transnational institutions (continental authorities and global authorities).

Dan Brown’s novel promises a new scientific discovery that will revolutionise both science and religion. I assume that Brown is proposing that this discovery will happen in the real world. I won’t spoil the plot, but Brown appears to me to be proposing a reformation of science and religion that fits in with the Ruling Elite’s New Age plans.

Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” gives a highly misleading understanding of religious/occult symbolism, in my opinion.

Barcelona is occasionally mentioned  in the British TV sitcom “Fawlty Towers”, which was repeated in August and September 2017 on the BBC-part-owned channel “Yesterday” (which broadcasts mostly BBC repeats). Barcelona is the hometown of the “Fawlty Towers” character MANUEL.

Almost 2 months after October 1st, Barcelona got 2 more utterances in Britain on the same day, November 23rd 2017:
1) On BBC Radio 4, Comedian/writer/actor ALEXEI SAYLE spoke of Barcelona in the episode “Death And Travel” of his comedy series “Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar”. He has visited Spain a lot and has another home in Southern Spain. “Barcelona Plates” is the title of his short story collection. Coincidentally or not, Sayle’s parents were Communists and he followed in their footsteps in his youth. Although he left the Communists, he still retained his ‘left wing’ persona in his stand up comedy in the 1980s when the ‘right wing’ Conservative Party under Thatcher were in power.

2)On Channel 4, “The Simpsons”, episode “Yolo”, 1st aired in the USA in 2013. Homer encounters someone from Barcelona and together they visit the city.