SPAIN: Spaniards go to the polls tomorrow for a referendum on the new EU constitutional treaty, but energising voters is an uphill task, writes Déaglán de Bréadún, in Barcelona.
In the sunshine of a Barcelona morning watching the citizens gossip over another coffee, the cares of the world seem far away. Even the idea of reaching for standard journalistic terms like "crisis", "urgency" and "destabilise" seems a form of sacrilege.
It may be rush-hour elsewhere, but this city listens to a different music. And please don't mention politics - people are too busy being cool and exploring the art of living.
So spare a thought for the hapless individuals trying to generate debate over the EU's constitutional treaty. There's a referendum on the issue tomorrow, throughout Spain, but it's hard to tell from the atmosphere in Barcelona. A mild hangover from last night's wine might afflict some citizenry but I met no one suffering from campaign fever.
Part of the problem is that people have such short memories. It's not long since Spain was a cold house for democrats. The po-faced and repressive dictatorship of Generalissimo Franco ruled for 40 years. Spain was a sunny space on the margins, almost forgotten by key players like France and Germany.
Now it has a vibrancy and cultural dynamism unimaginable in the stagnant Franco era.
Democracy, such a fragile flower even after the demise of the dictator, flourishes unchallenged. Basque and Catalan nationalism has been accommodated sufficiently to prevent them becoming a serious threat to national unity. Even ETA terrorism has been kept to a manageable level and the country has recovered from the shock of the horrific al-Qaeda train atrocities in Madrid last March.
In this comparatively relaxed atmosphere, attempting to generate urgency over the EU constitution is an uphill task. No doubt it will pass by a substantial majority but there is a serious question-mark over turnout, which has to be at least 40 per cent to be convincing.
With referendums planned in nine other EU states - including Ireland which will probably vote in late October - Spain is first into the arena. Unlike, say, Britain, France, Poland or the Czech Republic, victory is guaranteed, but if the electorate doesn't bother to vote it will mean a setback for the ratification process in the rest of Europe.
The referendum here is non-binding and the Cortes, the Spanish parliament, will make the final decision. But that's regarded as a formality. The issue remains whether the Spanish love for Europe is passive or active. A leading campaigner for the constitution, Mr Ignaci Guardans, expressed the frustration on the Yes side.
He's a MEP and a leading figure in the Catalan nationalist Convergence and Unity (CIU) party, which held power in the region for 23 years until it went into opposition in late 2003.
"It's very difficult to campaign," he told me at the CIU office on Corsega Street. "People don't know what we are talking about. People have the feeling that Europe is there as the Mediterranean is there. It's like voting whether we want to sit at the Mediterranean or not. It is very difficult to explain to citizens to what extent the European Constitution affects their lives."
A lawyer, Mr Guardans thinks we "have to rethink the communication of Europe". He believes the heads of states and government were "hypocritical" when they signed off on the document last June and then blandly sent it forth for ratification. "They have done nothing to create a general European state of consciousness," he said. The Constitution has been "left to sail on its own".
The problem in face-to-face communication with the voters is threefold: they don't understand the text; don't understand why a constitution is needed; and don't know what will happen if they say No. There is also the complacency factor: "They consider it unthinkable that our relationship with the EU could go backward."
The CIU's main rival for the nationalist vote in the region is the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) which opposes the constitution. Guardans agrees with some of the ERC's criticisms.
"This Europe is not being designed in the way that we would be designing it," he says. In regions such as Catalonia, their identity and language are not properly recognised in the constitution, he says. Lithuanians and Maltese have greater linguistic recognition than Catalans who number 10 million in all, including those living outside the region.
Spain's Socialist Party Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero, has staked his political reputation on a resounding Yes vote. All eyes in Europe are on Spain, he warned electors during a vigorous campaign. But apathy is hard to deal with and he was not helped when two major European figures initially failed to turn up for a campaign rally in Barcelona with Mr Zapatero and France's President Chirac.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi both cried off, pleading illness. The Spanish media were not impressed, however, when Mr Schröder was photographed that very morning, laughing and joking at an event in the German city of Lubeck. But he made amends this week when he appeared at a rally in Zaragoza.
To get out the young vote, a state-funded youth group has distributed an energising soft drink called "Referendum Plus", said to have as much caffeine as two cups of coffee.
Tomorrow will show whether it was the right potion to lure Spaniards from the cafe to the polling booth.