I lived in Germany when it was still divided, and I was struck that a lot of loyalties seemed to be primarily to states, partly because of the depressing history of German nationalism. I was in Bavaria, so perhaps I had too much of a bias for that reason. Anyway, German unification took me totally by surprise. I had no idea the Westerners would be so willing to pay for state-building.

That said, I love the anecdote about the Andalusian flag. I also wonder, in the years that were bad, if the Real fans didn't blame the Catalonians and the Barca fans blame the Castillians.

As I was waking up this morning I was fantasizing of a world divided around urban centers. Instead of the United Nations, with the basic unit the nation state, you could have the Global Federation of Cities, with the basic unit the democratic polis. At a minimum, it would make for great football tournaments.