Catalonia, satellite image of snowfall March 8, 2010 |
The regional
Government of Catalonia decided that a referendum would take place on Catalan
independence on October 1, 2017. But the Constitutional Court of Spain declared
on September 6, 2017 that the referendum and its invocation violated the
Constitution.
Spain is
divided in 17 autonomous communities with government delegates who must follow
the same Constitution and legislation. However, Catalonia has tried for a long
time to become independent. A few Catalonian politicians believe that they have
something important to gain if they separate from Spain. After all Catalonia
contributes the lion’s share of taxes to poorer regions. Catalonia provides one
fifth of Spain’s industrial output.
Estelada blava, the pro-independence Catalonian flag
Photo: Wikipedia
Few citizens
actually voted to break away in the legal referendum which took place five
years ago on the issue of separation from Spain. Most ordinary Spanish citizens
do not seem to be at all interested in separation. The average Spanish citizen sees
the conflict in Catalonia in their own light.
But the
current president of Catalonia, in an unconstitutional move, decided to
organize a new referendum on the issue of independence from Spain.
Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy and his government made a mistake in dealing with
Catalonia and addressed the conflict by calling in the national police and the
civilian guards which he sent to Catalonia to “establish law and order” and to
prevent Catalonians from voting.
Naturally
Catalonians were outraged by the police presence and overt force and decided to
vote even though many were not initially convinced that it was a good idea or
even useful to separate Catalonia from Spain. It was reported that 2.225
million Catalonians voted on Sunday out of a total 5.5 million citizens registered
to vote.
The conflict
escalated when the Spanish police prevented Catalonians from entering the
improvised voting centers while the Catalan police (Mossos d’Esquadra)
protected the voters.
Additionally,
the Internet was cut in voting centers and the voting population could not be
cross-checked and verified; anyone could vote as long as they wrote down their
names and an I.D. number. In the ensuing chaos, people who were not residents
of Catalonia got to vote and some voted five times.
Catalonia is
a more industrialized part of Spain, however, in the event of separation of
Catalonia from Spain, business owners threatened to move to other areas. If
Catalonia becomes an independent state, it is no longer part of the European Union;
it must mint its own currency, have a monetary policy, and force Spanish
citizens to travel with a passport in their own country.
The problem
for Spain is that the rail road and interstate which connects it to Europe runs
through the Mediterranean coast, through Catalonia. In the northern part of
Spain, in order to cross into France through the Pyrenees Mountains, people use
a narrow highway that crosses through Andorra.
Some Spanish
believe that the Catalonian president acted unconstitutionally and forced the
central government to take radical and unpopular measures which allowed
Catalonians to claim that their democratic right of self-determination was
violated.
The public
opinion is greatly divided and many Catalonian families are separated along
political lines; family members in the same house do not speak to each other
because they have different political and economic views on the matter.
Most argue
that an independent Catalonia would not benefit either side; it is simply a
manipulation of the masses by a few elites with personal agendas.
For several
years now, schools have been teaching the Catalan language while the Spanish language
classes have been reduced. In public administration, nobody is hired unless
they speak Catalan - same situation for professors or doctors. Some Spanish
believe that English would be more beneficial since Spain has a huge tourist
industry.
Violence was
not the answer, many Spanish citizens claim, but it was necessary for the
central government to re-establish law and order. Voting in a referendum that
has been declared illegal by the central government in Madrid and by the courts
was also a bad idea.
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