Catalunya Serà lliure!

Secession is a dirty word in the Lincoln-worshipping ultra-nationalistic United States, where both left and right worship at the altar of the centralized state. To support secession in any way, shape, or form is to be labeled “neo-Confederate” by our logic-challenged pundits, who eagerly swoop down on anyone who challenges Washington’s supremacy. These geniuses forget that the American Revolution was an act of secession, in which the colonists separated themselves from a tyrannical monarchy that sought to tax and regulate them without their consent.

In the rest of the world, however, localism is on the rise as people rebel against the edicts of distant bureaucrats and reassert their language, their traditions, and their sense of place. Throughout Europe, especially, these rebellions are gaining strength, from Scotland toWallonia to eastern Ukraine – and now to Catalonia, which is voting in what has become a referendum on the national question. The Catalan parliament voted to schedule a referendum on independence, but this was blocked by the central authorities in Madrid, who declared it “illegal.” So a snap election was called and if, as expected, pro-independence parties gain a majority in the Catalan parliament, the process of extricating Catalonia from the Spanish monolith will begin – and the centralists, in Madrid and in Brussels, are screaming bloody murder.

The European Union isn’t at all happy with the Catalan drive for independence: EU Commission President Juncker issued a statement in answer to a written question from a Spanish legislator stating – in Spanish – that the legality of such a move is questionable. Oddly – or, rather, not so oddly – the English translation was markedly different, simply stating that the question is up to the Spanish people. Less subtle is the outright panic of the banking sector, which has called into question the stability of Catalan banks and the currency itself if the independence forces win. In a statement issued by Spanish banks, including the two biggest lenders in Catalonia, the banksters averred:

“These difficulties would force banks to reconsider their strategy of establishment, with the corresponding risk of a reduction in services, and along with that, financial exclusion, a rise in the cost of credit and a credit crunch.”

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