| In a major escalation of Spain’s territorial conflict, Catalan lawmakers approved the region’s independence on Friday, a move that was quickly countered by a vote in the Spanish Senate authorizing the government to take direct control of the fractious region and remove its separatist leadership. |
| The dueling actions set up a potential showdown over the weekend, as Spain careened into its greatest constitutional crisis since it embraced democracy in 1978. |
| Read More » |
Some information I found useful:
ReplyDeleteSome background information -
Why does Catalonia want independence from Spain?
"Catalonia is one of Spain’s most populous and richest regions. The gap between what Catalans pay in taxes and what they get back in services is around €8bn-10bn a year, something that got worse following the recession and the austerity measures implemented in the wake of the crisis of 2008-2009. The grievance is that Catalonia doesn't get its fair share of public investments.
Of the more immediate political reasons there is the fallout from the failed attempt to change Catalonia’s statute of autonomy to give preferential status to the Catalan language, and to note formally that the Catalan parliament has defined the region as “a nation”. This was initially approved by referendum in Catalonia, and by the Spanish parliament in 2006. But People’s Party (PP), the party of the current Spanish PM, campaigned against it, and in 2010 the constitutional court overturned these and other clauses. This was seen by many as an insult to Catalan identity.
The identity itself is also a contentious matter, as there exists a notion within the region that Catalonia is a historical nation-state that has been occupied and oppressed by the Spanish, which is questionable on historical grounds as it existed within the Spanish state or its direct predecessors since the 15th century when King Ferdinand of Aragon (of which Catalonia was a part) and Queen Isabella of Castile married and united their crown realms."
"These are few of many reasons. The history of the issue can't be overlooked quite that easily. Catalonia has always had an independent streak, they were one of the first principalities to create a parliamentary body that prevented the King of Aragon from passing whatever laws he wanted without consultation. There was the Catalan Civil War over the extent of royal power over them. They constantly rebelled against centralised power in Spain. They have declared themselves a republic 4 times in their history. All this is not new, but part of a sequence of events lasting hundreds of years. The Catalan identity is very strong, and they have never really been excited about Spanish rule."
"As to the advantages of leaving, well, one of them is obviously (what is seen as) a fairer taxation and the protection of national identity, but that really follows from the arguments for secession and are theoretical at this stage, and I won't have the time to go into details here as I am on my phone right now.
As for the disadvantages, they really haven't been talked about that much. One of the very big ones (and there are more, but I won't have the time to go into detail here either) is that by leaving Spain Catalonia would also be ejected from the EU and would have to reapply as a candidate state.
This is a process that requires unanimous approval from the European Council of which Spain is a member, effectively giving it veto rights. This means that it would be very unlikely that Catalans would get free access to the European markets, be able to freely travel both to Spain and, by extension, the EU, and retain the Euro. This will also hurt any major corporation that is headquartered in Catalonia.
“I’m on my phone right now” you wrote this essay on your phone?! You use the two thumb method?
DeleteWell look at that. I wonder how many free people they will need to kill to terrify the rest into shutting up. I hope I am wrong but sadly history shows quite clearly what is going to follow.
ReplyDeleteStorm Troopers murder of free thinking patriots.