by Eneko Rodriguez Plaza
Wednesday this week, September the 11th, marked as every year the festivity called “La Diada” in Catalonia, the easternmost region of Spain. This day is to remember the defeat of the former Kingdom of Catalonia when conquered by Spain in 1974, thus annexing it to the Crown of Spain. Although it may seem weird to celebrate a defeat, the purpose is simply to look back and realize there was a time in which Catalonia was independent.
Despite having celebrated this date for over a century now, it has gained much more weight in the last five years, as pro-independence movements raised significantly since then. The people of Catalonia, with their own language and culture, have always been trying to achieve a bit more freedom they feel they deserve, due to their differences and history, and expected Spain to understand their aspirations as a nation. However, over the last ten years, these thoughts evolved, demanding more and more self-government. Spain’s ministries have constantly denied for Catalonia to gain significantly more sovereignty over their laws than any other region of Spain has, alleging that these “favoritisms” would lead to discontent among the citizens of the other regions.
The more the central government denied Catalonia’s demands, the more the pro independence movements radicalized, leading up to a voting in October 2017 in which the Catalan people could express their desire whether or not to remain a part of Spain. This, however, came with many issues. Firstly, such a voting is illegal (same as in most other countries, one simply cannot organize a voting to divide the country). Secondly, and although the population is more or less split between pro and against independence, the latter did not vote in its majority, arguing that the voting was illegal and thus boycotting it, because the results were obviously then skewed in favor of independence, invalidating them and thinking the Catalan government would not declare the independence of their territory based on that outcome. Nevertheless, Carles Puigdemont, the president at the time, did make an institutional move towards declaring independence.
The response by the central government was overwhelming: the brutality of the police reinforcement covered the headlines the day after the voting, embarrassing the country and its citizens, regardless of their opinion on the subject. The president at the time did not apologize for what happened and ended up resigning from his post a few months later. More drastically, all of the politicians that were involved with organizing the voting and the declaration of independence were jailed. Carles Puigdemont, for instance, exiled in Waterloo, is to be imprisoned the second he crosses the border.
Even with the new leftist president, who promised to take action on the issue with Catalonia, the situation remains stalled: the judgement of the politicians is solely on the hands of the supreme court, and the central government in Spain cannot interfere with it. The only way to change the situation would be to change the laws, yet this would divide the citizens of Spain and cause any party involved to plummet in the next elections. Many interests are in conflict in this situation, and each day that passes without a viable solution increases the discontent of Catalonian citizenship.
The Watercooler 
Thanks for sharing a not-often-talked-about topic, Eneko.
The situation in Catalonia is definitely not an easy problem with clear cut solutions. As you have correctly pointed out, there is a clash between the interests of the central governments (acting on behalf of majority of Spaniards) and the Catalonian government (acting on behalf of the Catalan people). From the perspective of the central government, it would be reasonable to express a strong opposition to the independence of Catalonia as giving a region full control over its sovereignty would not only show bias (and perhaps bring about accusations of corruption too) but also encourage a ‘slippery slope’ effect where other regions (with their own cultures and language) may start demanding independence too. Such a situation would be catastrophic for Spain as the country would be divided into smaller states and cause great political instability which can damage economic growth and its partnership to the EU, other international organisations and key strategic partners globally. As such, it is unthinkable to the central government to allow any concession to Catalonian demands.
On the other hand, Catalonia is a region that should rightly celebrate and be proud of its unique culture and heritage. These bring value in helping people to belong to a community and, allow others to learn and appreciate the great diversity in the different regions and its people. Sometimes, due to historical reasons, citizens feel that they identify more with these communities than the nation itself (i.e. seeing themselves as Catalonian and not Spanish).
I feel that the central government will not reach a solution any time soon and continue to stall for time unless there an unexpected opportunity presents itself (e.g. Catalonia suddenly decides to concede, a party decides to take the plunge and effect new laws to change the way regions are run). In the meantime, one can hope that the violence and harsh oppression of Catalonia will not escalate into something far worse than what we have witnessed thus far.
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Hey, thank you for writing on a topic I wasn’t entirely familiar with. Your post prompted me to read up a bit more about what’s happening in Catalonia.
A call for independence by a small part of a country is usually a result of several factors
For any country with a diverse population, the issue of identity is difficult to handle. Nobody has a single well defined personal identity, it’s usually a mixture of several distinct identities. It is unfair and unrealistic for the the country to force people to ‘feel’ more Spanish than Catalan. In such situations, it is important for the government to ensure that Catalan culture is allowed to thrive and is not forcefully erased in the name of national integration. I admit, I do not know what the ground truth is with regards to this situation.
The other factor is economy. Catalonia contributes more to the the central government than it receives from it. Understandably, the Catalan population would feel cheated. However, there are advantages economically of being a part of a bigger union, such as access to more natural resources and manpower. That said, I’ve read conflicting opinions on how exactly an independent Catalonia’s economy would perform, and I definitely do not have the necessary economic knowledge to determine this for myself.
In summary, I do not believe that independence is the right way to go for Catalonia. But the government of Spain needs to find the delicate balance between national unity and fair autonomy and freedom for its constituent territories.
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It is interesting to see how people as a community, like Catalonia come together to work towards having an independant-run state. It mentioned there has been 10 years the Catalonia people have made similar demands and it shows their resilient spirit in wanting to call the country their own.
The part where you mention how there are some who are anti-independance and refuse to even participate in voting – even that can be a factor that hinders people’s progress to be an independant state. This isn’t exclusive to just Catalonia, perhaps many countries abstain from voting too. And it really can be quite catastrophic sometime because it shows they do not really make a stand or ahave say in what they want out of the ruling of the land they live in.
Thanks for sharing the post. It really does give me a glimpse of what people from other countries are doing in terms of what they working towards at the current state of their country.
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I do not claim to understand the intricacies behind Catalonia’s bid for independence, but it does raise some interesting questions about independence, and whether it is worth pursuing. In Singapore’s case, independence from Malaysia after years of tension has worked out well for the country, whereas in the case of the UK leaving the EU, it remains to be seen whether this is a good idea. Independence has always been a controversial issue, as it creates a formal, marked divide between regions previously united under the same ruling government, and can sow discontent no matter what the outcome. I think I have a few main questions regarding independence: What are the motivations behind the independence? Does the community seeking independence have the infrastructure to support itself? And regarding Catalonia in particular, how did the rest of Spain (not the government, but the civilians) respond to this bid for independence?
It is such a complicated issue to tackle, no matter the context, so thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for posting this, Eneko. Catalonia is a really interesting case. I think as a global scoeity we need to create a means for dealing with problems of independence like this as it appears to be a widespread phenomonon. For example, the recent Scottish referendum. I wonder if we live in a world of fixed borders, or whether we should be open to changes to this and what constitutes reasonable change?
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This is a really interesting piece, thanks Eneko!
The issue perhaps can be through institutional repression, both in the government and the police force. The nature of the referendum, which could be seen as a sight of protest for freedom, with police intervention as a sign of repression of free speech.
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