By Eleanor Stanford | The Hufftington Post
"It needs to happen in my lifetime. We have wanted and deserved it for
too long." Emma, a student studying in Barcelona, is a Catalan
Independiste. She belongs to the 50% of the population of Spain's
north-eastern region who would like to see Catalonia split from the
Spanish state to form an autonomous country. And her cause is steadily
gaining tangible political progress.
Rallies in September saw 1.5 million people take to Barcelona's
streets to demand independence for Catalunya. Since then the movement
has catapulted into the world's attention, although few outside of
Catalonia thought the movement would come this far. Indeed, for months
Spain's central government in Madrid has been hoping that Catalonia
will quieten down. Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and his
government have refused to open a dialogue on the issue and
obstinately asserted that Spain's "most-treasured jewel" will never
become a separate state. This is in contrast to David Cameron's
co-operation thus far Scottish independence. Whilst Cameron may have
recently trumpeted the "unbreakable bonds" between England and
Scotland, in October his government nevertheless granted the Scottish
Parliament the right to hold a legal referendum on independence. He
said this was out of "respect" for the Scottish people and it does
seem to have somewhat quashed the blaze of righteous anger that was
driving support for the Scottish National Party. A January poll saw
23% of Scots desiring independence.
In Catalonia, however, things are rather more complicated. A
referendum on Catalan independence is illegal under the 1978 Spanish
constitution. A small matter such as this is not enough to slow the
movement's progress, however, and a referendum has nevertheless been
promised for 2014. To do this the Catalan President Artur Mas struck a
deal with the left wing party Esquerra Republicana, flummoxing
commentators who believed the two parties to be too politically
incompatible to co-operate. In recent weeks, the Catalonian parliament
has also symbolically declared the north-eastern area a sovereign
entity, an attempt to circumnavigate the 1978 referendum. It would
seem the Catalans will not allow the Madrid government to reject the
issue as an irrelevance any longer.
Emma faces 50% youth unemployment if she stays in Spain. The trials of
Spain's economy during the financial crisis have been well documented
and support for Catalan independence has increased four fold since
2008. Economically, Catalonia certainly is a 'jewel' for Spain. The
region accounts for approximately 20 per cent of Spain's economic
output, whilst holding only 15 per cent of the population. This output
is obviously closely tied to the Spanish state, with independence
problematising these ties, but it would seem that the region would
enjoy a more secure economic independence than Scotland, with
questions being raised about the country's economic clout even taking
North Sea Oil into account. Catalonia also pays €12billion more in
taxes per year to Madrid than it gets back to spend, again in contrast
with Scotland's current relationship with England. These figures are
accompanied by the reckless public spending and significant central
government payouts of recent years as well as continued refusal by the
Madrid government to engage with Catalan concerns.
It looks increasingly, therefore, as if this 'jewel' of a region may
not president Rajoy's to possess for much longer. Western Europe has
not seen major changes to international borders since the First World
War and the delicate balance of the Eurozone would be shaken by
Catalan independence - perhaps fatally. For many Catalans, however,
their political concerns are more immediate and Emma may well see
independence for Catalonia earlier than we, and the Spanish
government, think.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/eleanor-stanford/catalan-independence_b_2711899.html
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