Catalonia

But while the situation in Catalonia appears to be getting worse the acting Spanish government appears to be doing very little. Successive Spanish government appear to believe that the crisis in Catalonia will just go away and this is not going to happen.

About 45 percent of the population of Catalonia support independence from Spain but I suspect that this percentage will have grown marginally following the prison sentences announced this week.

Spain doesn´t have a government at the moment because acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been unable to find support for a coalition but still you would have thought that the government would have taken some action. Sanchez should be willing to meet the leaders of Catalonia´s pro-independence movement and try and thrash out a deal.

Probably the best way to resolve the problem is by allowing a referendum on independence to take place in Catalonia. The mainstream political parties could then add their support to the anti-independence movement. Until Catalonia gets a say on its future the problem is not going to go away. If Spanish politicians really believe that the majority of the people of Catalonia want to stay a part of Spain then they will have little problem in giving them a referendum.