Catalonia is pushing ahead with its independence referendum from Spain... eventhough the central administration and the judiciary say that the whole process is illegal. It is expected to take place later this year. Now, I know that the nationalist cause is alive and well in Catalonia but the timing is pretty poor, especially when you take into account that Spain has a minority government and the Euopean Union is reeling from Brexit and obviously there are bigger concerns for Spain... losing Catalonia would be a big blow to the Spanish economy especially when you consider that it has a bigger economy than Portugal. Catalonia is just another concern for prime minister Mariano Rajoy whose bully boy tactics in the province have failed to extinguish the flames of independence. You would have thought that Catalonia would have learnt from Scotland; one failed independence vote and then a second referendum on hold after the nationalists suffered heavily in the general election. I do not think that people have an appetite for breakaways especially when you consider the present economic and social circumstances in Europe. Even Brexit appears to have stalled with Britain effectively split on what to do next. Catalonia should wait until it dives into a path to possible independence. I suspect that it will all end in tears with the Spanish government moving in to ban the referendum.
A push for independence
06/07/2017 00:00
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I lived in Canada for 42 years and the 'Quebec' separation question was always bubbling under the surface or going to a referendum. Of course Quebec wanted the best of both worlds, the social benefits from Canada but to be captain of their own ship. The 'Language Police' were notorious, demanding French be prominent on all storefronts etc. and those that did not comply certainly regretted it. Meanwhile, the rest of Canada had to have English and French on all their packaging. Independence means independence. You cut the umbilical cord and you go it alone. There are no 'half measures'. Now is this what Catalonians want? We shall see but like the Brexiteers are finding out, the grass may not be so green on the other side of the fence. In fact, there may not be any grass!