THE Catalan elections have clearly clouded Spain’s political waters.

catalunya-elections-27s-2015-2Artus Mas may claim victory for his pro-independence Junts pel Si, but failure to secure a majority of votes weakens him.

The left wing CUP’s ten representatives gives secessionist parties a majority of seats, but they remain fiercely critical of Mas and his centre-right politics, so any alliance could prove difficult.

Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy meanwhile, refuses to allow an independence referendum off the back of the result, but the facts are that five years ago around 25% of Catalans wanted to break away.

Now it’s nearly one in two.

Friction along Spain’s regional fault lines has echoed over the centuries. It will rumble on for a good while longer.

Perhaps Spain should do what the British dared to do in Scotland last year and give the Catalans a real chance to choose.

It would be a gamble, but at the end of the day it would be true democracy in action.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. There’s nothing democratic about a referendum when it’s accompanied by threats from aliens south of the border and compounded by cowardice from some that would have their brave ancestors turning in their graves.

    In a referendum for independance, only those who can prove that they are Catalans should be allowed to vote – viva Catalunya – bagoas og ban.

  2. I think that is not appropriate to speak about “freedom” for Catalonia, because is not a colony. The correct word is “secession”.

    The idea of deciding by democratic way the secession of a part of a Unitarian state, in my opinion, is baseless. Because the reason of that the existence of a unitarian State is not the result of a human election. It is a result of the History; alliances, invasions, wars epidemics, etc.
    The idea of a referendum has some similarity with the idea which had the King Knut of England (century VII b.C ..?)when he ordered to the sea, by decree, that the tide don’t will rise again for ever.

    So Scotland can´t be compared with Catalonia, because the Kingdom of Scotland was united to the Kingdom of England and Wales by treaty, and the treaties can be derogated.
    It is a similar idea to King knot’s, when he ordered to the sea that the tide don’t rise again for ever.

    The suggestion of allowing only to the “real Catalans” to vote in a referendum for the secession of Catalonia, which is a similar idea to Hitler´s propositions in his book “Mein Kampf”, when he defended that the German Jews must not be considered as citizens in his own country. In addition , it matches exactly with the propositions which were made by Sabino Arana respect the Basque Country in his time,. In this case Sabino Arana was advanced in comparison to Nazis in more of thirty years!.

    The natural prolongation of that idea drives to the “ethnic clean” and genocide accompanied by another crimes and abuses.

    The nationalism is an anachronic and destructive idea that only has brought suffering to people, and all those who think that it is good for the progress of humankind are absolutely wrong.

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