Catalonia’s Challenge to Spain
"Spain is determined to prevent a Catalonian referendum on independence, even though its tough attitude toward Catalan leaders has probably only increased enthusiasm for a measure with questionable support.
A new round in a long game of chicken began earlier this month, after Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, announced an independence referendum on Oct. 1. Spain’s culture, sport and education minister, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, vowed: “What I can say is what will not happen on Oct. 1 — an illegal referendum that goes against the Constitution.”
After Catalonia’s government staged a nonbinding independence vote in 2014, Spain charged the autonomous region’s leader at the time, Artur Mas, with the crimes of disobedience and breach of trust. In March, a court fined Mr. Mas the equivalent of $39,000 and banned him from holding public office for two years. The trial only succeeded in galvanizing Catalan separatists, as hundreds of thousands took to the streets in September to demand that their politicians push ahead on independence.
But while independence was approved in the 2014 ballot measure, less than half the electorate took part, and many Catalans see clear advantages in remaining a part of Spain, such as membership in the European Union.
Spain might suppress secessionist impulses more successfully by putting its own house in order. Political gridlock and two inconclusive elections left Spain effectively without a national government for 10 months last year, and while the government, reeling from a corruption scandal, survived a no-confidence vote last week, the effort showed that political divisions continue to roil Spain.
A more capable central government could head off independence fervor by giving the region a better economic return. Catalonia contributes nearly a fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product, yet the region receives just 9.5 percent of Spain’s national budget. Negotiating in good faith with Catalan leaders to find a political solution, rather than relying on the judiciary’s restrictive interpretation of the Constitution to punish Catalan efforts for greater autonomy, would also help.
The best outcome for Spain would be to permit the referendum, and for Catalan voters to reject independence — as voters in Quebec and Scotland have done. Otherwise, Madrid’s intransigence will only inflame Catalan frustrations."
La pallissa que rep el govern espanyol és antològica i se suma a les que ja ha rebut des de Venècia i Estrasburg.
El NYT commina el govern espanyol a no impedir la celebració del referèndum, de manera que podem ben bé dir que hi haurà un abans i un després d'aquest editorial. Subtilment, o no tant, amaga amb un possible canvi de govern, que cerqui una solució política i fins i tot té l'esperança que els catalans votarem contra la independència, com ho feren els votants del Quebec i d'Escòcia. Aquí, naturalment, pixa fora de test, perquè Espanya no és ni Canadà ni el Regne Unit, i els Catalans sabem que no rebem res de Madrid, ni solidaritat financera ni transferències, ni res de res, més que pura i dura catalanofòbia, i cada dia que passa més. Tant el Quebec com Escòcia són dependents dels seus estats, per contra Catalunya és la cash cow d'Espanya, i el scapegoat de totes les crisis espanyoles, de manera que no hi ha res a fer.
L'editorial del NYT també ha de ser llegit des de Brussel·les i des de totes les capitals dels estats membres, ja que és un clara advertència a les autoritats europees que abandonin la tradicional posició de no intervenir en afers interiors, perquè, sense cap mena de dubte, la Independència de Catalunya és un afer no només mundial, sinó sobretot, europeu.
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