Country Watch
separatist political parties formed and demanded full independence from Spain, calling for more autonomy and protection of cultural rights. Many Catalans distrust the administration in Madrid and believe politicians have found ways to curb their political rights.
The issue initially came to a head on September 11, 2012 and again on the same day in 2013 when massive demonstrations calling for Catalonia’s in- dependence were launched on the anniversary of Barcelona’s defeat by the Spanish and French in 1714. Now, the Catalan government wants to achieve autonomy through a peaceful, democrat- ic process. The “Right to Decide” campaign was launched as an effort to give the public the right to vote on secession.
Artur Mas, Catalonia’s leader, signed a decree on September 27, 2014, authorizing an indepen- dence vote to take place on November 9, 2014. In response to this, Spain’s Constitutional Court voted to suspend the Catalan decree pending a final ruling on its legitimacy. While most people in Catalonia are torn about the issue of seces- sion, the majority of Catalans want the matter to be put to a vote. The ballot will contain two questions: “Do you want Catalonia to become a State?” and if yes, “Do you want this State to be independent?”
Most Catalans would like Catalonia to become a state but also want to remain within the Spanish monarchy. Prime Minster Rajoy of Spain stated that such a vote would be in violation of Spain’s Constitution and is thus illegal. Rajoy went on to say that only a “majority of Spaniards can alter Spain’s ‘indivisible sovereignty.’” Catalonia held an unofficial vote to gauge whether the major- ity of the population would stand in support or against independence from Spain. The results in- dicated that 80% of voters said they wanted to break away from Spain. Artur Mas has asserted that these unofficial election results have earned Catalan’s the right to hold a referendum.
The Spanish Constitutional Court heard the case on September 29, 2014 and suspended the vote. The Catalan government has plans to push for- ward with the vote despite the court’s prelimi- nary ruling. Should the vote continue without approval from the Spanish government, the Euro- pean Union would face an unprecedented politi- cal situation.
This decision to suspend the vote comes only two weeks after voters in Scotland rejected indepen- dence from Britain through a referendum. The re- sult was extremely disappointing for the Scottish National Party, who campaigned for weeks to se- cure a “yes” vote for independence. Despite the “No” vote, Britain’s political leaders have prom- ised to extend new powers to Scotland, such as the power of taxation. In Catalan, proponents of independence see the Scottish referendum as a positive example of democracy and they wish to realize a vote of their own. However, Prime Min- ster Rajoy has stated that the vote would simply divide the nation and lead to serious economic consequences. Political uncertainty is a matter of concern given the country’s fragile economy, as Spain is still struggling from the euro debt crisis.
Madrid has used a variety of tactics to discourage voters from participating in the secession vote. Madrid politicians have made threats that voting “incorrectly” could harm the nation’s standing within the European Union and have a negative impact on Spain’s economy and society. Catalan nationalism has also been targeted by a scandal of embezzlement by the head of Barcelona’s government that was recently publicized. Voters seem to be more split than ever on the issue of secession given the media attention and political pressure from both the regional and national gov- ernment.
In response to experts who suggest any vote would be internationally illegitimate without the Court’s approval, the regional government plans to appeal the Court’s decision and continue fu-
ILSA Quarterly » volume 23 » issue 2 » December 2014
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