Spain: As economy dives, Catalonia wants out

Independence for Catalonia “is no longer some distant dream,” said El Punt Avui (Barcelona) in an editorial. After Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy refused to grant our province greater autonomy in taxing and spending, Catalan President Artur Mas last week called for early elections—and promised to hold a referendum on breaking away from Spain. Rajoy claims that such a referendum would be unconstitutional, but we will vote nevertheless. “The path is now laid out.” The Catalan parliament already has a majority in favor of greater autonomy, and the elections are sure to boost the parties that support outright independence. “While the Spanish state is clinging unbendingly to the immutability of the constitution, Catalonia strides ahead, cautiously and without overdoing it, but at a steady, unflinching pace.”

It’s no wonder Catalonia wants independence, said Harriet Alexander in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). The Catalan people speak their own language and have long agitated for more autonomy within Spain, and those sentiments are only growing. Last month, on Catalonia’s own national day, more than a million Catalans—out of a population of just 7 million—took to the streets of Barcelona, the regional capital, to demonstrate for sovereignty. But this is also about economics. As Spain’s wealthiest province, Catalonia is “fed up with paying for its poorer neighbors.” Spain is crippled by soaring unemployment and a stagnant economy, and now its banks are in trouble. Mas believes that he could save his province from a desperate fate if only he had more control of its finances.

“We must thank Mas for his candor,” said María Jesús Cañizares in ABC (Madrid). He has virtually admitted that his proposal to break up Spain is “all about money.” If it’s the economy he’s worried about, perhaps he should listen to Catalan businessmen, who are terrified that provincial steps toward independence could spark a national boycott of Catalan goods. Remember, “when a businessman is forced to choose between country or money, he’ll choose the latter.”

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An independent Catalonia would not be economically viable, said Pablo A. Fernández-Sánchez in Diario de Sevilla (Seville). Almost all economists agree on that. What’s more, it wouldn’t be politically viable. What country is going to recognize it? “Many European and Latin American countries have their own secessionist movements—Scots in the U.K., Corsicans in France, Sardinians in Italy, and any number of indigenous groups throughout Latin America—that they would not wish to encourage.”

Mas knows all that, said Vicent Sanchis in El Singular (Barcelona). Yet politically, he had few options but to “join the clamor for sovereignty” that has been rising in Catalan society. According to the latest poll, fully 84 percent of Catalans believe we should have a referendum on independence, and 55 percent say they would vote for it. Ordering the referendum was the politically savvy move—even if nothing comes of it.