|
Post by Young Ireland on Sept 27, 2015 18:51:53 GMT
Anybody have any thoughts on this? It appears that the pro-independence parties have won today's election, so independence from the rest of Spain seems to be just around the corner. I'm cautiously supportive: I certainly don't like the attitude taken by the Spanish government and I think that they should respect Catalonia's right to self-determination.
|
|
|
Post by assisi on Sept 27, 2015 20:14:24 GMT
Anybody have any thoughts on this? It appears that the pro-independence parties have won today's election, so independence from the rest of Spain seems to be just around the corner. I'm cautiously supportive: I certainly don't like the attitude taken by the Spanish government and I think that they should respect Catalonia's right to self-determination. As with Scotland I would be supportive if the majority voted for independence but would worry about the domino effect - would the Basque region be next? Would other regions in Europe think about going their own way? I also hope that the case for independence has been thought through properly. Can the new entity survive economically? Has it got a strong enough and distinct enough culture to view itself as different and be cohesive enough should they fall on hard times? Would an independent Catalonia not join the EU? Would it have its own currency?
|
|
|
Post by Ranger on Sept 28, 2015 9:16:24 GMT
I also hope that the case for independence has been thought through properly. Can the new entity survive economically? Has it got a strong enough and distinct enough culture to view itself as different and be cohesive enough should they fall on hard times? I think that in the case of Cataluna the answer is probably yes; they have their own language which is used in daily life, for instance. I believe that one of the issues driving independence is the fact that the Catalan economy is much stronger than the rest of Spain, prompting some there to believe that the province could be better off severed from the rest of the country.
|
|
|
Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Sept 28, 2015 15:13:14 GMT
During the Scottish referendum, Mariano Rajoy was quite vocal about the future of an independent Scotland in the EU. This was because it was an "apalling vista". Independence for Scotland would trigger similar campaigns in Catalonia, the Basque country (which has an even more distinctive language than Ireland) and Galicia, not to mention Flanders, probably Brittany and other places.
We really don't appreciate how colourful the European map is, but the group which the SNP and Plaid Cymru sit with in the European Parliament is very interesting. The only Irish parliamentarian who sat there was the late Neil Blaney. Certainly it would be a better venue for Sinn Féin than the Nordic Green Left/European United Left.
|
|
|
Post by Young Ireland on Mar 20, 2016 22:12:20 GMT
I'm not sure about that Alaisdir, many of the parties in the EFA are very much of a moderate, near-pacifistic bent, and I think that SF would stick out like a sore thumb there. On the other hand, they are much better suited to the militant rhetoric of the NGL-EUL. That's my opinion anyway.
|
|
|
Post by hibernicus on Mar 23, 2016 23:00:32 GMT
There is more than one Catalan nationalist party, and SF might be a better fit for the Republican Left than for Convergence and Union (the latter is the historically dominant nationalist party, which is more conservative but has recently been hit by corruption scandals). Are they both in the same Euro group?
|
|
|
Post by Young Ireland on Oct 1, 2017 11:15:40 GMT
Meanwhile, the Spanish government is on course to make independence for Catalonia inevitable by resorting to violently cracking down on the independence referendum being held there today. Worryingly, references to the Spanish Civil War are abounding, and there is a real danger that Catalonia coud become a cold-house for Catholics as a result (the Madrid government, which would be the closest party to Catholic thought in the country is already being compared to Franco by many supporters of independence). Not looking good, methinks.
|
|
|
Post by Young Ireland on Oct 1, 2017 20:54:08 GMT
Latest from Catalonia suggests that one person is dead and over 800 people injured. A declaration of independence seems to be imminent. Pray for Catalonia and Spain as they face an uncertain future.
|
|
|
Post by maolsheachlann on Oct 2, 2017 10:41:15 GMT
Seems like the same rubbishy progressive civic nationalism which has become standard in the West, at least outside the ranks of populists. Also, they wish to break away from the monarchy and form a republic. No sympathy for them here. Which doesn't mean I endorse the Spanish reaction, but the assignment of different flags and anthems to different sectors of our globalized world seems incredibly irrelevant to me.
|
|
|
Post by assisi on Oct 2, 2017 12:34:37 GMT
Meanwhile, the Spanish government is on course to make independence for Catalonia inevitable by resorting to violently cracking down on the independence referendum being held there today. Worryingly, references to the Spanish Civil War are abounding, and there is a real danger that Catalonia coud become a cold-house for Catholics as a result (the Madrid government, which would be the closest party to Catholic thought in the country is already being compared to Franco by many supporters of independence). Not looking good, methinks. Yep, it almost seems as if the central government want Catalonia to leave Spain. Surest way to do that is to send the police in. It might have been better to just declare the result as invalid, as it is. Many voters who want to remain Spanish were not going to participate anyway rendering the whole thing a fiasco. As for cold house for Catholics, I hope not. There are many issues at play here, some real, some historic and some debatable. There's Right v Left, Madrid v Barcelona, Rural v Industrialised, Spanish language v Catalan lenguage, central Spain v Northern Spain. There is also a debate as to whether the central government dipped into Catalonia as a more prosperous region to help out less well off parts of Spain after the 2007/8 recession.
|
|