What in the world is going on with Catalonia? Here's an update.
- mountroyaltimes
- Nov 18, 2017
- 2 min read
Catalonia's government was shut down fully after an independence referendum, deemed illegal by the Spanish government in Madrid, resulted in a 90% success with only 42% attending the vote.
The referendum rose controversy around the world as Madrid police were dispatched to violently shut down all voting areas. Spain said it was against their constitution to hold a referendum of this sort. Up to 1,200 people had been hospitalized after being attacked and beat up by Spanish police.
Belgium was one of the first nations to condemn Spain's violence, however supported the unified Spain. Canada followed shortly, also supporting a unified Spain. However the US didn't exactly respond fully and wasn't paying so much attention to the issue deemed undemocratic on both sides of the aisles.
The Catalan leader declared independence from Spain officially for 8-9 seconds before retracting it, saying an official declaration and signature of a new constitution within the territory would be introduced at a later date to negotiate with Spain. Instead, Spain attacked the nation's autonomy and shut down their government.
Catalan leader Charles Puigdemont is currently in Belgium where he fled as the Spanish police began cracking down and arresting Catalan officials. After delivering a speech in Brussels, he turned himself in to Belgian police.
Belgium's prime minister stated they cannot infiltrate the independent judiciary hearings of Puigdemont saying that if they did, it would be deemed undemocratic by their citizens. This is in reply to Spain of which demanded Puigdemont be extradited to Spain to face rebellion charges in Madrid along with his other officials.
Meanwhile within Catalonia, independence support has not shrunk though has slightly faded away from the image of the state recently to avoid another incident. This was a very close call for Spain; should Puigdemont have declared independence without retracting it seconds later, there may have been a civil war within Spain.
A civil war in Spain is still not impossible. Many Catalan citizens expressed their filled anger with the arrest of Puigdemont. And if he is extradited to Spain to be arrested for 'rebellion' charges, it's no shocker citizens in Barcelona will likely gather again to form another huge protest.
During the 'month of hell' for Spain and Catalonia, hundreds of thousands gathered at a time in Barcelona to protest pro-independence, then anti-independence. The groups of hundreds of thousands gathered in intervals within the weeks of controversy.
One way that Catalan succession would be deemed properly democratic would be if they decided to hold a proper referendum with Madrid's support. But now, that seems almost impossible or at least very unlikely.
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