What is happening in Catalunya

News about Catalunya and its proposed referendum on 1^st October now appears frequently in the world-wide media so I thought I would write a dispatch from the front in order to give my view on what is happening here.

In general, I don’t like referendums because an elected parliament, with many political and financial experts at its disposal, decides to hand over a major decision which may have repercussions for decades to the general public, many of whom will not have a clue about the pros and cons and instead will be influenced by what they read in the newspapers or on Facebook, much of which will be lies (such as £350 million per week more for the NHS). The decision may also be swung either by a rainy day on the day in question, or by a major event, or simply by someone pumping a large amount of money into one of the two sides. I prefer a government to make the choice, that’s why I voted for them.

Also, I am a “better together” person. I thought it was a very bad idea for Scotland to leave the UK because both would have been the poorer. And as for Brexit! Well I am sure you can guess what I think about that. It is proving to be a disaster. I am about €350 worse off each month because of the drop in the value of Sterling and my free health-care is not assured after the UK leaves the EU.

But this post is about Catalunya (I know it should be Catalonia in English but I prefer to use the spelling that I normally use here).

In 1714, Catalunya was defeated by the Franco-Spanish army in Barcelona after a siege in the War of Spanish Succession and it has never been forgotten, or forgiven. Ironically, it is used as the national day of Catalunya which has just passed, on 11^th September.

The Catalans….. Hey, let me stop just there because what defines “Catalan”? Normally a nationality is defined by the passport but there is no Catalan passport, it is an autonomous region of Spain. So to be “Catalan” is not easy to define. There are many people from other parts of Spain living here. And in order to vote here, one requires a Spanish ID or passport. In the press, the term “the Catalans” is used to describe people who live her but in effect, it is quite a mixture. It excluding people like me with a UK passport which allows me to vote in UK elections but not for elections for the parliament in Barcelona. I can only vote in local elections.

So, I will continue! The Catalans have several grievances. One is that they lost the battle in 1714 and want a re-run effectively - to re-write history and restore the once proud nation of Catalunya. 

They still have grievances about the Franco era when Catalans were suppressed and their language forbidden. But Franco is dead and that era has passed. But unfortunately people here have long memories and the current centre-right ruling party in Madrid, the Partido Popular, is described by some as being headed by the grand-children of the Franco era. But it happens to be the democratically elected parliament of Spain so one can’t really argue against that.

Another grievance is that they frequently cite the fact that more money intaxation goes to Madrid than comes back in kind. Catalunya is a relatively wealthy region of Spain and it tends to help support the poorer regions. This also happens in the EU and in the world at large. My opinion is that wealthy states should support those less well off. I am still not totally convinced about this argument anyway because an independent Catalunya would have to obtain an army, air-force and maybe even a navy to protect Barcelona from threats from the sea. And currently, of course, Spain provides all of these things.

These grievances have surfaced more in recent years as Madrid has clamped down on attempts by the parliament in Barcelona to achieve greater freedom, for example passing a law with Catalunya considered to be a “nation”. Madrid said, “Sorry no, you are not a nation!”

In the last elections here, the winner was an independista coalition of parties called Junts pel Sí. Together, Yes. But they required the support of a left-wing party, CUP in order to have a majority. And it is this group which has now passed a law to carry out a referendum on independence on 1^st October. This law was immediately annulled by the TC, the Tribunal Constitutional in Madrid whose job is to uphold the Constitution of Spain which strictly forbids any referendums and certainly independence.

This hasn’t stopped the parliament in Barcelona from defying the law and attempting to prepare for the referendum.  The President of Catalunya is Carles Puigdemont who was previously the mayor of Girona so I used to see him from time to time. And sometimes I would speak to his wife who edits Catalonia Today, a pro-independence English monthly magazine. It is produced by the same company as publishes El Punt Avui which is so partisan is is barely a newspaper, more a political party leaflet.

Maybe the government in Madrid was happy to let the Catalans have their day in the sun on Monday (11th) but now things are hotting up.

Catalunya has its own police force, the Mossos de l’Esquada and about 4 months ago, its chief “The major” resigned but it was unclear whether he jumped or was pushed. He was in favour of respecting the laws of Spain, not those passed in Barcelona and he was replaced by Josep Lluis Trapero who is pro-independence. This obviously concerned a lot of people, would the Mossos comply with the law?

The answer came yesterday. Catalunya has its own judges, La Fiscalia, rather like the High Court in the UK and they summoned the major to their offices to make it clear what was expected of him. He agreed to comply with the law.

Another crucial point is the actual practicality of holding the vote and this requires the cooperation of the mayors in all the municipalities of Catalunya of which there are about 900. Not all are sympathetic with the referendum even if they may privately wish for independence. Many municipalities belong to AMI which is the the Association of Municipalities for Independence. Celrà where I live is strongly pro-independence and the mayor belong to the CUP, the left-wing part of the parliament in Barcelona.

I spoke about grievances but there seems very little thought given to the future if the unthinkable happened. Army? Air Force?

There is one crucial point which many people try to avoid. That is, membership of the European Union. It has been stated very many times, even by the President of the EU, that an independent Catalunya would be immediately outside the EU. And yet people here go around saying that, "No they would never do that". It’s not something they would “do” or "not do". It would be outside, automatically from day one. So how would it trade with the outside world?

It would very soon be bankrupt and I would be doubly outside the EU, once through Brexit and, to make absolutely sure about it, outside the EU with Catalunya.

The other completely pointless argument is about paying more to Madrid than comes back in kind. If Catalunya was independent, the whole financial model would change.

I was listening to a Catalan friend last night and she was talking about the (illegal) laws passed in Barcelona versus the law in Spain as if they were competing on a level playing field like FC Barcelona playing Madrid. But the laws in Catalunya are subject to Spanish law; they are not equal.

I have many Catalan friends and I respect their wish for independence but what I can’t support is doing it by breaking the law. Catalans call the referendum, “Democracy”. It is anything but. It is anarchy because democracy is about respecting the law. Anarchy is making your own rules. In a modern society, you simply cannot do that. But that is what is happening here.

The Government in Madrid has one weapon but it is reluctant to use it, that is Article 155. It takes complete control of the parliament in Barcelona, but that would be a huge step. Instead they are attempting to seize the ballot boxes and papers by using either the Guardia Civil, the national police, or the Mossos who have promised to respect the law. They are also warning the mayors of the municipalities that they are breaking the law by agreeing to facilitate the vote.

That is how things stand today but I will write more. I hope I have given a balanced view which is more than can be said for TV3 and El Punt Avui which provide a most biased view of the world. No BBC-style interviews here! Instead, we have respectful interviews with the President in the Presidential Palace, beautiful lighting. Polite questions. I would love to see Jeremy Paxman interview Carles Puigdemont! At least I was able to watch Raül Romeva being mauled by Stephen Sackur about a year ago on Hard Talk where he called him an “anarchist”.