Essay Example on the Catalonia and Spain Conflict

The state of Spain is divided into autonomous communities, three of the major ones being Basque country, Galicia, and Catalonia. The three communities are denominated historically, with their languages that co-officially coexist with Spains official language, Castilian. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 provides for the autonomous communities to have their Statutes of Autonomy. The institutional legislation provided by the Statutes of Autonomy for the autonomous communities constitutes the designation of the communities, the territorial boundaries, the organization and location of the seat of the institutions, powers assumed, and the principles governing the language regime (Marinzel, 2014). It is from these provisions that Catalonia gets its autonomy. Being a pluralistic and multicultural society, the group strives to attain and maintain an ethnolinguistic identity through preservation of their economic, historical, cultural, and demo-linguistic state that allows them to compete favorably with Spain as a nation. The current conflict is emanating from the push by Catalonia to become an independent state. The Spanish Peoples Party which has enjoyed a majority in the legislature has undertaken strong anti-Catalan actions that Spain does not accept the idea of a multinational and multicultural state. These actions provoked Catalonia which considers itself an established state thus the push for independence. The conflict has escalated to the extent that Catalonia has considered secession. The following analysis focuses on issues surrounding an independent Catalonia and the consequences of being granted independence.

The current conflict between Spain and Catalonia is politically fueled. The Catalonias regional government had declared a referendum to be carried out in October this year to vote for secession. This move was greatly disputed by the Spanish government with the Spains Constitutional Court outlawing the voting declaring any such vote unconstitutional. Despite the ban on the referendum vote, the Catalonian government remained adamant about carrying on with the referendum. This dispute has escalated to bitter levels with several of the high-ranking Catalan officials who were involved in organizing the referendum getting arrested and mass protests increasing in Barcelona, the regions capital and other towns. Acting under a court order, the police seized approximately 10 million papers connected with the upcoming vote at a warehouse near Barcelona. These papers, together with lists of voters, signs, and paperwork for counting votes were confiscated. The number of police officers deployed in the region was also increased to maintain order and prevent the voting process from taking place. However, despite the efforts to stop the referendum, it was held on October 1st, 2017 with a vote for independence winning with a landslide.

Currently, the percentage of the people calling for secession has gone down according to a survey conducted in June. The survey showed that those calling for an independent Catalonia were at 41.1%, which is a drop from a 44.3% representation in March. A symbolic poll that had been held in 2014 had seen 80% of voters backing complete secession although only 32% of the electorate showed up. The Spanish Prime Minister has consistently argued against an independent Catalonia citing that Spain is indivisible according to the 1978 constitution and as such Catalonia cannot leave Spain (Griffiths, Guillen & Martinez, 2015). The US President Donald Trump is also against secession claiming that he stands for a united Spain. Trump argues that an attempt to break from Spain is foolish. The Constitutional Court ruled that while Catalan is a nationality, Catalonia is not a nation in itself.

The October referendum was evidence enough that the people of Catalonia want independence by all means. It was carried amidst crushes between the police and the voters, against the order of the court. Although the vote showed that a majority were for independence, Spains Prime Minister dismissed the vote, ordering a fresh regional elections on December 21st. Carles Puigdemont, the president of Catalonia, condemned the actions of the prime minister, terming it as the worst attack on the institutions of Catalonia since the regime of Dictator Franco. He continues to say that the result of the referendum was a unilateral declaration of independence, adding that he is ready to discuss the terms of secession from Spain with the central government in Madrid. The struggle continues.

Various factors are behind the dispute between these two regions and Catalonias call for independence. The dispute dates back to the ruthless years of General Francisco Francos dictatorial regime. His dictatorship led to the repression of Catalonias initial limited autonomy. The region only gained full autonomy after the death of Franco. The Spanish administration supported Catalonias calls for greater power and granted a nation status and financial control of the region to the regional legislation. 2010 marks the year when the push for complete independence gained momentum following Spains financial crisis. Since the region has a functional government that exercises power over healthcare, education, and tax collection, Catalans argue that they are a separate nation having their history, culture, and language; therefore their fiscal independence should be increased (Marinzel, 2014). Additionally, Catalonia has aired out complaints about the regions revenue, claiming that it subsidizes other parts of Spain. This emanates from the fact that the region hosts 16% of the Spanish population as well as many manufacturing and finance sectors in the country.

The long-running dispute has been used for political gain by the Spanish nationalism. This is a move by the Spanish Peoples Party (PP) to ensure that they continue exercising power in Spain. PP is doing that by efforts to obtain anti-Catalan votes from the rest of the country while keeping the main opposition party divided into two groups, one that supports plurinationality and the other supporting national unity in Spain. All the while, PP maintains an immovable position with strict application of the law and a rigid interpretation of the Spanish constitution. The policies employed by PP are aims to confront the Spaniards with the Catalans and arouse negative emotions against the latter which help PP to remain in power (Griffiths, Guillen & Martinez, 2015). The level of corruption in Spain is also another factor contributing to the demand for independence. The effects of this corruption are felt greatly by the autonomous communities which have their incomes cut. This is done to serve the interests of the legislative officials in the Spanish government at the expense of the citizens. Since Catalonia has a state structure with all the aspects of a national government, Catalans feel the need to govern themselves as a separate country far from the corruption.

Independence for Catalonia will come with resultant economic consequences. From the perspective of the Catalonians, this will be an opportunity to grow and retain their economic power away from the subsidization exercised by the central government (Munoz & Tormos, 2015). As mentioned earlier, the Catalonian region has a well-established legislation that exercises power over the various social and economic sectors such as healthcare, education, and collection of taxes. An independent status will only call for the expansion of these sectors since they are already established. Secondly, Catalonia constitutes much of Spains manufacturing and finance sectors. These will be the drivers for economic growth in the Independent Catalonia. There is a possibility of a fast accumulation of wealth since the revenues collected through taxes from these sectors will be retained in the region unlike the current state when the revenues are paid to the central government. Additionally, many Catalans feel that they are paying high taxes to the Spanish government with which they feel no attachment. With independence, many believe that they will become wealthier and more successful.

On the other hand, breaking from Spain is likely to affect Catalonia negatively. First, the move would possibly trigger a row on how Catalonia would refund a debt of 52.5 euros it owes to the central government of Spain. Secondly, leaving Spain will come with leaving the European Union and NATO which will necessitate Catalonia to build its defense. This will establish an economic shock for Catalonia. They will not be in a position to use euro as their currency and will initially have difficulties accessing financial markets. Such a situation would bring a financial crisis on Catalonians, affecting employment and growth rate for their economy.

In summary, Catalonia is relentlessly seeking complete independence from Spain. However, Spain is adamant and has termed such a move unconstitutional. Catalonia has held a referendum which resulted in a win for independence. They have threatened to secede if not granted independence. The dispute in Spain has caused divisions in the country and only time will tell what happens next.

References

Griffiths, R. D., Guillen Alvarez, P., & Martinez Coma, F. (2015). Between the sword and the wall: Spain's limited options for Catalan secessionism. Nations and Nationalism, 21(1), 43-61.

Marinzel, A. (2014). Catalonia: The Quest for Independence from Spain.

Munoz, J., & Tormos, R. (2015). Economic expectations and support for secession in Catalonia: between causality and rationalization. European Political Science Review, 7(2), 315-341.