Montserrat Montamat
Downtown Barcelona, September 11, 2017, during the Catalan National Day demonstration where advocates marched for their right to vote on an independence referendum. “Volem votar” means “We want to vote.”
Hey man, what’s up? Thanks for your message. The Spaniards have taken over and they have sacked me from office. I’m now testing the waters for a new job since I don’t trust I will be able to go back in.
So read a WhatsApp message sent to me by Pere Marti, the Catalan president chief media officer just days after the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain on October 27. The message epitomizes the political fallout from the Catalonian effort to assert itself.
The Spanish government invoked direct rule over Catalonia shortly after the October declaration. In doing so, it invoked Article 155, which allows the federal government to run an autonomous community from Madrid if it refuses to “comply with the obligations emanating from the Spanish Constitution.”
Marti had plenty of company. Spain also announced the dismissal of the Catalan cabinet and the dissolution of the Catalan Parliament, and called for new Catalan elections on December 21 “to restore normality,” according to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
The measure also triggered a judicial backlash. The Catalan vice president and eight former members of the Catalan cabinet were sent to prison without bail, and accused of rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement of resources to promote the Catalan independence process. Those charges carry potential prison terms of up to thirty years.
The Spanish judiciary then issued a European search and arrest warrant against the dismissed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four other members of his cabinet, who had fled to Brussels after the Spanish government dismissed them. They have remained there in exile, maintaining that the Spanish judiciary system is rigged and they could not face a fair trial in Spain.
Montserrat Montamat
September 11, 2017, in downtown Barcelona during the Catalan National Day demonstration.
The Spanish government’s move against the secessionist leaders has brought a sense of indignation and humiliation among those in favor of Catalan independence. They claim that Spain has jailed democratically elected MPs for promoting independence, although that is precisely what they ran on back in 2015. Some secessionist leaders shared that Spain warned them that people would die if they fully implemented the Catalan republic.
Can European countries afford to take political prisoners for defending what the majority of their constituencies voted for?
Both sides have engaged in an information battle to dominate the narrative, with some claiming that Russia was behind the Catalan drive for independence as a way to destabilize Europe. Others have accused Bitcoin of helping finance the secessionist aspirations.
All this raises a philosophical question for Europe. Can European politicians run on a platform of independence from their nation states? Can they implement that program if they win? And in the Catalan case, can European countries afford to take political prisoners for defending what the majority of their constituencies voted for?
So far, Europe has shown no appetite for Catalan independence, fearing that such a scenario could open a Pandora’s box. Nonetheless, those same forces against secessionism are having a hard time in stopping a wider push from European territories claiming to have more more decision-making power.
Two of Italy’s richest regions recently voted for more autonomy from Rome. In Belgium, tensions between the Flemish-speaking north and the French-speaking south have tested national unity—an annoyance for Brussels while it struggles to overcome the migrant crisis and settle the terms of Brexit.
Two of Italy’s richest regions recently voted for more autonomy from Rome. In Belgium, tensions between the Flemish-speaking north and the French-speaking south have tested national unity. The Scottish National Party is pushing for another vote on independence. And then there's Brexit.
And Brexit itself is, in fact, a clear example of why the conversation about independence movements won’t disappear anytime soon. The Scottish National Party is pushing for another vote on independence once Britain leaves the European Union. And while it’s plausible to believe that Europe would welcome a Scottish membership application as a post-Brexit affirmation of legitimacy, that would also fuel hopes among other breakaway movements.
The polls published in the lead-up to the December 21 Catalan election show a technical tie between those for and against independence. Those calling for a so-called “third way”—more fiscal autonomy for a better integrated Catalonia in a more federal Spain—hardly represent a 15 percent of the vote.
Even if the vote for independence wins out, would Spain and Europe allow the dismissed Catalan president to take the oath of office? And how would this be possible if Belgium ends up extraditing him and Spain sends him to prison?
Puigdemont has suggested that the European Union has become a neoconservative refuge for the powerful, unwilling to deal with the real problems of its population. What, he asks, does this say about the future of Europe? Will it be a neoliberal, Berlin-Brussels operated, European big state, or something closer to a sort of United States of Europe?
The Catalan secessionists believe their political process could be a litmus test to advance the second option. This would involve smaller territories governing themselves more efficiently in already vibrant economies, but sharing a commitment to the goal of maintaining peace through a united Europe.
Will Brussels be able to accommodate such a request? Who knows? What seems inevitable is that Europe will face that test should the supporters for Catalan independence win again on December 21.
Xavier Vilà is a Catalan journalist and analyst who lives in Washington, D.C.