Why Barcelona looks to Scots as vote nears

What you need to know:

  • The Catalonia referendum is planned for November 9 but the Scots vote on Thursday.
  • ‘’The question that is arising more [often] is whether Spain is going to be able to live without the income, without what Catalonia gives to Spain.

BARCELONA, Tuesday
The Spanish government has always denied a Catalan entity, but Scotland will pave the way for democracy and the right to self-determination in the region, Ms Anna Arque, Catalan spokesperson for the ‘European Partnership for Independence’ says.

Both Scottish and Catalonian referendums are to take place soon.
Ms Arque said: “In Catalonia we are not having a mock referendum, we are having a referendum about the independence of Catalonia that has been agreed by the majority of the political parties in the Parliament. So it is a legal, agreed and political binding referendum. ‘’So obviously the fact that the Scottish referendum is taking place before ours is great news, and a lot of Catalans will be very happy with a “yes” result. Actually it’s a long time that Catalans are working to have their own referendum.’’

Asked why hasn’t Madrid given Catalonia the chance to decide, Ms Aque said: “I guess there will be a different position in Madrid once Catalans are voting at a referendum. The Spanish government is still working on the heritage of the regime of 1978. Obviously they are going to just keep denying the reality.’’

REFERENDUM

The Catalonia referendum is planned for November 9 but the Scots vote on Thursday.

Asked if theere were any doubts that Catalonia’s economy isn’t strong enough for the region to become independent, Ms Arque said: “Actually the doubts that are rising are quite opposite. Catalonia, and that has been said not only by Catalans but by the US and European academics, is well-off and it is able to maintain itself.

‘’The question that is arising more [often] is whether Spain is going to be able to live without the income, without what Catalonia gives to Spain.

‘’But on this side many of us are completely convinced that the Spanish state of course will go on and that the Catalans will do everything possible in order for Spain to keep on a good track, and all of us get a promise of a better future. We won’t have any problem, in case it is necessary, to assist [Spain] in whatever is necessary.’’

But, why is the independence movement so strong in Europe?

Ms Arque said: ‘‘We need to understand that the feeling and the need to be independent by those nations that are at the moment in the states that are not their own states, it has been there for a long time, it is not something that suddenly happens.

‘‘What happens is that the Scottish and the Catalan push for independence shows that this is possible.’’ (AFP, Agencies)