Under doctor's orders not to spend all my day blogging, so I won't bother you with my usual rants on Catalonia (which can be read here anyway). Rather, I'll just "copy and paste" this interesting piece from Col·lectiu Emma, an altogether more serious bunch of people. This is all in the build-up to today's 400-km-long "human chain" which Catalans will form today (minimum 400,000 people, but probably more like a million when it's all counted) demanding Independence from Spain - or at least the right to have a vote on Independence.
Many Catalans living abroad have done mini-chains in the last couple of weeks, to warm up for today - the following video shows thousands of Catalans holding hands in literally hundreds of cities all around the world. An amazing event, for amazing times.
Anyway, here's the article (followed by video):
A progress report on the Catalan road to independence
News reports coming from Spain in the recent months have tended to focus
on the continuing effects of the crisis there – mounting debt, sky-high
unemployment and few or no signs of economic recovery. Serious
corruption scandals, involving most notably the royal family and the
upper echelons of the ruling party, have also made the headlines. To top
it all off, we've even seen a latter-day comeback of the old chestnut –
Gibraltar – which every Spanish government will fall back on whenever
it needs to distract its subjects' attention from their problems and
from its inability to solve them.
The political situation in Catalonia, on the other hand, has been
generally absent from those accounts. Only a year ago, all major
international media carried the story of one and a half million people
demonstrating in Barcelona, and many editorialized on the apparently
unstoppable Catalan bid for independence – of which little has been
heard since. One could be tempted to conclude that the momentum has been
lost and that, after that initial burst of enthusiasm, the dream of
national freedom has simply faded away.
***
There are many reasons why the Catalan political project shouldn't be
written off. For one thing, the people have been signaling their resolve
at every possible turn. All opinion polls, including the presumably
biased ones conducted by official Spanish institutions or at the request
of normally unsympathetic media, show that support for the Catalans'
right to decide their own future remains at around 80 per cent. This
tendency is confirmed on the ground by the proliferation of grassroots
activities – every day of every week somewhere in Catalonia a book
presentation, a public rally, a town hall meeting or a social gathering
of some kind become an occasion to discuss the pros and cons of
independence.
And while the people are taking every opportunity to voice their desire
for change, their political representatives are working to provide them
with a formal channel to express those views. In November 2012, a new
administration was voted in with a mandate to ask Catalans in a
referendum what kind of political arrangement they want for their
country. For that it can count on a large measure of parliamentary
support. Beyond their natural disagreements, groupings as disparate as
the Christian Democrats and the Green Left, and others in-between, are
united in that demand. As things now stand, those aligned with the
Spanish position of rejecting a public ballot on the issue hold just
over one fifth of parliamentary seats, while almost two thirds are
decidedly in favor of seeking the people's opinion.
On the strength of those numbers, Catalan President Artur Mas is more
than justified to stick to the road map that the ruling coalition and
its backers have drawn up for the present administration. Back in
January, Parliament adopted by close to a two-thirds majority a formal
declaration of sovereignty reaffirming the Catalans' collective rights
as a nation. Needless to say, this was immediately challenged by the
Spanish government and the matter is now before the constitutional court
in Madrid. Knowing where the high magistrates' loyalties lie, there can
be little doubt about their eventual ruling, and in any case few people
are holding their breath.
In a more practical vein, a process has been set in motion to create an
independent tax authority responsible for managing all fiscal revenues
collected in Catalonia. The survival of the Catalan economic and social
model requires control over public funds which are now appropriated by
the Spanish government and used in ways that serve its own purposes
rather than the needs of the society where the wealth was generated in
the first place. A group of experts was established in January to
explore the legal and practical issues involved and to recommend viable
options. Their report is expected by the end of the year.
In February, another panel of eminent persons, the so-called Advisory
Council for the National Transition, was convened. Its members, all of
them highly respected academic experts in different fields, were tasked
to map out a process leading to full sovereignty, including the shape of
a future Catalan polity and the steps required in the interim period.
The first of several reports that will be forthcoming is out now,
justifying the need to ask Catalans about the kind of links they wish to
have with Spain, identifying legal options to make a referendum
possible and suggesting other practical actions in a variety of areas.
Outside the official sphere, the uncomfortable relation with Spain is
also the subject of an ongoing debate in Catalan society. For a long
time now, and from various perspectives, private individuals,
civil-society groups, academic institutions, professional associations,
trade unions and employers' organizations have all been sitting down to
weigh the uncertainties of an independent future against the grim
certainties of today's political dead end.
Thus, a strong case is gradually being made to support the Catalan
position. Armed with these arguments, and relying on a firm political
and popular backing, President Artur Mas has also been able to make good
on his pledge to formally convey to Spanish President Mariano Rajoy the
Catalans' demand of a plebiscite. On July 26 an official letter was
sent requesting the Spanish government's cooperation to find within the
existing legal framework a formula for allowing a referendum on whether
Catalonia should remain a part of Spain or become an independent
country.
***
While the Catalan side keeps piling up reasons, no one in Spain seems
even ready to consider any overture that could unblock the situation.
Mr. Rajoy's government hasn't budged from the frustrating line of
invoking the Spanish constitution – or a partial reading of it – to
stonewall all proposals coming from Catalonia, no matter how legitimate
or how respectfully put across. At the same time, it is pursuing a
hostile strategy towards Catalonia – using its control of public funds
to sustain a crippling financial stranglehold on the Catalan
administration; launching a recentralizing drive under the pretext of
streamlining the administration; adopting laws and regulations
encroaching on areas that fall under the powers devolved to the regions;
escalating the familiar campaign against Catalan symbols and cultural
expressions; and condoning, if not encouraging, a dangerous climate of
hate against Catalans all over Spain, including in the social networks
and the mainstream media.
This strategy of stalling on the key political issue while stepping up
pressure on Catalonia on all other fronts can be self-defeating, in that
it might bring the situation to a point of no return and force a
unilateral move on the Catalan side. Catalans have made it very clear
that they wish to be heard. Their representatives are determined to
uphold the people's right to have a vote, and to make it happen one way
or another. Respected international voices are also asking why and in
the name of what a supposedly enlightened and advanced Western state can
oppose such a basic act of democracy as letting the people speak. One
can only hope that the Spanish political establishment will finally
acknowledge the reality and the urgency of the Catalan issue and make an
honest effort to find an agreed solution. The first indispensable step,
if only as a sign of good will, would be a commonly acceptable plan for
holding a referendum in Catalonia.
In the meantime, the Catalan process is steadily moving forward. It is
mostly a quiet struggle, waged with rational arguments, an open dialogue
and realistic proposals. This is why it may go unnoticed until on a
special occasion – the Catalan National Day, September 11, is just
around the corner – some massive act of affirmation comes as a reminder
that the dream is very much alive. So don't take your eyes off Catalonia
just yet. The people there are dead set on building a better future for
their nation