"The Nineteenth century saw a great Springtime of Nations as the revolutions of 1848 saw new countries created the length and breadth of Europe. In our world today we are now seeing our own Spring Awakening with people and cultures that have long been dormant and subdued asserting their right to exist, their right to dream." Adam Price MP
Long before the spectre of Catalan independence began to dominate
Spain’s political discourse, the small hamlet of Gallifa, population
215, had already broken away from the motherland.
“We proclaimed ourselves to be a free and sovereign territory of Catalonia,”
said Jordi Fornas, who was then mayor of Gallifa, a village tucked into
the hills about 30 miles north of Barcelona. “We tried to find our way
in the Spanish state, but it proved to be impossible.”
Gallifa then went one step further, becoming the first municipality
in the region to practise what Fornas called “fiscal sovereignty”, a
purely symbolic gesture of handing over its taxes to Catalonia rather
than Madrid.
As Catalan authorities rerouted the revenue – amounting to about
€1,600 in 2012 – to Madrid, Gallifa caught the attention of Spanish
media, which christened its cluster of ochre brick houses the “crib of
Catalan independence”.
On Sunday, Spain
will get a glimpse of how far the movement that first took root in
small villages such as Gallifa has spread, as Catalans cast their votes
in a regional election billed as a quasi-referendum on independence.
The village of Gallifa, near Barcelona. Photograph: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images
The results could launch Spain into uncharted territoryand plunge the
country into one of its deepest political crises of recent years, as
Madrid squares off against an openly secessionist government of a region
that accounts for 16% of Spain’s population and a fifth of its economic
output.
With polls suggesting pro-independence parties could gain a slim
majority on Sunday, a barrage of warnings was unleashed this week by
those opposed to independence.
Spain’s central bank said secession would risk exclusion from the
eurozone, while the country’s main banks – including two based in the
region – cautioned that independence could undermine financial stability
just as the country was beginning to shake off the lingering effects of
the economic crisis.
The Spanish government argued that if Catalans broke off from Spain
it would cost them their Spanish nationality, while the president of the
Spanish professional football league said Barcelona would be left out
of La Liga.
“Catalans aren’t being told the real consequences of independence,”
the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, told Onda Cero radio station
on Tuesday. “It would leave the EU. What would happen with pensions?
There are many more pensioners than contributors. What would happen with
financial institutions, with bank deposits, to the currency?”
In recent years, his conservative People’s party (PP) has repeatedly blocked demands by Catalonia
to hold a referendum on independence, insisting that Spain’s
constitution precludes regions from unilaterally making decisions on
sovereignty.
Rajoy’s hardline stance has been backed by leaders across Europe,
many of them aware that any gains made in Catalonia could spark hope
among the other secessionist movements that dot Europe.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, said Catalonia would be
left out of the EU if it broke off from Spain, while Germany’s
chancellor, Angela Merkel, voiced her support for the “integrity of
Spain”. The PP said Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s former president, was
scheduled to join Rajoy in Catalonia on Friday in a rally against
independence.
Jordi Fornas, a former mayor of Gallifa. Photograph: Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images
The Catalan leader Artur Mas,
who has vowed to begin the process of breaking off from Spain if his
Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) party wins a majority of seats on
Sunday, lashed out at the “strategy of fear” being used to counter the
push for independence. “It is irresponsible and indecent to issue
threats that nobody in a democratic country would dare voice,” he said.
“They do it because they have no other arguments.”
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As
Gallifa gained a reputation across Spain for its stance on sovereignty,
its leaders also found themselves on the receiving end of Madrid’s
wrath. Citing a three-decades-old law, the central government demanded
the town fly the flag of Spain. Fornas responded by affixing a tiny Spanish flag, no bigger than the palm of a hand, to the facade of the town hall.
“The law didn’t specify what size the flag needed to be,” said Fornas, who also raised a full-sized estelada,
the flag of Catalan independence, nearby. The central government struck
back, taking legal action against the village to have the mini Spanish
flag replaced with a full-size flag. Today no flags – pint-sized or estelada – fly in Gallifa.
In many ways, Gallifa’s row with Madrid epitomises how the push for
independence has played out across Catalonia, with the central
government looking to the courts to shut down dissent
rather than seeking to address the underlying grievances over
Catalonia’s language and identity, as well as concerns that the region
pays more in taxes than it receives in investments and transfers from
Madrid.
Support for Catalan independence began growing in 2010, after Spain’s
constitutional court ruled that Catalonia’s status and powers could not
be considered tantamount to those of a nation. According to the
region’s Centre for Opinion Studies, in 2010 just under 20% of Catalans
supported outright independence. By June 2015 this proportion had almost
doubled to 38%, down from a high of 48.5% in November 2013.
Celebrations on Diada, Catalonia’s national day. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images
Some, such as Catalan film-maker Joan Planas, bucked the trend. The
former ardent separatist from the small town of Sant Fruitós de Bages,
near Barcelona, changed his perspective on independence after travelling
through Spain, filming his conversations in bars across the country as
part of a documentary exploring the challenges facing modern-day Spain.
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“I
realised that many of the things that I thought about the rest of Spain
weren’t quite true,” said the 33-year-old. “I thought that the rest of
Spain rejected all that was Catalan – but I realised that it wasn’t that
way.” The realisation prompted him to vote to stay with Spain in
Catalonia’s symbolic referendum on independence last year.
With just days left until an election that has divided Catalans,
nobody knows quite which camp to put him in, he said. “I have a
brother-in-law who told me that after a few days with him, I’ll change
my mind again,” laughed Planas.
But most in Spain have taken a firm stance on the issue. This week
the Catholic church waded into the debate, saying there was no moral
justification for independence and urging Spaniards to pray for the
unity of Spain. The intervention stoked grievances, as the church had
backed General Franco, who sought to suppress Catalonia’s language and identity during Spain’s nearly four decades of dictatorship.
On the other side of the divide were 13 world-renowned Catalan
scientists and researchers who penned a letter this week promoting
independence, saying it was the best option to guarantee funding for
research in the region.
In July, Bayern Munich coach and Catalan native Pep Guardiola announced he was joining Junts pel Sí as a symbolic candidate,
backing the party in its quest to break away from Spain. “This is an
opportunity we have to build a new and more just country, starting from
scratch,” Guardiola said in a campaign video. “Nobody can stop the will
of the people.”
Bayern Munich’s coach, Pep Guardiola, has joined Junts pel Sí,
supporting Catalan independence. Photograph: Spyros Chorchoubas/EPA
Regardless of the outcome, the elections will mark a defining moment
for the region, said Jordi Sànchez, president of the Catalan National
Assembly, a grassroots pro-independence group that is part of Junts pel
Sí. “Nobody doubts – not in Catalonia or in Spain – that these elections
are the most important ever in Catalonia,” said the 50-year-old. “This
is an opportunity to create a better society, with the economic and
legislative resources that we don’t have right now.”
His group lobbied hard for Junts pel Sí to promise to launch the
independence process if separatists earn a majority of seats on Sunday,
even if they are denied a majority of the vote. Critics on both sides of
the issue have argued that the focus on seats, rather than votes, could
hamper the movement’s ability to gain legitimacy internationally. “We
know that elections aren’t the best instrument – it’s not what we would
have wanted, but it was the only tool we had at our disposition,” said
Sànchez.
The use of elections to address the issue has also put politicians
such as Mas on the frontlines of the movement, rather than the hundreds of thousands of Catalans who
have filled the streets on Barcelona for four successive years to
demand a say on Catalan independence, said Sànchez. “In a few years, in
some universities, they’re going to study the political process playing
out in Catalonia right now,” he said. “Citizen mobilisation managed to
convince political parties to change their political agenda. This is an
incredible moment for democracy – one of the most important for Europe.”
In 2010 just under 20% of Catalans supported outright independence. By
June 2015 this proportion had risen to 38%, down from a high of 48.5% in
November 2013. Photograph: Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images
The process of democratic regeneration is not just limited to
Catalonia, said Carlos Rivadulla of Empresaris de Catalunya, an
association of entrepreneurs in the region who oppose independence. As
Spain emerges from the economic crisis, citizens across the country have
taken aim at the institutions and politicians who brought the country
to the brink of ruin, leading to a widespread demand for democratic
regeneration, “All over Spain, we want a new deal, whether it’s a new
constitution or reform,” said Rivadulla, pointing to the rise of
political parties such as Podemos and Ciudadanos. “We could call it the Spanish spring.”
This demand for change could help parties such as Podemos, which
supports a referendum on Catalan independence, or the Socialists, who
propose making Spain a federal country, make gains in the country’s
general elections, due by the end of the year. If so, Spain could usher
in a government more open to addressing Catalan grievances.
If Catalan separatists win power on Sunday, Rivadulla believes they
will take incremental steps towards independence, biding their time
until a new central government take power. Polls suggest no party will
earn an absolute majority in the general elections, meaning Catalan
leaders could have a better chance of negotiating greater
self-governance for Catalonia or a binding referendum by the end of the
year.
Others echoed his analysis. In Gallifa, Fornas doubted Sunday’s
election would bring about the independent Catalonia he had waited his
whole life for, even if Junts pel Sí won a strong mandate.
Fornas pointed to the 18-month timeline for the transitional
government, arguing it was a drawn-out schedule for a task that his
hamlet had managed to accomplish in just one day. “It doesn’t take 18
months to become independent,” he said. “In the US, they celebrate
independence day, not independence months.”
