Spanish Prisoners
ON Sept. 11, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of
Barcelona calling for Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Artur Mas,
the Catalan prime minister, reacted by dissolving the regional
Parliament and calling for elections on Nov. 25, which will likely
strengthen his party’s position. Catalonia’s Parliament, which
represents an autonomous region the size of Belgium in Spain’s northeast
corner, has overwhelmingly supported holding a referendum on
independence despite the Spanish Constitution’s ban on secession. So in
addition to its economic woes, Spain now faces a deep constitutional
crisis.
History can follow a capricious path, sometimes meandering slowly for
decades only to accelerate abruptly and take a vertiginous turn. The
immediate cause of Catalonia’s sudden outbreak of secessionist fever is
so-called fiscal looting. The region accounts for about one-fourth of
Spain’s exports. But for every euro Catalans pay in taxes,
only 57 cents is spent in the region. Before taxes, Catalonia is the fourth richest of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.
After taxes, it drops to ninth — a form of forced redistribution unparalleled in contemporary Europe.
For a society suffering the acute pain of budget cuts and a deep
recession, the burden of fiscal transfers, which cripple the Catalan
economy’s ability to compete globally, is unacceptable. Unable to draw
on its own tax base, the Catalan government recently went through the
humiliation of being forced to ask Madrid for a bailout. Americans know
well that an unfair taxation system can easily ignite calls for
independence.
But money isn’t the only cause of secessionist sentiment. We Catalans
have long been attached to our distinct identity and never accepted the
loss of national sovereignty after being defeated by the Spanish
monarchy in 1714. For three centuries, Catalonia has striven to regain
its independence. Most attempts to establish a state were put down by
force. The “Catalan question” was a major catalyst of the Spanish Civil
War in the 1930s, and Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship harshly
repressed Catalan culture.
At the core of Catalonia’s unique identity is the Catalan language,
which is distinct from Spanish. Since the re-establishment of Spain’s
democracy in 1977 and
Catalonia’s autonomy in 1979,
Catalan has been revived in the region’s schools. However, a recent
ruling by Spain’s Constitutional Court threatens this policy. To most
Catalans, our language is a red line. If the current system of autonomy
can’t guarantee protection of it, independence is the only solution.
The independence movement is not driven by hatred of Spain. Catalan
nationalism is civic and cultural, unlike the ethnic nationalism that
has so often plagued Europe. Indeed, most of the two million Spaniards
who migrated to Catalonia in the 1960s and ’70s are today fully
integrated and many of them have embraced secessionist ideals.
The growth of the secessionist movement is also a reaction to a renewed
wave of Spanish nationalism. When Catalonia passed a more far-reaching
autonomy law in 2006, some political parties and media outlets unleashed
a fierce anti-Catalan campaign that included a boycott of Catalan
products. This campaign caused an emotional rift, and many Catalans
concluded that only independence would protect them. Once mutual trust
was lost, other possible solutions, like a federal state, lost their
appeal. The fact that the Spanish government is now seeking to curb the
powers of autonomous regions by blaming them for the economic crisis
doesn’t help.
Opponents of secession often argue that Catalan independence doesn’t
make sense in a globalized world where state sovereignty is
progressively being eroded. However, the opposite is true: it has never
made more sense — at least for small European nations. Europe’s common
market and its increasing move toward greater political union enhances
the viability of small countries.
Small states are more competitive
and tend to react faster to global economic challenges. Catalonia has a
population of just over 7.5 million. Twelve current European Union
members, including Ireland and Denmark, have smaller populations.
Although secession sounds drastic, it doesn’t need to be. The European
Union’s internal borders are already blurred and its citizens cross them
in order to travel, work and emigrate without visas. Spaniards and
Catalans would continue to be members of a community of nations, and the
most important economic and cultural links would be preserved.
Unfortunately, the Catalan demands for self-determination have so far
been met with threats and contempt by the Spanish government. This
attitude differs starkly from that of the British prime minister, David
Cameron, who has been negotiating with Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first
minister, over a scheduled 2014 referendum on Scottish secession from
the United Kingdom.
Spain’s Constitution may not permit regions to secede, but the
principles of democracy and justice necessitate finding a political
solution to Catalonia’s demands. In a world where deep-seated national
grievances often lead to violence, Catalans offer the example that
peaceful change is possible. Denying Catalans the right to
self-determination would be an affront to the democratic ideals that
Spain, and Europe, claim to embrace.
