Turmoil in Spain: Is This the Birth of a New State?

By Eugene Mok

On Friday, October 27, 2017, the autonomous Generalitat of Catalonia officially announced its independence from Spain. The Catalan parliament voted in favor of secession, while the Spanish parliament directly opposed such decision by approving the Spanish Prime Minister’s request to invoke Article 155 of Spain’s constitution, which essentially allows the central government to dissolve the Catalan government and impose direct rule over the region.

Catalonia, a wealthy region of Spain that enjoys the highest level of autonomy, accounts for 16% of the population, 25.6% of exports, 20.7% of foreign investment, and 19% of the nation’s GDP. They have their own parliament and president, a separate police force, different flag and anthem, and even their own language. Historically, tension between Spain and Catalonia has been present since 1714, when the monarch of Spain incorporated the region as a part of the kingdom through military actions. The economic and social deprivation that Catalonians feel, along with the bad blood, are pointed out as the underlying factors in Catalonia’s secession movements.

The most recent turmoil stemmed from Catalonia’s independence referendum that took place on October 1, 2017. During clashes between Spain’s national police and pro-independence protestors, 43% of Catalonian voters participated in the referendum and 90% of the participants were in favor of independence. Spain’s central government quickly disavowed the legitimacy of such referendum, while the Spanish constitutional court held the referendum to be illegal before it even took place.

Apart from such internal turmoil with the Spanish government, Catalonia’s efforts for independence confront international obstacles. Should they succeed in independence, Catalonia faces the problem of losing European Union (EU) member-privileges (e.g., automatic dropout from the Eurozone, access denied to the European Central Bank, etc.), as they would no longer be a part of Spain, an EU member nation. The newly born state would need to reapply to become a member of the EU and such process would be near impossible, as they must obtain the approval of every member nation, including Spain.

In addition, Catalonia further faces the problem of gaining international support and recognition from neighboring countries. Fearing that secessionist movements would increase within the EU, strong allies of Spain, such as the United Kingdom and France, have already publicly stated their support towards the Spanish government. Even the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has also voiced his support for Spain in a Tweeter post stating that there is no change and “Spain remains [EU’s] only interlocutor.”

For domestic and foreign reasons, Catalonia’s movement for independence is uncertain and is still in the early stages. Now, as the Spanish parliament has already passed the resolution to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, the immediate observation point would be how the central government decides to enforce the resolution.

References

Raphael Minder & Patrick Kingsley, Spain Dismisses Catalonia Government After Region Declares Independence, The New York Times (Oct. 27, 2017), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/world/europe/spain-catalonia-puigdemont.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront (last visited Oct. 27, 2017).

Crisis in Catalonia: Could Catalonia make a success of independence?, BBC (Oct. 10, 2017), available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41474674 (last visited Oct. 27, 2017).

Catalonia independence: Rajoy dissolves Catalan parliament, BBC (Oct. 27, 2017), available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41783289 (last visited Oct. 27, 2017).

Catalonia: What powers does the region have?, BBC (Oct. 27, 2017), available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41754124 (last visited Oct. 27, 2017).