Catalonia has voted for their independence in referendum.

[JFK 546]

Honestly, I have no idea what to make of this.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41463719

 

Catalonia has been part of Spain for more than 500 years now and is one of the wealthiest regions in the country. It's pretty evident the Spanish government isn't going to allow a region that's so crucial to their economy to peacefully secede. Additionally, I can't imagine all of those images circulating of police beating up civilians is doing the public approval ratings for the Spanish Government there any favors.

 

 

[waffles 811]

Yea I heard about this earlier this week.  That region itself has a comparable GDP to some smaller European countries like Denmark.  I'm curious what the fallout will be from all of this.

[Jodas 1542]

Nothing is going to happen, they tried leaving multiple times but spain won't let them and the EU isn't going to help them. 

 

Catalan never wanted to be a part of spain they were forced into it and they are forced to stay.

[Piontko 0]

My heart is with the Catalans, but no state will agree to the separation of such a rich region

[sushi 19]

The last time there was such a ubiquitous strike in any part of Spain was in 1936, where workers walked, not out of protest, but to form militias to fight Franco... Don't screw with the Spanish.

Obviously Civil War, as we understand it, is impossible in such a centralized nation, but with the people of Catalonia so thoroughly unified against the federal government - whether they support Catalan independence or not - and federal Spain so vehemently opposed to their secession, nothing but conflict can continue.

 

This is especially true when considering the remarks of Spanish leaders (paraphrased):

King of Spain - This is absurd. Glad to see police doing their jobs.

Head of State - This is completely illegal and treasonous.

Min. Interior - I commend the police for acting professionally and proportionately to defend our constitution.

 

I mean come on. You can't tell people who have witnessed every population center in their province be invaded, and many of their neighbors and co-protesters brutalized, regardless of their political stance, that they were all criminals and the police were the knights in shining armor coming in to save the day. 

People around the world continue comparing this to Francoism, and, while making comparisons to 1930s European Fascist dictators on the internet is normally distasteful, I must agree. The rhetoric put out by the Spanish government is far too reminiscent of the "Better Spain" of 1937.

I hope bloodshed doesn't spill over into death, but, as horrible as it is to say it, I also hope it does in a minor capacity. Death in a 1^st  world country especially when perpetrated by its OWN GOVERNMENT, will get Catalonia more than international sympathy; it might make headlines across the world, rather than a second-page story, and garner true action from other countries. One death now might prevent the pressure from continuing to build without dialogue and 3rd party-intervention; if the current trend does continue, it has the potential to blow the top with an international incident of state terror or even fighting in the streets.