CATALONIA -- Catalonia: the conflict is democratic, not nationalistic | catalan views
In the last five years we have seen that the pro-independence
movement in Catalonia, one of the most productive regions of Spain, has
grown in a significant way. Some claim to see this as a sign of a lack
of solidarity or of nationalistic selfishness, not understanding the
real reasons which have brought us to this situation.
Catalonia has always led democratic reforms in Spain, and has
contributed in a big way to solidarity with the rest of Spain's regions
with its efforts. However, in 2010, after the verdict of the
Constitutional Court against our self-government, it became evident that
it was impossible to continue progressing towards a quasi-federal model
within the current Spain; in addition, we are going through an economic
crisis, which has especially affected the Mediterranean countries and
has put in danger the welfare of its citizens. Since then we have
suffered a continuous regression in our social and democratic rights,
with reactionary and re-centralising reforms from the Spanish
Government; attacks on self-government and the Catalan language and
culture; a territorial funding scheme which is profoundly unfair to
Catalonia which, far from being based on "solidarity", feeds on a model
of public money waste; and the impossibility of undertaking any reform
that untangles the situation.
Thus, pro-independence support becomes the answer to a failed model
that the two big majority parties in Spain do not want to change. By the
way, these two parties are increasingly irrelevant in Catalonia; two
distinct and more distant political systems are being consolidated,
adding a crisis of legitimacy and representativeness between the
citizens and those who decide their issues.
