The Guardian view on Catalonian independence: heading for a crash | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian:
Spain has a complex and contradictory tradition as a multinational state. On the one hand there is the older legacy of a polity originally united by dynastic alliances, where the monarch ruled differently in his various territories, observing the prevailing local rights and customs. On the other there was a powerful centralising tendency under the Bourbon kings and, later, under Franco which sought to iron out diversity, instil obedience to Madrid and limit if not abolish autonomy. To complicate matters further, the absolutism of the centre was often countered by the intransigence of the Basque and Catalan movements, creating a situation in which neither had any inclination to compromise.
Demonstrators
call for independence for Catalonia during this year's Catalan National
Day in Spain. Photograph: Manu Fernandez/AP
