CATALONIA -- Catalonia and the vote for independence - Rear Vision - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
It has been a big year for referendums. In a controversial vote in
March, Crimea 'elected' to become part of Russia while in September, the
Scots decided to remain part of the United Kingdom.
This month,
the government of Catalonia, technically an autonomous community of
Spain, had been planning an independence referendum of its own. When
Madrid refused to allow it and mounted a successful challenge in Spain’s
Constitutional Court, Catalonia's president was forced to downgrade the
event to a public consultation. The disputed and non-binding poll did
go ahead, with organisers reporting that more than 80% of voters backed
independence. Rear Vision has the background to the struggle for
independence in Catalonia.
Image:
Pro-independence Catalans gather in Catalonia Square during a
rally on October 19, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David
Ramos/Getty Images)
