Catalonia’s separatists: ‘The Spanish state has failed. We can change this’
Separatist leader Raül Romeva is turning elections into a de facto referendum on breaking away from Spain
At the port of Tarragona recently, with the sun shining on the
harbour, it became clear that Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes), the
Catalan independence coalition which hopes to score a significant
victory next weekend, is a pretty big tent.
Asked about a controversial megacomplex of hotels, casinos and theme
parks in the works, candidate Germà Bel was confident that the project
would create wealth and jobs for the area. But Raül Romeva, charismatic
leader of the Together for Yes list, doubted whether the project would
actually go ahead. “It’s not a done deal,” he hedged.
Spanish media seized on the moment as evidence of the uneasy
bedfellows that had joined together for Catalonia’s forthcoming regional
elections.
But Romeva, who leads the Junts pel Sí ticket, sees the unwieldy
coalition backed by the conservative Democratic Convergence party, the
leftwing Catalan Republican Left and grassroots independence activists,
as a sign of the extraordinary moment Catalonia is experiencing.
Catalonian independence champion Raül Romeva: ‘What we have is the opportuniy to change.’ Photograph: Matthias Oesterle/Corbis
