Ten years ago this month, a foreign
news event occurred that ultimately had a major impact on relations
between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
The credit crunch, which began when French bank BNP Paribas froze funds over US subprime mortgage sector fears, eventually plunged Spain into recession.
Old
grievances among Catalans were revived, as secessionists argued that
their wealthy region was being milked by incompetent governments in
Madrid.
Now a very different kind of outside factor, jihadist
violence, has returned to Spain, which last saw such carnage in the
Madrid train bombings of 2004.
This time Catalonia was attacked, less than two months before its unrecognised referendum on independence.
