"The
last fifteen laws we have passed in the Catalan parliament have been
banned by the Spanish state. But these are not independentist laws —
many of them are social laws: for
example, a law about sanctuary for those fleeing persecution, a law
banning energy companies from turning off people’s electricity, and a
law for a higher minimum wage. We want to use our autonomy to improve
people’s lives and we are forbidden. People see this and respond. They
want to decide the future of Catalonia and that is not possible in the
current arrangement.
But
specifically on this question of remittances, the CUP has said for a
number of years that an independent Catalonia should pay money to poorer
parts of Spain in the transition. It doesn’t have to be a short time,
it could be twenty or thirty years. We don’t want these regions to
suddenly lose money. We are internationalists and we are in solidarity
with workers and the poor in Spain."
Thousands gather in Barcelona's Plaza Universitat during an October 3
general strike to protest the Spanish state's repression of the Catalan
referendum.
David Ramos / Getty Images
