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Originally Posted by Mick
I do not agree with Spain's approach.
The Catalonia Referendum on Independence, wasn't classified as illegal right up until the eve of the vote. Why allow such a process to build up so much momentum, people campaigning etc, mass rallies of people in the street?
Spain panicked and thought, "crap, we cannot lose one of our key financial support areas", I wouldn't put it past the EU to lean on Spain to go in heavy handed, the EU's lack of empathy towards old people being dragged and pushed to the ground by Spain's Militia, which by the way breached a key clause of membership of the EU of basic human rights violations, it was totally disgusting and you still love and want to be associated with these EU pissants.  |
The referendum was halted just days after the Catalan Parliament passed the bill:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...-disobedience/
It was never seen as entirely legal right up to the eve of the vote. The position of Madrid has always been that it is illegal.
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The Spanish Constitutional Court last night suspended a referendum law that was approved on Wednesday by the Catalan parliament, blocking the way for an vote on independence from Spain. The law will be suspended while judges consider arguments that the vote breaches the country's constitution.
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There is also an explanation as to why it's illegal here:
https://www.economist.com/blogs/econ...st-explains-17
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Spain’s democratic constitution of 1978, which was approved by more than 90% of Catalan voters, gave wide autonomy to the regions but affirmed “the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation”. Only the Spanish parliament can change the constitution. Mr Puigdemont’s referendum is therefore illegal, and Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s conservative prime minister, is determined to prevent it taking place.
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But legal or not it's questionable if a region of a country can just declare independence without the approval of the parent nation. Is that really a precedent we want to set?
If a region of the UK, Scotland or Wales for example, suddenly decided to hold a referendum without permission from Westminster which they subsequently won would you approve of the EU demanding we recognise it?
I think they should offer a legal path to a referendum and they certainly should not have reacted so violently. In doing so they've only increased the support for independence both in Catalonia and around the world. This is a complicated issue though and within Catalonia the question was not settled and you can't have suddenly declarations of independence.