Most recently, the wind of change has been blowing around the world in the name of right to self-determination. Last Sunday, Catalonia hosted a referendum in their effort to secede from Spain. The Spanish government vehemently opposed the referendum because it was illegal under the Spanish Constitution.
It is interesting to note how scholars have handled the topic of the right to self-determination over the years. For instance, in 927 Ludwig Von Mises wrote a great book titled: Liberalism. Below is an extract of what he said about secession.
The people who desire to secede and leave their national governments are not holding referendums because they want to discuss issues which are complex. No. These people want to just change their nationality as written on their passports. This is simply likened to the changing from one club to another one.
The Spanish Prime Minister insisted that there was no referendum held in Sunday in Catalonia. He said this because he had ordered numerous paramilitary and police force to disrupt the exercise. This act lowered the number of people who turned out to cast their votes. This actions greatly affected the turnout which stood at 42% because in was conducted in challenging circumstances. The secessionists declared that they won by an impressive 90% of the total votes cast.
- Hundreds of civilians were injured during clash with the police force
- Police used rubber bullets and truncheons in some places
- The police aimed at seizing ballot boxes and shutting down polling stations
Spain is a country with a painful 20th Century history which was weighed down by fascism and civil war. Democracy is relatively young in Catalonia. It was introduced in 1978 following the death of Dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.
Catalonia has a reputation for having some of the world’s largest human pyramids. On the other hand, Spain is known for her soccer team, F.C. Barcelona. The club operates from Camp Nou Stadium.
Origin of Secession Idea
The complaints raised by Catalans emerged it was established that Madrid was siphoning off their wealth and denying them their right to decide their own political direction.
Strategies used by Catalans to bar the police
- Blocking of police access to some rural municipalities through the use of tractors to allow voting to continue.
- Removing doors at the polling stations to make it impossible for the police plans to bolt them
Madrid government actions to stop the voting process
- Disabling the internet
- Confiscating ballot papers and boxes
- Threatening officials with prosecutions and detaining others
These oppressive actions from Madrid did not dampen the spirit of Catalans in their quest for self-determination. It was a case of do-or-die. Therefore, voting took place any way despite the ongoing cat and mouse games.
There was a lot of improvisation to make the voting happen to an extent that new ballot papers were privately printed after Madrid confiscated others. It is interesting that even the voting rules were changed mid-way to allow voters to cast their votes in any polling station.
The latter change of voting rules lead a Spanish government representative to state that what was initially an illegal referendum has now become a joke.
Despite these tough operating conditions, the Catalan polls received a number of foreign observers who monitored the entire exercise on the invitation the Catalan government. Eventually, the will of 7.5 million Catalonia people who supported separation from Spain was expressed.
Raul Romeva was a great advocate for secession from Spain. His team campaigned tirelessly towards this end. These advocates illustrated that there was a gap between what Catalonia pay in taxes and what they receive back as public services.
This gap was estimated by analysts to be 10 billion Euros every year. This is one of the reasons that led Catalonia to say that their resources were being siphoned off by Madrid.
Language
This is the second reason why Catalan pushed to enjoy separation. During the rule of General Franco (read dictator) Catalans were not allowed to use their language at all. The people were oppressed for a long time.
After General Franco’s death in 1975 and democracy returned to Spain in 1978 Catalan language bounced back in full swing. This is classical case showing national and state government set on a collision course the after effects.
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