The Spanish region of Catalonia is scheduled to hold a referendum on independence on Sunday October 01,2017, despite fierce opposition from the central government in Madrid and from the courts, which say the vote would violate the Constitution
The unity of the country is at stake, as is the political survival of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He has stepped up pressure in the region, which has seen arrests and the confiscation of campaign materials. Some Catalan leaders have suggested that Mr. Rajoy is taking the country back to the dark days of dictatorship, although he has resisted hard-liners’ calls for him to seize complete administrative control of Catalonia.
Mr. Rajoy has fought off Catalan pressure before, including five years ago, when Spain’s economic crisis, and Catalonia’s tax contributions to poorer regions, bolstered the secessionist movement.
But separatists in the region today are determined to press ahead. Here’s a guide to the vote, and to the events that led up to it.
What is Catalonia?
It’s one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions, situated in the country’s northeast and home to 7.5 million people. Catalonia accounts for almost one-fifth of Spain’s output, the equivalent of Portugal’s economy, and has spearheaded Spain’s economic development since the Industrial Revolution.
The regional capital, Barcelona,hosted the Olympic Games in 1992 and has since been the hub of Spain's thriving Tourism industry, with more than eight million overnight visitors last year.
What are the origins of the secessionist conflict?
Catalonia has its own history, culture and language, as do other parts of Spain. The region’s national day, on Sept. 11, commemorates the capture of Barcelona in 1714 by the troops of King Felipe V, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain, and the loss of autonomy that ensued. As the Romantic Movement swept across Europe in the 19th century, and as Catalonia confirmed its position as an industrial center, nationalism strengthened.
The region’s push for political autonomy from Madrid in the 1930s was one of the reasons behind the Spanish Civil War , and the resulting dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco crushed many civil liberties, suppressing the Catalan language. After Franco's death in 1975 , Spain’s return to democracy was enshrined in a new Constitution, which created a decentralized but not formally federal state.
The resulting administrative structure of Spain gave Catalans a significant degree of political autonomy — but not enough, according to the region’s current political leadership.
At one point, Spain’s national lawmakers came close to appeasing Catalan’s nationalist sentiment by allowing the region special autonomy. But when that statute was partially struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2010, tensions came to the fore.
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