EuropeAnalysis

Independence referendum proposal raises Catalan tensions

Poll in 2017 marked by police baton charges on voters and led to the Spanish government temporarily introducing direct rule

Catalonia region president Pere Aragonès has outlined plans for a binding referendum, inspired by secession votes held in Scotland and Quebec. Photograph: Alberto Estevez/EPA

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Guy Hedgecoe in Madrid
Wed Apr 3 2024 - 19:17

The government of Catalonia has unveiled its proposal for a referendum on independence for the region, nearly seven years after a previous vote which had drastic consequences.

Catalonia region president Pere Aragonès outlined plans for a binding in/out referendum, inspired by secession votes held in Scotland and Quebec. The proposal was based on a report he commissioned by the Institute for Self-Government Studies (IEA), a research centre linked to the Catalan government.

“Voting on independence is possible in the current legislative framework, it is purely a matter of political will,” said Mr Aragonès, as he presented the initiative.

His government argues that the Spanish constitution can be interpreted in such a way as to allow the vote. According to this reading, the Magna Carta’s reference to referendums being allowed as long as “all citizens” are consulted does not necessarily mean that all Spaniards must take part but rather all Catalans.

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No time frame has been set for the staging of the referendum, which Mr Aragonès says would be negotiated with the Spanish state. The approach of his Catalan Republican Left (ERC) with this project has been much more cautious than that of his party and other pro-independence forces in 2017 when they defied the wishes of the then-conservative government and court orders by staging a unilateral vote.

That referendum was marked by a police baton charge on voters and led to the Spanish government temporarily introducing direct rule as nine independence leaders were subsequently jailed.

Support for independence has dropped in recent years, with 41 per cent of Catalans in favour, according to a recent poll by the regional government’s statistics institute.

However, with nationalist parties — ERC and the more radical Together for Catalonia (JxCat) — wielding enormous power in the Spanish political arena by providing parliamentary support to the minority government of Socialist Pedro Sánchez, they are seeking substantial concessions in return.

They have already achieved a big one in the shape of an amnesty Bill benefiting Catalan nationalists who have been facing legal action for separatist activity. The law is in parliament and could be implemented by late May.

The amnesty has been the main point of attack for Mr Sánchez’s critics on the right, who see it as an unlawful measure introduced purely to keep the Socialist prime minister in power. A referendum would be even more controversial, with unionists insisting it is incompatible with the constitution. Although the Spanish government has ruled out the possibility of allowing an independence vote for that reason, Mr Aragonès’s proposal confirms its return as a cause of tension.

The leader of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called on Mr Sánchez to prevent any further talk of a referendum by breaking ties with his Catalan parliamentary partners and “to bring to an end this journey to nowhere”.

The staunchly unionist right-wing newspaper La Razón also lamented the issue’s resurgence.

“We fear that the debate about the negotiated self-determination referendum, which had been closed, will come back to dominate Catalan politics, which is always hostage to the nationalists,” it said.

With a snap Catalan election approaching on May 12th, the two main pro-independence parties are expected to vie for prominence on the sovereignty issue. Carles Puigdemont, the de facto leader of JxCat who hopes to return from self-imposed exile and lead the next regional government, has taken a less compromising line than ERC. In announcing his candidacy last month, he insisted that “the independence movement should return to the winning strategy of [2017].”

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