Month: September 2017
Catalonia: We Just Want To Vote
“We just want to vote” This is the message, in English, that many Catalans have been sending out to the rest of Europe, in the run up to this Sunday’s planned independence referendum. Most Catalans, or more correctly, most people, who can vote here want to have a say, in what the Catalan Generalitat (regional government) has said will be a binding vote. Depending on which polls you read, less than half of voters want independence. While these stats are widely reported, I did read a poll today that suggested there would be 63% or more turnout and an 83% yes vote. There’s plenty of commentators saying that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is right in saying that the Catalan vote is against the Spanish constitution, and that the Catalan government is right because they are fulfilling the mandate given to them by the electorate. Many millions of words have...