The Spanish government, after years of economic crisis, high unemployment rates, corruption, lack of opportunities for its youth and austerity, showed little competence in dealing with people’s needs. That gave the separatists a perfect platform to gain momentum and push for their cause, similarly to how, in other EU nations, we’ve seen the rise of “radical” political parties and movements. [...]
It is fair to say that the Catalan government seized an opportunity to push for its agenda, which is based on financial control and power. Very much like Britain, which always wanted special treatment within the EU and complained about its budget and how much it had to contribute, the Catalan government was in disagreement with Madrid over how much it should pay. [...]
Another major failure of the government in Madrid is that it failed to mobilise the Catalans who want to stay in the Spanish union. Instead, it seems to believe that relying on the fact that the Spanish constitution prohibits such referendums and issuing a violent crackdown on the voters would solve the problem. [...]
Only around 42% of the electorate voted, 90% of which supported independence. If the other 58% were motivated to take part, maybe the outcome would have been different. In addition, it could have started a positive campaign to convince the Catalan electorate, rather than arresting its elected officials.
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