The “referendum” on Catalonia’s independence, held on October 1, did not end up well for its promoters. It had been declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court, and the national government did everything in its power to prevent it from happening. In the end, around 43% of citizens entitled to vote turned out, and the vote did not meet minimal international standards as to be taken seriously by anyone.
To external observers this could seem like a clash of legitimacies between two governments, the Spanish and the Catalan, both democratically elected. Catalan nationalists dressed their demands under a supposedly perfect democratic disguise: how could any democrat refuse the will of the people expressed in a vote? Yet, in early September the regional Parliament approved by only a slim majority the referendum law that did not even comply with its own parliamentary rules and procedures. The law claims that the Catalan people have the “imprescriptible and inalienable right to self-determination”, as expressed by the United Nations. Yet, as independentistas should know very well, the right to self-determination only applies to people subject to colonial domination or foreign occupation and in undemocratic states. None of these applies to Catalonia. [...]
Crucially, it is not true that Catalans are oppressed and cannot vote. On the contrary, over 91% of the Catalan voters approved the current Spanish Constitution in 1978, which is now so lambasted by pro-independence forces – a much higher rate than anywhere in the rest of Spain. Ever since, Catalans have been voting in free elections and expressing themselves in many ways since the restoration of democracy in 1977. They have participated massively in over 35 elections to choose their representatives at local, regional, national and European level. [...]
On the other hand, the current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is totally unfit for embarking on negotiations. He and most of the current center-right Popular Party (PP) senior leaders are also responsible for the rise of Catalan pro-independence forces in the last decade through their centralizing tendencies and total lack of sensitivity about Catalan singularities and demands. The PP claim of unconstitutionality regarding the reformed Catalan Estatut (the Charter that sets out Catalonia’s self-government), previously approved by the national and regional parliaments and by the Catalan people, was a decisive moment in the struggle for independence. The ensuing ruling from the Constitutional Court in 2010 turned down parts of the Estatut and was considered a major blow to millions of citizens, who turned to independence as the only way to enhance self-government. Since then, the mistrust felt by a large majority of Catalan citizens and political forces towards Rajoy and his collaborators make it impossible for him to strike a compromise.
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