Catalonia’s Separatism: Nothing to Lose but Their Chains

IT IS a monument to defeat. On September 11th, Catalonia’s national day, newly uncovered ruins of old Barcelona were exposed three centuries after the Catalans lost a war against Spain’s new king. The Diada was celebrated this year by hundreds of thousands of people forming a 400km (250-mile) human chain across Catalonia, imitating the 1989 Baltic Way chain demanding independence from the Soviet Union.The organisers were less clear about the Catalan aim, some calling it a direct demand for independence, others saying it was just a demand for a referendum that the Popular Party (PP) government of Mariano Rajoy in Madrid refuses to sanction. Polls show just over half of Catalans back independence, but that a whopping 80% want a referendum.An independence march in last year’s Diada caught politicians by surprise. The Catalan president, Artur Mas, pledged to call a vote in 2014, exactly 300 years after Philip V’s troops squashed the Barcelona revolt and also when Scotland votes on independence from the United Kingdom. But with Mr Rajoy blocking even a non-binding referendum, Mr Mas may now postpone his “consultation” until 2016.His plan to turn the regional election that year into a “plebiscitary vote” is fraught with problems. Catalans can hardly be expected to elect a new government to run health care, education and social…

The Economist: Europe