The next state in Europe?

Published in Catalonia Today magazine - October 2012

When a demonstration of 1.5 million people takes place in the capital city of a country of seven million inhabitants, you can bet that something big is going on.

Add to that the fact that the marchers were demanding "Independence", and you come up with a very strong cocktail. That cocktail is called "Catalonia, the next state in Europe", and the main problem is that Madrid and Brussels don’t want to try it. However, it seems that democracy will eventually force them to take a sip, as the Catalan people expressed their will in the streets of Barcelona last month and will also no doubt do so in the polling booths in the next Catalan elections,. Then, the political options will be polarised between two choices: to remain part of Spain or become an independent state, regaining sovereignity lost 300 hundreds years ago.

Catalonia is at a crossroads and the two paths to follow are dark and painful. On one hand, the cost of remaining part of Spain is poverty and assimilation. On the other, the costs of secession are very high as well. At the end of the day, though, the democratic will of the people will prevail, and that is something unstoppable.