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Catalonia to split from Spain within 48 hours of secession vote

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Catalonia will declare independence from Spain within 48 hours if voters back secession in an October referendum, according to a draft bill proposed by secessionist parties on Tuesday, though it remains unclear whether the vote will go ahead.

Spain's Constitutional Court and the conservative government in Madrid have blocked previous secessionist challenges and the government has said it will block any further attempt to hold a referendum.

According to the bill, written jointly by the parties which favor secession, the referendum will pose a binary question asking voters whether they want Catalonia, a wealthy region in northeastern Spain, to become an independent nation.

If "Yes" wins, the regional government plans to declare independence within 48 hours. If "No" wins, an early election would be called to form a new regional government.

The bill establishes no minimum participation for the referendum's outcome to be valid.

In 2014, Catalonia held a non-binding election on whether the region should be independent despite pressure from Madrid. While more than 80 percent agreed, turnout was low, at around 2.2 million out of 5.4 million potential voters.

Catalonia's regional government has said that while details of the bill will be debated in the coming weeks, a formal draft will not be sent to the Catalan legislature until August in an effort to forestall the Constitutional Court blocking the legislation.

The bill's announcement comes at a difficult time for the regional government led by Carles Puigdemont.

On Monday Puigdemont fired a senior member of his government for expressing doubt over the viability of plans to hold the referendum, highlighting tensions between different elements of the governing pro-independence coalition.

The Catalan government also faces technical challenges and has so far been unable to secure ballot boxes for the planned referendum.

Lock if old.
 

hobozero

Member
Ah, but do they have a memorable portmanteau describing the event?

Cataloxit?

Cata-loners

Cataloutta here.

Cata-leavin-ya?
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
I'm guessing Spain wouldn't accept that, but what would the rest of Europe (and the world) do? And what happens if Spain doesn't accept it?
 

Xando

Member
First i start to work in London-> Brexit happens
I started to work in Barcelona 1 1/2 months ago -> Catalonia independence

Starting to think it’s my fault
 

Laekon

Member
Can any Spanish GAF fill us in on how that region and some others like the Basque region (San Sebastian and Bilbao) seem to be better off economically then a lot of Spain? I know separatist movements in Spain but didn't know they were down to such small regions.
 

Boss Mog

Member
I hope they're ready for some consequences if they secede. I can't imagine Spain would take it lying down. Barcelona would be out of La Liga and out of Champions League as well most likely. They would lose the support and trade agreements of the EU as well I suppose.

Also If they did secede, it would probably embolden other parts of Spain that have longed for independence, like Basque Country, to do the same.
 
Didn't the head of the Spanish military get fired a decade or so ago for saying the military would intervene if Catalonia declared independence?

Edit: It might have just been a few years ago.
 
thae fact is that the military has the duty of protecting the integrity of the territory, so in an extreme case, not happening, they would have to intervene.
 

Patrick S.

Banned
Whenever I turn on the Spanish news TV channel I get here, it's either about corruption, unemployment, or Catalonia referendum.
 
in an October referendum

Okay so it is still in the fall. The headline made me assume something dramatic was happening now.

So we got Northern Iraq - Kurdistan referendum, South Yemen and Catalonia referendum all happening in the fall.
 
isn't it constitutionally impossible for Catalonia to legally secede?

hailing Funky Papa for clarity

That doesn't mean much. The only thing a potential country needs to be a proper country is recognition by other countries. It's mostly politics. If Catalonia secedes despite it being unconstitutional to do so, and the rest of the western world recognizes Catalonia as a country, then Catalonia is a country. There isn't anything Spain can do about it without damaging its relations with other countries.
 
Please do. Spain is corrupt af.

It is. Like Catalonia.

Which actually indicates the stupidity of the independence. Corruption in Catalonia is the same because everything is the same as in the rest of Spain: culture, education, way of life, food, work ethics, race distribution, religion, etc etc. The have been together for hundreds of years, in the same geographic area, so it is normal.
Catalonia's independence movement comes more from pure emotion than reason.
 
Whenever I hear these stories, I always think of this story from The Onion:
Everyone In Middle East Given Own Country In 317,000,000-State Solution
1600.jpg
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Are they reforming Aragon?

I hope so.
 

Gallbaro

Banned
It is. Like Catalonia.

Which actually indicates the stupidity of the independence. Corruption in Catalonia is the same because everything is the same as in the rest of Spain: culture, education, way of life, food, work ethics, race distribution, religion, etc etc. The have been together for hundreds of years, in the same geographic area, so it is normal.
Catalonia's independence movement comes more from pure emotion than reason.
Wouldn't it be safe to say the main pushers of a sovereign state, as I understand it Catalonia and Basque are mostly autonomous regions already, are the people who would benefit the most from the additional political and economic power?
 
It is. Like Catalonia.

Which actually indicates the stupidity of the independence. Corruption in Catalonia is the same because everything is the same as in the rest of Spain: culture, education, way of life, food, work ethics, race distribution, religion, etc etc. The have been together for hundreds of years, in the same geographic area, so it is normal.
Catalonia's independence movement comes more from pure emotion than reason.

that is a bit over-generalizing much

different regions have their cuisine specialty and I do find it important to preserve smaller languages.

Just because Castilian is the dominant language, it doesn't mean that all the smaller languages in Spain need to be crushed by Castile.

I am against Catalonia independence because of economic stability reasons.

But eh each nation should have the right to have a word.


That doesn't mean much. The only thing a potential country needs to be a proper country is recognition by other countries. It's mostly politics. If Catalonia secedes despite it being unconstitutional to do so, and the rest of the western world recognizes Catalonia as a country, then Catalonia is a country. There isn't anything Spain can do about it without damaging its relations with other countries.
my opinion doesn't matter but Spain's Constitutional is inflexible making the legality of Referendums harder to be considered legal
 
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