About 170,000 people marched through Madrid on Saturday in the largest protest yet against an amnesty law which Spain's Socialists agreed over Catalonia's 2017 separatist bid in order to form a government.
Freedom for Catalonia! They voted 90% in favor for independence, Spain’s government claimed that the vote invalid, then jailed the politicians who organized the referendum.
The government didn’t claim the vote invalid, the vote was illegal from the beginning. And even then, they barely got past 40% positive votes, what would you do with the other almost 60% of the population? And that’s assuming everyone took it seriously and voted.
You’re right, I mixed dates and numbers. It was ~40% turnout, and then in 2019 a poll showed that ~40% of Catalans wanted independence. That’s where I got my numbers wrong I think.
If the central government claims the local independence referendum is invalid, then the central government should host an independence referendum under whatever rules make it legal and binding, at the option of provincial leaders. If that can’t be done, then the breakaway province should consider itself an occupied territory and any means to oust the occupiers should be seen as self-defense.
Thats the problem though. The Spanish constitution explicitly says that the country is indivisible. Therefore any independence referendums are against the constitution/illegal. And that’s the reason why the proponent of the referendum are persecuted.
The next step should be to amend the constitution, but I’m not sure the rest of Spain would allow it
Freedom for Catalonia! They voted 90% in favor for independence, Spain’s government claimed that the vote invalid, then jailed the politicians who organized the referendum.
The government didn’t claim the vote invalid, the vote was illegal from the beginning. And even then, they barely got past 40% positive votes, what would you do with the other almost 60% of the population? And that’s assuming everyone took it seriously and voted.
That’s some very slippery phrasing. 40% turnout does not mean 40% of the vote.
Maybe I didn’t phrase it correctly, let me try again. Of all the people who voted, only a bit above 40% voted yes.
Source? Every report I’ve read shows over 90% in favor.
You’re right, I mixed dates and numbers. It was ~40% turnout, and then in 2019 a poll showed that ~40% of Catalans wanted independence. That’s where I got my numbers wrong I think.
No thats also wrong. 40% of People eligible to vote voted yes, which is 90% of People who voted
If the central government claims the local independence referendum is invalid, then the central government should host an independence referendum under whatever rules make it legal and binding, at the option of provincial leaders. If that can’t be done, then the breakaway province should consider itself an occupied territory and any means to oust the occupiers should be seen as self-defense.
Thats the problem though. The Spanish constitution explicitly says that the country is indivisible. Therefore any independence referendums are against the constitution/illegal. And that’s the reason why the proponent of the referendum are persecuted.
The next step should be to amend the constitution, but I’m not sure the rest of Spain would allow it
In that case I see no problem if Catalonia just declares itself an occupied territory and liberates itself.