So what are we to make of the crisis in Catalonia?

Posted by Guessedworker on Friday, 27 October 2017 17:31.

Momentous events have come to pass this afternoon, finally, in Barcelona, namely that the Catalan Parliament has voted to declare independence from Madrid, and just 40 minutes later Madrid has voted to furnish Mariano Rajoy with the power to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, suspending Catalan autonomy. I think it is time for us to acknowledge this development and ask, if only via this brief (and rapidly written) post, what it means.

There has been much written over the last few weeks about the conflicted state of Catalan opinion, and many claims about the (supposedly) indistinguishable and unified Spanish ethnic type, and consequently about the negative and materialistic motives of Catalans in escaping the tax-hungry Spanish regions to the south and west. To many of us it is self-evident that Spain is not just a state but a nation – we have all grown up with that belief – and the suddenness with which this whole crisis has exploded into our consciousness seems scarcely credible. After all, Yugoslavia was never a real country, and once the Berlin Wall was down it was fully expected that fracture would occur, and that fracture might be accompanied by violence. But this … this is happening in the liberal west of the continent to a key member of the EU, a member of NATO, a modern, industrialised democracy. According to the customary assumptions about the liberal democratic model, it shouldn’t even be possible.

On the other hand, there is an undeniably ugly side to the Spanish government’s reaction to the events in Barcelona thus far. It is patently obvious that there is no interest in trying to talk down the secessionists. The Spanish regions enjoy maximum autonomy already. There is nothing more to give in that direction. The political possibilities for negotiation have been stripped bare. All that remains is core principle and force, which express differently in each side.

This is, then, a classic contest between a genuine identitarian will, which cannot be satisfied with any amount of autonomy within another governing system, and the existential necessity of that system to maintain its integrity.

Well, we are ethnic nationalists. In such a battle, our guide to what is right is not romantic and sentimental and not predicated on an overriding desire for peace. We must favour what is most permanent and dear, and that is authentic peoplehood and identity. The Catalans have it. There are distinct genetic components in the people, stemming from a German influence which is seen nowhere else in the Iberian peninsula. They have a language and a particular culture and history, and they have a pride in that. These things are great givers of a courage which, on the surface anyway, looks as if it will not be brooked. The Catalans will face the force of the Spanish government, and probably fight back with civil unrest, for example by denying Madrid their taxes.

But there is another, related and larger contest here which steers us towards supporting Catalonia. All of us in the West, and especially in the European Union, are being ushered, by degrees, into a new supra-state. It is a top-down, elite-led project, and its implications for nations, as expressions of a particular descent, belonging and loyalty, are destructive. We see this most clearly today with the attempts by the EU bureaucracy to coerce Third World migrants upon the Visegrad states.

It is true that the Catalans do not seek freedom from Brussels, and seem not to have understood (any more than the SNP government in Edinburgh did in 2014) that Brussels cannot simply extend membership of the Union to a new European state. But above and beyond the politics is the over-arching contest for and against the ethnic life. Even if it does not know it today … even if the public discourse and the political ambition remain essentially liberal and not at all nationalist in any overtly recognisable sense… Catalonia is inducting itself into this historical contest. Spain, meanwhile, in announcing its cold determination to survive, is taking its own inevitable place in the opposing camp - inevitable because post-Franco Spain, the Spain of Juan Carlos and democracy and admission to the then EC, was a project of modernisation, and modernisation, as understood in the half century after World War II, with all the bells and whistles of a brave new, subsuming openness to the world and its markets and its peoples, had no time for the introspection and the values of ethnic survival and self-preservation.

Metapolitically, such modernisation always treats of ethnicity within assimilation (or melting-pot) theory, attaching no greater worth or meaning to it than a lab researcher typically attaches to lab-rats. Catalonian independence, like Brexit, like all the nationalist and near-nationalist advances in 2017, is inherently an insistence on the human worth and meaning of the ethnic life.

We are bound to support the Catalans in their brave bid for freedom and true autonomy. It is our fight.

Tags: European Nationalism, European Union

Comments:

Posted by Rocha on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 02:13 | #

Distict germanic influence! HAHAHA! By the sake of god, why any people in the latin sphere who develops anything in the direction of identitarianism is given more germanic or indo-european influence? Catalans are the LEAST indo-europeans (and thus germanlike) of ALL iberians and the second (losing only to the sardinians) of all latins! And this steam from ancient history itself! Doubt me? Just check wikipedia () so please no more bullsh*t! You can have an honest opinion without any fake facts!

Posted by Captainchaos on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 02:33 | #

Yeah, it’s kind of hard to see what the fledgling Republic of Swarthlandia has to do with Germany. Perhaps Michael Ravioli - pontiff of swarthoidism - can set us straight.

Posted by Captainchaos on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 03:04 | #

I want to see if I can kick GW off the fence on this one. I wonder if he would be pissed if his daughter decided to breed with a shit-skinned greaseball. Would nothing less than Nordic do in that instance?

Posted by Guessedworker on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 04:13 | #

Rocha: Doubt me? Just check wikipedia

OK, well, Wikipedia turns out to have a page on “Genetic History of the Iberian Peninsula”, and this is what it says:

Significant genetic differences are found among, and even within, Spain and Portugal’s different regions, which can be explained by the wide divergence in their historical trajectories and Spain and Portugal’s internal geographic boundaries. The Basque Region in Northern Spain, is the most genetically distinct and typically Atlantic European. Furthermore, the Basque region and Catalonia hold the least Eastern Mediterranean ancestry in Iberia. African influence is largely concentrated in the Southern and Western regions of the peninsula. Germanic influence is small and limited to Catalonia, Galicia and Northern Portugal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_the_Iberian_Peninsula

So I overlooked Galicia. My bad.

Posted by Guessedworker on Sat, 28 Oct 2017 04:16 | #

CC, I would not want my daughter to marry any foreigner. Even a northern German. Hell, I wouldn’t be completely happy for her to marry a Scot.

Posted by Spain crushing Catalonian independence movement on Mon, 30 Oct 2017 18:07 | #

On Friday, The Spanish Prime Minister Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced his Cabinet had fired Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and had dissolved Catalonia’s Parliament.

The Spanish government has taken control of Catalonia, stripping the north eastern region of its autonomy, implementing direct rule in an effort to crush Catalonia’s independence movement.

Posted by CajunSwan on Tue, 31 Oct 2017 17:12 | #

Clearly the globalists want to make an example out of this situation. Pride in nation must go. It’s in the way of their plans.

Posted by mancinblack on Wed, 01 Nov 2017 19:17 | #

My first experience of Spain was as an eight year old in 1963. My parents having decided that we should holiday there and as was their habit that meant travelling by road. This was still very much old Europe we drove through. The motorways hadn’t been built and the continent had not yet acquired its American skyline. The architecture was old but buildings wore their age with the cloak of dignity.

We passed a number of rural villages in Spain and at one such we made a brief stop in the village square and my father entered the only shop I could see, to ask directions or something. I think it was a butchers as I could see meat hanging from hooks but it was so fly blown it was hard to tell. I took the opportunity to get out of the car and stretch my legs. By this time a group of locals had gathered. I guessed they were not used to seeing strangers, especially northerners in a brand new Vauxhall.

A few children accompanied the adults. They were all girls aged between four and seven I would say. The oldest smiled at me, so I smiled back at her berry coloured face which was framed by luxuriant tresses as dark as the Gates of Hades*. Yet despite this congenial atmosphere I found myself feeling a little uneasy. I had, somewhat dispassionately, noticed that none of these young girls appeared to be wearing underwear. No, it wasn’t that causing my sudden uneasiness, I had a sister after all. It was something else.

You see, back in England we still had our slums, although the government was doing its best to level them and build new ones in their place. In many parts of the country people still felt safe leaving their doors unlocked as they went out because they knew there was little inside worth stealing. The poverty in front of me now was on an entirely different level. It made a lasting impression on me and not only on me but on my mother too. Even though as child she had lived through WWII and the Blitz. These people were so impoverished that I doubt they had any piss to put in a pot if they had a pot to piss in, if you follow. My unease was because for the first time in my young life I began to realize how fortunate and yes, privileged, I was by comparison. The contrast between this village and our penultimate destination, Malaga, couldn’t have been greater.

It would be some years before I became aware of the reasons for this disparity in wealth. Those being the economic priorities of Franco, who had lavished money on the monarchy, the Church, Real Madrid FC and of course his own bank account. This, finally, brings me around to the question of Catalonia and its desire for secession. I can’t help but feel that there is something of the spirit of Franco about this and to me, that is the same spirit that made the English upper and middle classes turn their collective back on the white working class and basically tell them “Fuck you Jack. Globalism works for us. You are on your own”.

Perhaps I’m wrong, it would hardly be for the first time, and perhaps this is a genuine outpouring of ethno nationalist sentiment. So I have to ask myself a simple question. That question would be this. If Catalonia was one of the poorest regions in Spain and say, Andalusia, one of the wealthiest, would the Catalans still be waiving their flags and demanding independence? I don’t suppose I’ll ever have an answer to that but what I do feel secure in saying is that an independent Catalonia would push the poorest in Spain further to the margins and closer to the economic abyss they have struggled so hard to crawl away from.

That great poet, Federico Garcia Lorca, once wrote that “I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and are not allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace”. You will find me next to the green myrtle and the shade of Lorca, on this issue, I think.

* “The Gates of Hades” was the name given to St Michael’s cave in Gibraltar by the ancient Greeks and was the southern most tip of this journey.

Posted by Guessedworker on Wed, 01 Nov 2017 23:42 | #

Beautiful comment, manc.

Posted by Arthur on Tue, 14 Nov 2017 01:12 | #

@ Captainchaos

https://twitter.com/AutisticSaxon/status/926949689190223873

Posted by Catalan separatists 50/50 chance in December on Tue, 28 Nov 2017 15:38 | #

Reuters, “Separatists and unionists tied for support ahead of Catalan elections: poll”, 26 Nov 2017:

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Pro-independence parties may fail to retain an absolute majority of seats in the Catalan parliament in regional elections next month, a poll published on Sunday showed, with pro-unity parties poised to increase their vote share.

Failure to win a majority in the regional parliament would be a blow for Catalan separatists who have billed the Dec. 21 election as a de-facto plebiscite on Madrid’s decision to impose direct rule on the wealthy region last month.

Following Spain’s worst political crisis in decades, the sacking of the secessionist Catalan government in October has a eased tensions for the moment, although victory for the pro-independence camp in December would plunge the northeast region back into uncertainty.

Reuters, “Jailed former Catalan vice-president accepts Madrid rule: lawyer”, 28 Nov 2017:

MADRID (Reuters) - Imprisoned former vice-president of Catalonia Oriol Junqueras and three other jailed members of his ERC party will abide by a ruling giving Madrid control over the region, their defense lawyer said on Tuesday.

Junqueras and seven other former members of the Catalonia regional cabinet were jailed on Nov. 2 pending trial, accused of sedition, rebellion and misappropriation of funds after the local government declared independence from Spain.

Catalonia’s secession drive has tipped Spain into its worst political crisis in decades and prompted Madrid to sack the Catalan government, led by Carles Puigdemont, and call a regional election for Dec. 21.

The acceptance of Madrid’s rule over the region could prompt the Supreme Court to overrule the decision to hold the defendants in custody while they await trial, and release them in time to campaign for the election.

Posted by Ethno-nationalism wins in Catalonia on Fri, 22 Dec 2017 07:02 | #

In a result not anticipated according to legacy media…

BBC, “Catalonia election: Separatist parties keep their majority”, 22 Dec 2017:

Catalan separatist parties are on track to win most seats in the new regional parliament, setting the stage for more confrontation with Spain’s government.

However the Citizens party, which wants Catalonia to remain a semi-autonomous part of Spain, is the biggest party.

As a result, it is unclear who will be given the right to form a government.

The Madrid government stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and called the election after declaring an October independence referendum illegal.

With nearly all votes counted, the pro-independence parties Together for Catalonia (JxCat), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Popular Unity (CUP) were together on course to win a total of 70 seats, giving them a majority.

Within the separatist party block, ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s JxCat was slightly ahead of the ERC, led by his former deputy, Oriol Junqueras.

Speaking in Brussels, where he is in self-imposed exile, Mr Puigdemont said the “Catalan republic” had won and “the Spanish state has been defeated”.

The situation called for “rectification, reparation and restitution,” he said.

He is accused by Spanish prosecutors of rebellion and sedition. Mr Junqueras faces the same charges and is currently in prison.

- Catalonia crisis in 300 words

- Catalonia snap election: What you need to know

Citizens (Cs) had 25% of the vote, winning 37 seats in the 135-seat chamber.

Its leader Inés Arrimadas told the BBC her party had been “victorious”. She said forming a coalition would be “difficult - but we will try”.

The Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who took the decision to remove Catalonia’s autonomy, was projected to win just three seats in the new Catalan parliament, down from 11 in the 2015 election.

Election turnout was more than 80%, a record for a Catalan regional election.

Why did the election take place?

Separatists who dominated the previous Catalan parliament declared independence on 27 October, after the referendum which was declared illegal by Spain.

In an attempt to stop that referendum, Spanish police stormed some polling stations. However many voters defied the Spanish courts and riot police to cast their ballots.

The move led to violent clashes with hundreds of people reported injured. Footage showing police tackling people at polling stations.

- Could Catalonia make a success of independence?

- Muslim woman seeks seat in Catalonia

- Catalonia region profile

According to the organisers, 90% of voters were in favour of independence, but fewer than half the region’s electorate took part.

Mr Puigdemont decided it was enough to declare independence from Spain.

Mr Rajoy then sacked the Catalan government, imposed direct rule and called the 21 December election.

Prosecutors accused 13 Catalan separatist politicians of rebellion and sedition, including Mr Puigdemont and four others who fled to Belgium.

Among the accused, two pro-independence politicians are in Spanish prisons, and six are being monitored while on bail.
What has been the reaction?

The European Commission said that its stance towards Catalonia remained the same, despite Thursday’s election result.

The executive arm of the EU has previously stated that events in Catalonia are an internal issue for Spain.

“Our position on the question of Catalonia is well known and has been regularly restated, at all levels. It will not change,” commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told AFP news agency.

“In relation to a regional election, we have no comment to make,” he added.

The Spanish government has not yet commented on the results.
What happens now?

Analysts say the success of separatist parties means that the ball is now back in the Spanish government’s court.

Antonio Barroso, of the London-based research firm Teneo Intelligence, said the problem for Madrid remains “and the secession movement is not going to go away”.

Why do many Catalans want independence?

Catalonia is one of Spain’s wealthiest and most productive regions and has a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years.

Before the Spanish Civil War it enjoyed broad autonomy but that was suppressed under Gen Francisco Franco’s dictatorship from 1939-75.

When Franco died, the region was granted autonomy again under the 1978 constitution, and the region prospered along with the rest of the new, democratic Spain.

A 2006 statute granted even greater powers, boosting Catalonia’s financial clout and describing it as a “nation”, but Spain’s Constitutional Court reversed much of this in 2010.

Recession and cuts in public spending fuelled local resentment, which coalesced in a powerful secessionist movement.

Following a trial referendum in November 2014, outlawed by Spain, separatists won the 2015 regional election and went on to win a full referendum on 1 October 2017, which was also banned and boycotted by ~~unionists~~. *

* - cross out added, should read, “integrationists.”

Posted by Catalonia crisis in 300 words on Fri, 22 Dec 2017 07:28 | #

BBC, “Catalonia crisis in 300 words”, 21 Dec 2017:

Catalonia’s drive for independence has plunged Spain into its biggest political crisis for 40 years.

On 21 December pro-independence parties won a narrow majority in a Catalan election that Spain had called in the hope of ending the crisis. So independence remains a possibility.

What is Catalonia?

Catalonia is a semi-autonomous region in north-east Spain with a distinct history dating back almost 1,000 years.

The wealthy region has about 7.5 million people, with their own language, parliament, flag and anthem. Catalonia also has its own police force and controls some of its public services.

Why the controversy?

Catalan nationalists have long complained that their region sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, as taxes are controlled by Madrid.

They also say Spain’s changes to their autonomous status in 2010 undermined Catalan identity.

In a referendum on 1 October, declared illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court, about 90% of Catalan voters backed independence. But turnout was only 43%.

There were clashes when Spanish national police tried to prevent people voting.

The ruling separatists in the Catalan parliament then declared independence on 27 October.

Angered by that, Madrid imposed direct rule by invoking Article 155 of the constitution - a first for Spain.

The Spanish government sacked the Catalan leaders, dissolved parliament and called a snap regional election on 21 December.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont fled to Belgium but is wanted in Spain accused of rebellion, as are four who fled with him. Two of his ex-ministers are in prison in Spain.
Why does the crisis matter?

Thousands of businesses have scaled down their operations in Catalonia.

The crisis is being watched nervously by other European states with strong nationalist movements.
Catalonia in numbers

16% of Spain’s population live in Catalonia, and it produces:

25.6% of Spain’s exports

19% of Spain’s GDP

20.7% of foreign investment

Want to know more?

- Why Catalonia’s snap election matters

- Could Catalonia make a success of independence?

- Spain’s distinctive north-eastern region

Posted by Puigdemont on Mon, 26 Mar 2018 15:56 | #

In Catalonia, protests broke out in the streets as news came that German authorities had arrested Carles Puigdemont with the capacity to extradite him to Spain as he entered from Denmark. This comes at a time when 25 Catalonian officials are being put on trial for rebellion or disobeying the Spanish government.