Catalonia votes independence from Spain

Catalonia’s parliament declared its independence from Spain in a formal vote of 70-10 on Friday. The vote was not recognized by Spain and a few hours after the vote, Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolving its autonomous state government.  Mark Blyth, Brown University’s Eastman Professor of...

Catalonia’s parliament declared its independence from Spain in a formal vote of 70-10 on Friday. The vote was not recognized by Spain and a few hours after the vote, Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolving its autonomous state government.  Mark Blyth, Brown University’s Eastman Professor of political economy said, “this is a project driven by ideology rather than any sort of reason.” Catalonia, which is one of the richest states of Spain, contributes more to the Spanish budget than it receives. “‘The main argument of the nationalists is that we don’t want to pay for everyone in Spain,” analyzed Blyth, “even if they form their own state, they’ll end up being big contributors to the E.U. (European Union) budget.”’  During the last referendum, Spain sent in the national police. The Catalans were prepared to document this and the ensuing violence. “If the same thing happens this time and people start to die here, this plays into the hands of the Nationalists,” Blyth said. Blyth said it is “essential” to the future of the EU that they do not recognize Catalonia as independent.