Message from Catalonia

Greater self-determination is becoming a leitmotif worldwide

With the imposition of direct rule on Catalonia and scheduling regional elections for December 21, the Mariano Rajoy government may have staunched the secessionist impulses of one of Spain’s most significant regions — but only temporarily. Madrid’s violent crackdown on a poorly attended referendum on independence on October 1 has exacerbated a crisis that has been simmering for years. Complicating the issue is the fact that the reasons for this explosion of Catalan irredentism are opaque — even to the Spaniards — and it is far from clear that it has unalloyed support within the local populace, either. Like Brexit,