06.05.2014 - 00:59
Time to tackle the Catalonia crisis
Split from Spain would be an error but autonomy is needed
Spain is starting to emerge from the crisis that has blighted the country, with recent data showing the economy growing at its fastest rate in six years. But one political issue casts a shadow over the nation’s political future and shows no sign of resolution: the demand by millions of Catalans for independence.
The cause of Catalan independence has ebbed and flowed in Spanish politics for nearly a century. But in the past few years the Catalans, now 7.5m strong, have voiced their secessionist demands more forcefully than ever. Polls show that almost half of the Catalan people favour independence and about 75 per cent want a referendum on the issue.