WITH its mastery of social media and identity politics, the Catalan independence movement is very 21st-century. But the latest chapter in its struggle with the Spanish government has featured an old-fashioned tool: an exchange of letters, delivered by fax. In these Carles Puigdemont, the head of the Generalitat, Catalonia’s government, twice this week refused to clarify or revoke the ambiguous proclamation of independence that he had issued and immediately “suspended” in a speech to his parliament on October 10th. In response, the Spanish government said it will go ahead and seek extraordinary powers to impose constitutional rule in Catalonia.
Spain is thus entering its worst constitutional crisis since the 1930s. It is the culmination of years of rising discontent in Catalonia, one of the country’s richest regions, which has 7.5m people and its own language and culture. Although Catalonia enjoys broad self-government, many Catalans want it to have more money, more powers, and to...Continue reading
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