{"id":6603,"date":"2017-12-27T15:57:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T14:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/?p=6603"},"modified":"2017-12-18T16:43:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T15:43:15","slug":"catalonia-independence-madrid-and-the-catalan-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/catalonia-independence-madrid-and-the-catalan-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalonia Independence: Madrid And The Catalan conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">The recent events in <strong>Catalonia<\/strong> have led to one of the biggest political crises in recent years. The conflict, provoked by the <strong>independence referendum in Catalonia<\/strong>, which is not legal according to the Spanish Constitution, has generated great doubts about the future and the union of Spain, as well as tension and social separation found by police actions, political decisions, and the consequences of this serious issue. Here at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.es\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>ShMadrid<\/strong><\/a>, we will try to approach this in an objective and impartial way the conflict about the <strong>Independence of Catalonia<\/strong> and the problems in which it has created.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span lang=\"en\">Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/the-history-of-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The History of Madrid<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Index<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/catalonia-independence-madrid-and-the-catalan-conflict\/#where-does-the-conflict-come-from\" title=\"Where Does The Conflict Come From?\">Where Does The Conflict Come From?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/catalonia-independence-madrid-and-the-catalan-conflict\/#what-does-madrid-think\" title=\"What Does Madrid Think?\">What Does Madrid Think?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/catalonia-independence-madrid-and-the-catalan-conflict\/#other-opinions-by-political-figures\" title=\"Other Opinions By Political Figures\">Other Opinions By Political Figures<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-medium\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"where-does-the-conflict-come-from\"><\/span><span lang=\"en\">Where Does The Conflict Come From?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_6617\" style=\"width: 346px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/catalonia-2823509__480.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6617\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-6617\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/catalonia-2823509__480-300x214.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"336\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/catalonia-2823509__480-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/catalonia-2823509__480.jpg 674w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6617\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">This problem has been knocking on everyone&#8217;s door for decades going back to the years of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/palaces-in-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Franco<\/a>. The start of this conflict began in 2012, when the sovereignty process began to achieve the right of self-determination and the right to decide on the <strong>independence of Catalonia<\/strong> and become a self-democratic Republic. That same year, the &#8220;Fiscal Pact&#8221; was made, which proposed that <strong>Catalonia<\/strong> have a new tax system that would regulate the taxes between the General State Administration and autonomous communities, such as <strong>Basque Country<\/strong>. In addition, a resolution was passed by the <strong>Parliament of Catalonia<\/strong> to hold a referendum on self-determination, with Artur Mas as President at that time. The <strong>Spanish Government&#8217;s<\/strong> refusal to recognize the fiscal pact provoked early elections to the <strong>Catalan Parliament<\/strong>, with the now-defunct <b>Convergence and Union (CIU)<\/b>\u00a0winning and signed a governance pact with the <b>Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC),\u00a0<\/b>that included the consultation on <strong>Catalonia&#8217;s<\/strong> political future.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6618\" style=\"width: 349px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/37450220682_71de14404c.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6618\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-6618\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/37450220682_71de14404c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"339\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/37450220682_71de14404c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/37450220682_71de14404c.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6618\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Sasha Popovic | Photography on VisualHunt \/ CC BY-NC-ND<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">In 2013, the <strong>Declaration of Sovereignty<\/strong> &#8211; the right of the <strong>Catalan<\/strong> people to choose their future in Spain &#8211; was approved in the <strong>Catalonia Parliament<\/strong>, and was suspended shortly after by the <strong>Constitutional Court<\/strong>, which ruled it unconstitutional. However, on November 9, 2014, a non-binding referendum was held, with more than 2,000,000 people voting and 80.76% of the votes in favor of <strong>declaring independence<\/strong>. In 2016, with Carles Puigdemont as <strong>Catalan<\/strong> president of the <b>Junts pel S\u00ed<\/b> <strong>(Together for Yes)<\/strong> coalition, the sovereignty process began again in order to hold a <strong>formal referendum on the right to decide Catalonia&#8217;s future with Spain.<\/strong> Despite all the warnings from the government and the Spanish courts on the illegality of it, <strong>the referendum on Catalan independence<\/strong> was held on October 1 this year, where there were major clashes between voters and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/what-not-to-do-in-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State Police<\/a>, leaving more than 800 injured. It has since left the country in a situation of uncertainty regarding the future of Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-does-madrid-think\"><\/span>What Does Madrid Think?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_6619\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/35066585923_853033ec58_c.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6619\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-6619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/35066585923_853033ec58_c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/35066585923_853033ec58_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/35066585923_853033ec58_c-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/35066585923_853033ec58_c.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6619\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by The Prime Minister&#8217;s Office on Visualhunt \/ CC BY-NC-ND<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">Obviously, the <strong>referendum<\/strong> has not sat well in <strong>Madrid<\/strong>, considering it unconstitutional and an attack on <strong>Spanish democracy<\/strong>, especially from main parties like the <strong>Socialist Party (PSOE)<\/strong> and the <strong>People&#8217;s Party (PP)<\/strong>. For its part, the <strong>City Council of Madrid<\/strong> is in favor of dialogue between the two governments to reach an agreement and maintain the <strong>unity of the country<\/strong>, if neccesary through the use of mediators. <strong>Catalonia<\/strong> has responded harshly against President Mariano Rajoy for his uncompromising stance not to talk with the regional government, even saying that &#8220;a ruler who does not know how to talk can not continue in the government&#8221; and asking for his resignation. Most voices from <strong>Madrid<\/strong> have called for calm and restraint and use dialogue to solve this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/if-you-need-a-lawyer-in-madrid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict<\/a>, even asking the <strong>European Commission<\/strong> for help, which has already stated that it will not intervene when considering it as an internal conflict. For his part, <strong>King Felipe VI<\/strong> offered a televised speech in which he condemned the referendum because it was illegal under constitutional law and accusing <strong>Catalan<\/strong> politicians of disobedience and trying to break the <strong>unity of the country<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/valley-of-the-fallen-valle-de-los-caidos\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caidos)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"other-opinions-by-political-figures\"><\/span>Other Opinions By Political Figures<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_6621\" style=\"width: 345px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/22510255632_bf3210d13a_c.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6621\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-6621\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/22510255632_bf3210d13a_c-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"335\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/22510255632_bf3210d13a_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/22510255632_bf3210d13a_c-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/22510255632_bf3210d13a_c.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 335px) 100vw, 335px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6621\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by La Moncloa &#8211; Gobierno de Espa\u00f1a on VisualHunt \/ CC BY-NC-ND<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span lang=\"en\">The leader of <strong>Podemos<\/strong>, Pablo Iglesias, one of the most charismatic <strong>political figures in Spain<\/strong>, condemned the King&#8217;s speech for causing more tension towards the Catalan people by positioning himself on the side of the <strong>Popular Party<\/strong>. He also condemned the excessive violence by the <strong>Civil Guard<\/strong> and police when they tried to remove the ballot boxes and has proposed that Rajoy and Puigdemont to agree through a mediator to solve the crisis. Meanwhile, Albert Rivera, the leader of the <strong>Citizens Party<\/strong>, urged the <strong>Spanish government to utilize Article 155<\/strong>, which would impose direct rule on <strong>Catalonia<\/strong> and dissolve the <strong>regional government for new elections<\/strong>. On October 27, hours after <strong>Catalonia unilaterally declared independence<\/strong>, <strong>Article 155<\/strong> was passed and <strong>new regional elections<\/strong> are now set to take place on December 21.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-ta tw-text-small\" dir=\"ltr\"><em><span lang=\"en\">Without a doubt, Spain is experiencing a serious political conflict that we hope will be resolved through dialogue, respect and democracy. What do you think about one of the most complex political conflicts since the Spanish Transition?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"grammarly-disable-indicator\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-center kksr-disabled\"\n    data-id=\"6603\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 125px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 20px; height: 20px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">2<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent events in Catalonia have led to one of the biggest political crises in recent years. The conflict, provoked by the independence referendum in Catalonia, which is not legal according to the Spanish Constitution, has generated great doubts about the future and the union of Spain, as well as tension and social separation found [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":6616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1333],"tags":[1523,1522,1524,1525],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6603"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6651,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6603\/revisions\/6651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}