IMO it was a mistake by the Spanish Government to try to aggressively prevent the [admittedly] illegal vote yesterday. The images of violence by the Guardia Civil will have done NO good to Spain's image worldwide.
A far better response would have been to let the vote proceed peacefully then just ignore the result - after all an illegal referendum in nothing more than an opinion poll...
This mornings communique from the European Commission shows that they will not recognise an independent Catalonia, and that if Barcelona announces secession it will get no support whatsoever, except from the secessionist parties in other countries like the SNP [Scotland] Sein Fein [ Northen Ireland] and Parti Quebecois [Canada].
Thus the unity of Spain will be preserved for now, but who can say what the future holds...
A far better response would have been to let the vote proceed peacefully then just ignore the result - after all an illegal referendum in nothing more than an opinion poll...
This mornings communique from the European Commission shows that they will not recognise an independent Catalonia, and that if Barcelona announces secession it will get no support whatsoever, except from the secessionist parties in other countries like the SNP [Scotland] Sein Fein [ Northen Ireland] and Parti Quebecois [Canada].
Thus the unity of Spain will be preserved for now, but who can say what the future holds...
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