Look I'm going to summarize Catalonia's situation right now. Imagine you and your wife buy a house (Kingdom Castille and Kindom of Aragon). You all have a happy family (all the states) until one of your kids decides to become independent (Catalonia Separatists). But instead of leaving your house, he decides that his room is now his home. Therefore making his "own" laws and blocking anybody from coming in even tho the owners of the house (including the room) are their parents (Spain). The parents say that he can't do it (obviously), whoever the kid insists that his parents and the rest of the members of his family (which used to be able to walk freely around his room) have no word over what he decides. The parents don't let him do it, so the kid decides to destroy his room in order to create enough attention for the media (Catalonia economic plunder, more than 100 big business leave Catalonia, tourism drops, terrorist group, illegal referendum, etc...).
@@Danielbriant101 I love your idea of using a story. But I have another one for you: Imagine two people getting married for interest, to expand their wealth and heritage (LITERALLY Kingdom Castille and Kingdom of Aragon). They don't love each other, but they share common respect (kind of). The union works for years and years with its ups and downs. After a long time, the wife is starting to get tired to provide more than her husband and not getting back the same amount of money she's providing. She starts to ask to manage her own economy, but the husband reminds her that because of their premarital contract (Spanish Constitution), they must share the familiar economy. Apart from that, their relation has deteriorated over the years, as she has been forced to talk the husband's language and accept his rules. Don't get her wrong: She loves her husband's traditions, language and his native land, but she doesn't like the way he is behaving, and she wants her own traditions, language and particularities to be respected as equal. Before the constant refusal of the husband to be part of an equal relationship, the wife (or the contemporary simile of Kingdom of Aragon) decides to ask for divorce. The husband's answer is categorical: No, the premarital contract says that we must remain together until death do us part. Furthermore, the husband starts a smear campaign among their children (Spanish population), getting them to hate their mother. Even so, the mother decides to file for divorce. After filling the document, the attorney says he cannot accept the divorce if the husband is not okay with it, so she can't finish the breakup. That day, when the wife returns home, the husband beats her up with the pretext that he is defending his dignity. A part of their children are watching and applauding his father, and another part are terrified with the violence. After that, the husband decides that, because of the terrible betrayal he has suffered, her wife will be locked inside the closet under the stairs for 12 F*CKING YEARS. Now, I'm perfectly aware that I will not change your mind as well as you haven't changed mine. What I'm trying to demonstrate here is that everyone has it's own truth, and that a tale told only from your point of view is giving the outsider a wrong impression of the real situation. There is no catalan economic plunder (last year Catalonia's GDP increased by 2,6%), the tourism has dropped equally in all of Spain in 2019, and THERE IS NOT ANY ACTIVE GROUP COMMITTING TERRORIST ACTIONS. With that said, I don't want to start an argument, so have a nice day and I hope that at least this last paragraph makes you think.
As a Spaniard, i see many foreigners that seem to have the idea that 100% of the catalan population want to be independent. It's more of a 50-50, the independist side just happens to be much more vocal. Also consider that only 38% of the voting age population voted "Yes" to independence on the 1st of october.
vagnur ákason not true Spanish police were instructed under court order to confiscate all ballots and ballot boxes ...... the separatists blocked locked and denied access to all sites.. obviously the police have to clear a path and do its duty
Not A cookie Like seriously precisely. I am not for or against the secession of Catalonia or any other region in the world but I do think that for a region to become independent, at least 85% of the population has to vote and, of those, at least another 85% have to vote for independence. No point in making such a monumental change if the vast majority doesn't want it or couldn't care less.
Not A cookie Like seriously the Spanish government should just give them a referendum and then the turnout will be larger and it will prove that many many Catalans want to remain in Spain. It would also improve Spain’s image. If 90% of voters wanted independence, it was a 43% turnout. Which means that only 38% of Catalans voted for independence. So roughly only 40-45% probably support independence
It already happened on 9 November of 2014. They had another illegal independence referendum back then in which even minors were allowed to vote (that only shows how desperate they were to increase their numbers). Even the separatist regional government established that last election (back in 2015) would be taken as an independence referendum, so the illegally change the nature of that regional election. Anyway, they got less than 50% of the votes on that one... But they will never stop until they achieve their so wanted independence.
Everything in this is ironic. Germany talking about stability when they're the ones profitting the most from EU and the suffering of the poorer countries, Turkey saying literally anything about democracy, Spain with its crazy undemocratic police laws talking about things being against the constitution...
As a Spaniard I'm actually surprised, although there are a lot information and context you didn't mention (Is a 12 minute video, is impossible to explain every detail), you did a great job and didn't pick a side, just inform. There are many videos that try to simplify this big problem, you didn't. Good job.
Usually it can be a tedious wait for WonderWhy to upload a new video but considering the amount of painstaking time, effort and research that goes into making these videos it easy to why I love WonderWhy's videos. They're so entertaining and informative.
EU to Scotland: "There is complete openness to welcoming another small, northern European country into the European Union." EU to Catalonia: "These are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation." Catalonia: Am I a joke to you?
Tada_WAV that's basically because Scotland was his own country at some point, Catalonia was NEVER independent in all of his history (I'm from Catalonia btw) first it was the county of Barcelona, then it became part of the crown of Aragon, now, inside of the crown of Aragon it became Catalonia after gaining more territories, but wasn't independent, finally, Aragon united with Castille forming the modern Spain, hence the difference
Hi, you miss mentioning that these particularities about language and culture are all around Spain. It is not a particularity of Cataluna. Every region in Spain has strong cultural traditions. There are 4 official languages, Spanish, Euskera, Gallego and Catalan. This need to do more about the anger of the people with the central government corruption cases and the economic crisis. During the economic boom before the 2008 crash, Catalan independents were a minority.
Goodnight: That makes no sense: if it were a matter of corruption ... 1.- All regions of Spain would condemn the central government equally, given that all of Spain has the same central government. 2.- The Catalans will have burned politicians of the Generalitat de Catalunya alive, who are incredibly corrupt, instead of re-electing them again and again. On the other hand, it is a fact admitted even by the separatist politicians themselves that secession would entail an economic ruin for Catalonia, including leaving the EU. In fact, Catalan nationalism (like all nationalism) is not rational; It is emotional. The only difference between Catalonia, and the most Spanish region in all of Spain, which is Valencia, is education: the Catalans have been educated in recent decades so that they do not feel Spanish. The only reason that separatism has been increasing in recent decades is that these Catalans, educated in hatred of Spain, have been incorporated into adult life, and politics. From there, each separatist seeks his alibi. Each contractor looks for his excuse. There are for all tastes, and contradictory among them. But they are just that: excuses, alibis. The reason is emotional, not rational.
@@Mezten1 I am not arguing that!I agree it is not rational. However, you still ignoring the negative impact of corruption and the crisis. Catalan secessionist are using this argument against central government supported with all this marketing machinery. They are transforming the anger of people into votes. Spanish politics have been damaging the central government reputation for too long. I think you should be more conscious about the implications of corruption.
@@losfuerosdos The separatists use all the arguments they can think of. It doesn't matter if they don't make sense, or even contradict each other. They are educated to hate Spain; the alibis look for them later. Any excuse is worth them.
Every región of Spain only 3 of 17 Galicia, País Vasco and Catalunya. In the Pais Vasco theyve got the dame problem since 30 years ago, with a terrorist organitation named ETA with arround 1000 deaths. The problems ends when the central state give them more autonomi.
@@josemurtra3172 Hi Jose, I don't fully agree with this estatement. Actually, political ETA was banned form institutions and after that, euskal herritarock started to condemn the terror as a political tool creating the political party Bildu. Public opinion and policie forces also were determinating factors on this. So it is not just the kindness of the government to negotiate.
So I don't usually do videos about current affairs due to how rapidly things can change. This video was actually supposed to getting uploaded on Saturday, but then I wanted to wait and see what happened with the Catalan president first. Also, since a few people have pointed it out... at 6:45, the UK and US quotes are the wrong way around. Sorry about that! And just to let you guys know, I now have t-shirts (and more) available at: teespring.com/stores/wonderwhy Check them out if you're interested! Thanks to everyone for watching and subscribing! Chris.
I'm from Aragón (Spain) we also have our own languaje (Aragonés or fabla) own culture and traditions, own anthem (Himno d'Aragón). Every community does in a minor or higher way.
@@dommond887 And a few others: Galicia, Aragon, Navarra, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Valencia. However, that doesn't mean that all do, which is why I said that not all communities have their own police force.
The way I see it, unilateral declarations of independence ideally shouldn't happen. However, the right to self-determination requires there to exist a legal path to independence. Catalonia shouldn't have declared independence, but Spain should have been open to talk to them about it. The Scottish independence referendum is an example of it being done properly and in a civilized and democratic way. I also think that sending in the police to prevent people from voting, no matter what they're voting for, is despicable and should not happen in a country that claims to be a democracy. You can outlaw the referendum, but you can not outlaw people going to a building and placing a checkmark on a piece of paper. Simply declaring the results of the referendum irrelevant since it was illegal, is enough.
Ópallios: Right, but it's impossible to tell what the result and turnout would have been if it was unimpeded. I have no stake in the matter, I don't care whether Catalonia is independent. What I do care about is democracy and liberty, and thus if the people of Catalonia want to be independent, Spain needs to let that happen. Notice that "if", though. The fact that Spain was willing to use violence to affect the results in their favor tells me that they're afraid that this "if" is fulfilled, but of course there is no way to know for sure right now. As is often the case in complicated issues like this, both sides have done things they shouldn't have, so there is no clear "good guy" and "bad guy". In my opinion, what Spain has done is much worse than what Catalonia has done, so I'm pushed in favor of independence. That is of course assuming this "if" is indeed fulfilled, which would need a proper referendum to confirm.
Say whatever you want about the UK but they gave Scotland a chance to leave with a binding referendum. In addition, they let their own people decide whether they should stay or leave the EU. The way Spain does it is to basically not have a referendum at all and punish the people who do. I think a binding referendum deserves to be held to settle the matter especially given how long running the issues are. Spain doesn't have enough guts because they are afraid of that small risk even though it would have helped a lot.
The dumbest thing in my opinion is that Spain had an obvious way out; Let them hold their referendum, and if it came back "stay", then claim it proves support is not widespread enough to justify paying attention to it, and if it came back "leave", they can just say "it's not binding, so there." I mean, there'd still be rioting in the streets but they would look less bad than actively taking political prisoners and attempting to stop democracy, not to mention punishing a region by taking away its autonomy.
Damian Freeman The problem is that none of that was going to happen. These "referendums" have been done bwfore and allowed to happen and there has always been very low participation rates because unionists always stay home as an act of protest because every single time these "referendums" prove to be extremely fraudulent processes, organized solely by the separatists for the separatists and have no intention of letting a "stay" rasult come out victorious. Unionists want an actual, real vote, which is why they are pushing for constitutional reform, and so far things look better for that idea than the "fuck it all and do things my way" system of the radicals.
In practically all the constitutions of the world the territorial unity of the country is assured. In that Spain is not the exception. In the UK they do not have a constitution, so they do not have that problem. In Cadana the federal government negotiated with Quebec the referendum, but it was a poisoned gift, they had the Montreal effect, the companies left not to return. The same is happening in Catalonia, more than 2000 companies have left Catalonia, and represent more than 30% of the GDP of Catalonia.
In 2015, Catalonia held regional elections to elect its parliament. The separatist parties raised them as a plebiscite in favor of secession. Although the separatist parties did not reach 50% of the votes, due to the electoral system, which rewards the provinces with smaller population, the separatists obtained majority of deputies. Well, although they had not reached 50% of the votes, the separatist parties said they had the democratic mandate to prepare the secession of Catalonia. Moreover, it has been posed to separatist politicians what happened if they did not achieve independence, and said that in a few years they would try again. Naturally, once the secession is reached, the independence referendums are over. That is, they repeat themselves until they win, and once they win, they become independent and it's over. That is not fair play. The separatists have nothing to lose by referendum, they can only win or stay the same. The unionists have nothing to gain with the ferendum, if they win they stay the same, and if they lose, they lose a country. Moreover, the separatists propose the referendum as a right to decide for themselves, but when they have been raised that if any area of Catalonia votes, not stay in Spain, then they do not agree. They want the right to decide only them!
Obviously only the catalans would vote. Why would Spain ever vote in favour of independence when Catlonia is one of their largest sources of income? Plus did you see all of Europe voting in the brexit? In fact, saying the pro-independence party losing would lead to no consequences is totally false, they would erradicate the autonomy, place their chosen politicians in the government, and slowly erradicate the catalan heritage.
I live in Barcelona and I went to “vote” and nobody asked me for my ID....so that vote was a joke. How can the local government support this vote as a valid ?
China rules Tibet with a particularly harsh hand, at least towards non Chinese people and protesters. To what extent Tibet would be better off with or without China is a good question, but undoubtably they don't fulfill the requirement at the UN's requirement of self determination, even devolution with a legislature for Tibet would be enough under the UN.
While that may be true the thing about Tibet is that the Chinese Government has been moving Chinese people in to Tibet in extremely large numbers for decades for the sole purpose of quelling any sort of independence movement in it's tracks. This has artificially made ethnic Tibetans a minority in their own region while giving the outsider Chinese a super majority so you definitely won't see an independent Tibet probably ever.
@@wigglebot2368 illinois is better then both of you Maryland is the weirdo looking state in the US and Arizona is the state in the US that is nothing but desert lol
I'd like to change the map a little every ten years, as an Anthropologist once said; "The world changes so fast that one person is born in one world, grows up in another, and lives to see five more"
There are a couple mistakes: the national flag would be la "senyera" and there would be 3 official languages catalan, spanish and aranese. But great video!
Bat Book, vc n me conhece, (n estou brigando), deixe-me lhe explicar, uso o nome de Sulista por morar no Sul e n por ser separatista. Só isso, quem me conhece sabe q n sou separatista.
I'm sorry, but there are problems from the video. You fail to mention the unconstitutional negation of the Catalan government to give fair hearing to objections by the Catalan opposition parties, denying them the rights to amendments of different anti-constitutional legislations, and the fact that they violated the Catalan Statute law itself by declaring independence with less than 66% of the votes in parliament, which is required for any law regarding changes of substance such as an electoral system. Also the "800 injured" account is bullshit. It was reported by the Catalan government, but there were only 2 people hospitalized according to official health services from Catalonia.
I think some of those infomation are just controversial to talk about.In Fact,You can't expect him to say everything to the point,i do agree with some of your info that he needs to add in.I think there are other areas that are probably more important though.
If you mean that the whole Spain should be asked about Catalonia's independence in a nation-while referendum, don't agree. Coming from a Spanish. That would not be fair, as most people wouldn't vote for a Catalan independent state. That's like asking a whole class of children if one kid should be able to celebrate his birthday in private. I believe the best course of action is making a referendum, but areas that don't want independence stay in the country, and if a Catalan State goes ahead, let's be friends. Maybe not Spanish, but we are all Iberian, and we should be happy together, regardless of frontiers.
@@aetherinfuse Mis principios son franceses y consideró a los de este país que me envidian, me odian y quieren matarme como a mi padre que sois locos de remate y unos delincuentes de postín, por supuesto Psicopatas que no entienden de ley y orden, mal educados por demás, metemeentodo, metemiedos y perdonavidas. A mi me trajeron en contra de mi voluntad, arrancada de mi origen, casa y tierras. Cuando llegue a Cataluña me insultaron, no me escucharon y me han robado con profusión y maltrato. Os gusta meteros con la víctima para no ver realmente el culpable. Aquí el enemigo es la Iglesia y el Estado español dirigido por Borbones que siempre han hecho lo mismo VENDER España y a los españoles. Tú cree lo que te dé la gana, yo sé de que va todo el cuento de aquí y de allá.
@@estefaniagonzalez3890 Es una lástima lo que te ha pasado, no lo niego. España es tristemente célebre por comportamiento así. Es verdad que hay gente que se comporta de esa manera. Cuando fui a Cataluña de vacaciones era un desastre, mi madre me dijo que evitaramos hablar demasiado español porque igual nos atacan. Se que no significa mucho, pero te pido disculpas de parte de este país del que admito, me avergüenza a veces ser parte. Me refería a la nación catalana en si (Cataluña es una identidad, puede que no un estado pero si una identidad) no a su gente. Ojalá que la gente borracha y sinvergüenza no sea lo que se piense como español. Te doy mis mejores deseos. Its a shame what happened to you, there is no denying that. Spain is sadly known for such behaviour. It is true that there is people who behave such way. When I went to Catalonia as holiday, it was a disaster, like when my mother told us not to speak too much spanish to avoid attacks. I know it isn't much, but on behalf of this country on which I feel ashamed more often than not to be a part of. I meant the Catalan nation as a whole (Being Catalan is an identity, maybe not a state, but it is a nationality.) not the people. I wish drunk and troublemakers are not a Spanish stereotype. I give you my best wishes.
In the Spanish constitution, it appears that Spain is the set of all Spaniards and therefore, if Catalonia wants to be independent all Spaniards have to decide on the issue, not just the Catalans
Look I'm going to summarize Catalonia's situation right now. Imagine you and your wife buy a house (Kingdom Castille and Kindom of Aragon). You all have a happy family (all the states) until one of your kids decides to become independent (Catalonia Separatists). But instead of leaving your house, he decides that his room is now his home. Therefore making his "own" laws and blocking anybody from coming in even tho the owners of the house (including the room) are their parents (Spain). The parents say that he can't do it (obviously), whoever the kid insists that his parents and the rest of the members of his family (which used to be able to walk freely around his room) have no word over what he decides. The parents don't let him do it, so the kid decides to destroy his room in order to create enough attention for the media (Catalonia economic plunder, more than 100 big business leave Catalonia, tourism drops, terrorist group, illegal referendum, etc...).
Daniel Falcon Garcia this is fucking bullshit wtf you know about it, you forgot the part where the “kids room” used to be independent” the part where the parents invaded, slaughtered and destroyed everything in the “kids room” for speaking catalan and the part where the parents steal billions of euro’s from the “kids room”. And oh yeah the part where democracy is banned and they again invade the “kids room”
As a Catalan, I can confirm it does not only look like it. The day of the Independence Referendum, people did nothing aggressive, only go to vote, and police responded breaking people's heads. A person lost his eye.
While it might look like it, this type of referendum would be considered illegal under most constitutions do to the fact that for it to be legal, the entire country must vote for it. Not only were the rest of the country not allowed to vote, but not even half of all catalonians voted!!
Independence or not, our flag will always be la senyera, only five yellow stripes and four reds. L'estelada, the one with the star on blue, it's only to show independence it's supported
I hope it'll be "l'Estelada blava". Not just because it's more pretty than the "Senyera" but also because it shows a new start for Catalonia. I think independence is so important that staying with the same flag it's a little bit meh...
i support catilonia independence, tell spain to go hustle someone else for money, it's all about money. and just to disprove any one who says different, i'm not arab, my name is written in arabic because i'm muslim. i'm actually yoruba (nigeria) amazigh (berber) and...spanish! 🌍
This is why all started in 2013. The Catalonian parlament president wanted more money, and the spanish president said it was impossible due the critical economic situation at that time. There is no ideals behind the catalonian politics. Only greed for more money and power.
OMG i don't know where they took the references (not even one mention to it) for this video but are mostly wrong and simplified. Definetly not recommended to understand this complicated situation.
I traveled to España earlier this year, and I could feel the want for independence when I traveled to Barcelona. Banners pleading for the release of political prisoners (from the Catalonia independence movement). While I respect Barcelona had a great time, I loved Madrid the most. I was actually in Sevilla when the Prime Minister got expelled. I traveled to many cities and I really started to think differently about the world. I love España! ¡Me mola Madrid!
The catalonian governement is independentist so they put themselves independentists banners and encourage other people to do so, but prosecure any other message.
-Hi i want to Talk about using our shared car, you are using It more and im paying more. -No Talk along 10 years, ill put your politics un prison, ill send the police to Smash pacific population. -Then the riots start All is about money and respect, not independence at all. From Barcelona
@s e l f r i g h t e o u s t a b l e voting for the division of the country is against the spanish constitution, therefore it is antidemocratic. Catalonia does not have its own sovereignty. Stop believing lies
Let´s say subject 1 breaks the law with the car situation: The breaking law part is important to analyze. The real discussion here is about the law, not about how they have applied it. The democracy lays in that law and that's the one with missing rights, not the way they behaved. We need to change the law, not to break it. I'm also assuming that sending police to suppress the people shelters on the law but doesn't represent a good behavior. Violence is not the fucking way. This hole situation makes me sad. I love my country and my people, i don't like how this is developing. Please treat this with the respect it needs. Perquè estem parlant en anglés tio? jajaja
@@josemurtra3172 in a first approach somebody could reach that conclusion, but a deep sight concludes there were two kind of people : people voting in polling stations and people blocking police action with a passive agressive attitude. Watching carefully the videos each one can see no police action over people voting but over beople blocking the police work. there is a subtle nuance
Unlike Scotland , my friend. Cataluña does not have a treaty of union. It is an integral part of the Spanish state. It has never been an independent county and it will never be one. The Catalans were very happy to be a part of the Spanish Empire. It was only after the Spain fell into misfortune and decline that some opportunist decided that they wanted to leave. In fact a very large number of Catalans are very patriotic and love Spain. As far a money goes, paying more taxes is part of being a family in a nation. In my own country, the United States, we have states that pay more into the government’s coffers and others that take more than they contribute. For instance our state of New York pays far more than Mississippi. But the does not give the right to New York to leave the union. Thus it is in Spain. Catalonia is more rich than other areas of Spain and they should pay more. Perhaps in the future the roles will be reversed and Catalonia will need help from other regions of Spain. The Catalans in favor of independence are acting like “spoiled children”. They need to get over it and not get rid of centuries of a common Spanish history and heritage.
Víctor Valero Sànchez Dais una vergüenza ajena impresionante cada vez que os quejáis de hechos que sucedieron hace 300 años. Luego claro, os reís de la derecha cuando habla de Gibraltar, pero os mencionan los decretos de Nueva Planta y empezáis a llorar como niñitas.
@@alexmartel2666 el origen del conflicto catalan se remonta en la guerra de sucesión donde nosotros apoyabamos una monarquía descentralizada con la dinastía de los Austria. Si los Borbones no hubiesen llegado nada de esto hubiese pasado. Amo a España pero odio el sistema Español y creo que la.única solución es la independencia, lamentablemente.
@@victorv7839 "Did to us?" Haha so funny. Thanks to that guy, medieval laws and interior borders were abolished, so trade increased dramatically and Catalan economy grew like never before. The same was done to other territories, not only Catalonia.
When Kosovo declared independence, and Serbia resisted, the US was quick to send in the ''liberation army'' to help Kosovo, and within days, the entire EU recognized Kosovo as independent country despite Serbian opposition. Same thing is happening with Spain and Catalonia, only difference is, Spain is on ''our side'' while Serbia was not. Welcome to 21st century politics.
That video has many inaccuracies and omissions. It picks up fundamentally the reasons of the separatists, but it does not pick up those of the unionists. For example, from the video's view, it seems that only Catalans died during the civil war and died throughout Spain. It seems that only Catalans faced Franco, but they faced Franco in many conas in Spain. In Catalonia the Franco regime was not particularly bloody, as if it was in Andalusia or Extremadura. The 2006 statute was voted for by less than half of the Catalans. It may seem like a high number to you, but in Spain the participation tends to be greater. In the last Catalan elections, the participation was more than 70% of the electorate. The fact that it was such a low number to vote for the new autonomy statute and however later its amendment by the constitutional court was so answered, I was quite surprised: the propaganda campaign of the separatists had been very successful. I could not understand that people who did not care about the statute of autonomy at the time of the referendum, felt so offended by the result of the appeal before the constitutional court. That could only be achieved by an intense propaganda campaign.
Sweetie: You can bitch and moan about low turnouts all you like, but only people who show up to a vote get a say in the result. Non-voters don't count for shit. If you have 5 million people, but only 5 bothered to vote, the result is still democratic. Every non-vote is an "abstain".
You are very wrong, if there are 5 million people but only 5 people vote, that vote has not been meaningful. You should spend some time thinking about what democracy is. That 5 decide for 5 million is not democracy. In an election there is something more than the simple act of voting, it is the agreement in society that the discrepancy can be resolved by voting. If that agreement does not exist, you have a broken society, and it can happen in the ex-Yugoslavia.
On the subject of voting, I was referring to that it seems incredible to me that people who were given the same as was the status of autonomy, then felt so offended because the constitutional court modified 14 articles of more than 200 that have the statute. This can only be the result of propaganda.
no, Alex. The vote is meaningful regardless. You only have yourselves to blame if you don't vote against a proposition. 5 for 5 million is an extreme example but the point stands as it is; democracy only works if people vote. If you don't vote, your opinion isn't worth a thing. Vote yes, vote no. Vote wither way. But not voting is like you don't exist, as far as democracy is concerned, and you lose your right to bitch about the result.
1. Catalonias culture is not that 'unique from the rest of Spain'. Every nation has its own cultures varying by each region. 2. The Referendum was illegal. And organised by the YES people and people voted more than once. 3. It IS entirely about taxes. The "will of the people" never mattered, it was used as a strong tool to get the attention of the world. 4. If Catalonia leaves many powerful businesses will leave to remain in the EU single market so Catalonia will get poorer than it already is. And I heard catalonia owes about 52 billion to Madrid bank. Spain would demand that immediately or war. 5. Catalonia life would be a nightmare. No country in the EU (including US) would side/protect Catalonia because of Spain. 6. Catalonia creating its army would provoke tension at its bordes and give the perfect excuse for Madrid to take over Spain again.
The distinct/unique culture thing is too hilarious to take it seriously. You can tell the guy has never being to Spain nor Catalonia. The main difference is the language, which in fact is quite similar to Spanish (I speak both Spanish and Catalan even though I've never lived in a Catalan-speaking region). The rest of differences are more the product of 19th Century's regional nationalism promoting every single small tradition to make a big deal out of it and distance themselves from the rest of Spain. Hell, even their most known tradition, the "castells" (human towers) are original from Valencia and not Catalonia, and their traditional dance, the "sardana", as it's known nowadays, is the creation of an Andalusian man. And yet they keep saying their history has not been mixed with Spain's history...
Well, some of the unanswered questions aren’t really unanswered. The Law of Transition to the Republic addresses se of the issues. Also, the flag would not be “l’estalada”, but rather la “senyera” (the estelada is only the independence movement flag). Official languages would be Catalan, Occitan and Spanish (since they are already official languages) and likely Catalan Sign Language too. As for an army, there’s diversity of opinions here, but an independent country without an army is not unheard of (ehem, Costa Rica). All this situation could have been avoided if Spain had agreed to a referendum one of the 15 times the Catalan gov’t or Parliament asked for it. Instead, here we are today.
"Official languages would be Catalan, Occitan and Spanish (since they are already official languages)" LOL, no. Just have a look at the "Koiné Group Manifesto" from 2016, a declaration signed by dozens of Catalan nationalist "intellectuals" that Spanish should be banned as an official language in the future Republic of Catalonia. That manifesto was signed, among others, by the last two Catalan ministers of culture (Laura Borràs and Mariàngela Vilallonga), so you can figure out which is the real way Catalan secessionist politicians envision the future of Catalonia....
That Constitutional Court of Spain could be the ugliest building I've ever seen, had it not at least a discernible "structure" (if you can call it that). Way to go, postmodern architecture!
Go Catalonia. I am from Greece and we gain our Independence. Well we don't have all the Greek lands but we are free. I hope one day Catalonia will be in the Europe map.
Guys listen. I was born in Cuba even though I am in no way Cuban and I'm a fully American citizen. I am however 7/8 of Spanish descendence (I am 1/8 Basque even though I want Basque country to stay with Spain but that's not what we're talking about is it). And as such I have strong feelings to my heritage. So when Chris said that if Catalonia leaves Spain it could break up the country it really got to me. I could lose my identity if Spain dies. And right now Catalonia is being really fucking selfish (again with the whole breaking up of Spain). So if you want to be an independent country then just move to Andorra. They speak Catalan. That's all I'm saying. #cataloniaisapartofspain🇪🇸
Si eres 7/8 de descendencia española, supongo que no habrá problema en hablarte en castellano. Estás diciendo que los catalanes somos unos egoístas por querer irnos de España, cuando tú estas separando el linaje vasco del español. Un poco icongruente e hipócrita de tu parte. Después, eres cubanx y estadounidense. Por mucho que tengas raíces españolas, no perteneces a España como ciudadanx español/a. Vives y naciste en la otra punta del mundo, en nada has de sentirte ofendidx ni ofender a los catalanes que queremos marchar diciendo cosas como que vayamos a Andorra sólo porque hablan catalán. Tercero, si tanto amas tu linaje español, ven a España, hazte ciudadanx español y manifiéstate a favor de una España unida. Es muy cómodo opinar y tratar a los catalanes de egoístas cuando ves el conflicto a través del televisor y no en persona como hacemos los de aquí. Y, por cierto, que tengas ascendencia española no significa que tú seas español/a. Yo tengo antepasados franceses y no soy francesa por ello. Por cierto, decir que si los catalanes queremos la independencia nos vayamos a Andorra porque hablan catalán es como decir que los habitantes independentistas de Québec se vayan a Francia porque hablan francés. Es realmente estúpido, la verdad.
@aapoolmeeh, lo siento si te ofendí. Aquí está la cosa. Soy la única persona en mi familia inmediata que no nació en España. Me da la sensación de que no tengo voz en este asunto porque yo no nací en España, pero ¿qué hay de todos los demás en mi familia? Todos tenemos algo que decir y todos nos sentimos tristes y un poco enojados de que Cataluña no esté dispuesta a compermarse con España. Y además, además del hecho de que la cultura catalana es diferente a la de los españoles, ¿qué razón tienen para querer dejarnos? Pensemos en eso por un segundo, y agradecemos a Chris por un gran canal y video.
Ask_And3r I'm a Dominican with Mostly Slave and Spanish Heritage, And I feel the same way. To many Dominicans (Including My father) Spain is the cultural Motherland. No matter weather we hail from Cuba, Spain, or Chile, We all are Hispanic, and that is something beautiful in my eyes. Catalonia won't destroy what unifies Us not as nations, but as people!
I'm reading a lot of comments about the "police brutality". Than is not what happened, the government sent police to block the ILLEGAL referendum, and as people where aggressive to then and where no following the authority, the police needed to take action. Is also important to know that the "referendum" was fully manipulated, people where voting twice or more.
Lol that's not true at all. Police was brutal to people who was doing NOTHING but sitting or standing there. They even attacked older people who couldn't defend themselves. And this week in Barcelona it was the same. Police was brutal to everyone, to people who wasn't in protests. They tried to run over people with their vans, broke heads, and shoot rubber balls illegally. A 70 yo man went to try to finish the fire and they hit him brutally. A man was simply returning home from his job and was also brutally hit by the police. The police hitted periodist who were accredited and were screaming that they were periodists. They made random detentions. And I know it because i was THERE. And no, I'm not an independist. The media manipulates everything because they want the rest of spain to think we are radicals and we hate them but that's absolutely not true.
I feel like those abstaining aren't helping the situation, it just makes it look to laymen that the separatists have the overwhelming majority, hiding their opposition until people actually investigate further.
May I ask where part of the UK are you from?. I mean, My native language is spanish; I've studied English, but I've never been in an English speaking Country and I have some issues understanding some accents, in particular I have issues with Bitish English (that's what I thouthgt) and some whith canadian and american English from the northest (Massachussetts and that area). But I have noticed that you have a very British accent and notheless, I can understand you pretty well.
6:54 EU offucials say "These are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation"... However with the same situation with Serbia (and so-called Kosovo*) that acted completely opposite ! EU is hypocrite !
Mi K Spaniards killed and even entirely eradicated Aztecs and Mayans centuries ago. So bitch please. Serbs are completely different story, as you might know nowhere in the world Muslims can't live peacefully alongside others, you see Albanians tortured Serbian residents of Kosovo* basically from 1945 and in the 1990's those Serbs who remained couldn't take it any more. America supported Albanians because they wanted to weaken Serbia which is important Russian allie and that was it. Kosovo to Serbia is what Jerusalem is to Israel.
Jerusalem is Israel, Catalonia is Spain, and Kosovo will never again be a part of the terroristic, nationalistic Serbia. Kosovo is Kosovo. Serbs who do not accept that deserve to be killed.
Mi K My wife is Serbian who was banished from Kosovo* by Shiptars, and I know the whole history of Kosovo. It was, it is, and it always will be Serbia. Have a nice day and goodbye, when Serbia retakes what belongs to Serbia remember this conversation.
@@Filippirgos The whole idea that "Kosovo was majority Serbs before the civil war" is bullcrap. "Kosovo belongs to Serbia historically" is also bullcrap, because "historically" the whole Dalmatian coast is Albanian. Kosovo used to be populated by Albanians, Turks and Serbians before the First Balkan War, which is why it didn't join Serbia after the War of 1878-1882.
Just my questions to any Catalan who voted for independence: Were you oppressed by Madrid? Unfairly treated? EDIT: *at the moment you called for independence* Were you prohibited from speaking your own language? From celebrating and practicing your own cultural festivities and custom? If the answer was yes, I would have supported your cause, but from what I know, this wasn't the case. There was no reason for Catalonia to call for independence, not an economical one, not a safety one, not even an nationalistic one. The idea behind western society is that it's pluralistic. Anyone can do whatever they want, can speak any language, wear any kind of funny hat, as long as it is within reasonable laws. The Catalans were able to be as Catalan as they wanted, and it was still not enough. Some people said "imagine if we had our own country, everything would be so much nicer", and politicians jumped on it to get elected. That's the only reason I can think of, some people dreaming about independence without worrying about the potential costs, without any other objective reason. Of course, I'm not a Catalan, I know only so much about what was going on there, so please correct me if I was wrong somewhere.
sadly shitty logic and fallacies like spain steal us, we are different we need different countries will always have its public, demagogy i think you are right, and the cause of why these ideas are strong i cant answer really but if you are interested yu can look for the goobles laws, before you think wrong of me, yes, he was the nazi who get the nazis in the government, and his laws are used today, knowing those make you stronger againts emty retoric and you will see the simmilarities (in arguments, not necessarily objectives) with the independentist movement, and other movements too
SHM 99 no, you don't have to thank them. But you also don't have to shoot yourself in the foot by calling out independence unilaterally. As I said in my original comment, I don't know every thing. Maybe the Catalans wanted to become independent so the next time a spanish dictator grabs power, they won't oppressed. But this scenario is pretty unlikely, a lot of things need to happen before that would be possible. And in a situation where democracy in Spain has failed, there can easily break out a war, and the independent Catalonia will be annexed again. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes. If you still can handle my offensive comments, please try and explain to me why and how the people of Catalonia will live better lives when Catalonia is independent, 'cause I don't see it.
There won't be a war. It is gonna be so hard, we know, but we will try til the day people stop wanting independence, something that won't happen. Specially if Spain's democracy has failed, we need independence as soon as it is possible. We can't hold to rest in Spain any more, we need freedom NOW, not tomorrow.
There are so many multicultural countries in the world. In Indonesia, there are over a hundred languages spoken and its multicultural too. Indonesia alone will create a lot of countries if those regions will secede from it. It will be chaotic for sure.
Great video and great research. You've exposed very clearly the situation. However, as a Law student, I recommend you to check the part you speak about the right of self-determination of the UN Charter, because it refers to nation that were colonialized and to those that are being oppressed. Maybe, in Catalunya there's now a notable conflict, but it is not provoke by the oppression; but for the fact that they have wanted to go by the anticonstitutional way (at least, against the Spanish Constitution). Compared with Catalunya, other Spanish autonomous communities are poorer due to the Government having fulfilled Catalunya's interest before other regions I encourage you to take this into account and study deeper the situation. But great job and keep your videos at such a high level.
Thanks for the clear and balanced view on Catalan independence movement. One unanswered question is what will happen of the 50% of the Catalan population, who negate the referendum, both from Catalan origin and Spaniards who settled years or centuries ago to contribute to the economic dynamism of the region. Will they become strangers in their own country ? Will they have to speak Catalan excluding Spanish ? Will they keep their job when part of the Catalan administration ? Separating people can make sense when one population is oppressed by distant power. But to decide that half the population can have distinctive right over the other is less acceptable. Another issue is catalan education. Thanks to autonomy and EU regional fund, catalan schools use history manual claiming the perpetual opposition of Catalan to Spain, which is plainly wrong. What is the impact of this brainwashing at early age on the poitical decision Catalunya is facing now ?
Catalonia plays a big role in Andorra's history. 🇦🇩 1.Catalan is the country's official language 2. The Bishop of Urgel is one of the co-princes of Andorra.
Hi! I am a spanish and I liked pretty much the video and how you explained the situation because I don't find it biased to any of both sides, which is kind of difficult now here in Spain because everyone has his position. My personal opinion is that they have been always during the last 40 years using the independence to threaten the central government to get some privileges that most of the other spanish regions don't have because they vote to national political parties and not to regional ones as most of catalan people do to obtain advantages for the region. The difference between Catalonia and the rest of the regions gets bigger and bigger and bigger and in 2012 more or less when the global crisis arrived the independence movement boomed because politicians there started saying people in Catalonia that their problems were due to Spain ("Spain is stealing us"). So in my opinion is a selfish movement from selfish people that always wants more and more and more and they have been able to develop a lot due to several advantages they had in the past and now they want to leave because they are something like the "golden spanish people"... I can imagine they want to be the 2nd Luxembourg... They should be all happy they are able to work in their region and more or less live pretty well when there are other regions in Spain much more undevelop and suffering.
Spanish here and yeah, it's kinda accurate. Most english speaking people dont seem to notice or to care about pronouncing spanish well, even when we have some of the easiest to pronounce languages. Another good example is the spanish "J" (and in some cases "G"), it sounds like an english "H"
The United States could never have declared its independence from Great Britain under the modern U.N.! Thank God for the loose geopolitics of the 1700s -- and poor Catalonia (although I, too, want Spain to stay united).
I fear the U.N. because the intelligence agencies of its Security Council alone could make me "disappear" with a single midnight visit if they wanted. I suspect that, like the E.U., they're willing to go absolutely all-out crushing potentially "problematic" Western attitudes in their own countries but too "tolerant" to raise a finger against, say, vast armies of Islamic terrorists determined to destroy the West itself.
why is the modern world obsessed with breaking itself into small pieces? Can't we just admit the truth? We are all humans, we all are the same. The land is ours to SHARE, not to split up among ourselves. Just saying, if we, as a people, were to unite into one country, all these country vs country or citizen vs their country issues would disappear.
It's not like people are different, with different ideals, different beliefs, different desires, different cultures, different everything. We're one species but that doesn't mean we are able to live in magic hippie commune land.
there exist a fallacy, "the distant government doesnt/cannot represent our interest" the idea of local govs can take better care of local people, sounds logic, was logic...today is really not this idea makes sense in history where minorities were ussually mistreated,or you as a king want to war againt other king and not deal with semi-civil war between 2 religions or cultures so you give each a portion or literally you had different civil codes in every duchy being a duchy one of the previous portion today we have a evoluion towards more uniforms rights, in nation level and international, but the tradition of local rights persists, and whenever is a economic(or any) problem the witch is to blame, being that witch jews if you loose WW1, capitalist is you are communist, communist if you are capitalist, or actual witches if your medieval town suddenly has the plage in nutsell, there is people who want rightfully to have rights(this is legit), they think a more local gov can protect those rights better (this is not true, less distance doesnt imply better gov, just more control not better) (with local im including same religion or culture or variants of those) and for politicians is really really easy to blame the witch, way easier than critically analyze the problems and actually solving them note that may be cases where separation is good for everyone, or simply the less bad option
Genghis Khan yugoslavia is another story. This is about supporting democracy, human rights ethics, culture, etc..under the statement that we are all human. Yugoslavia wasn't created on these principles.
And you should mention all the lies of the separatists. Its amazing how confusion is in the internacional community. The flag of an independent Catalonia would be NOT the estelada, It would be the same flag as the Catalonia Autonomus Community.
Here all the laws have been skipped, they have attempted against the constitutional order. The Catalans voted for the constitution by a majority. They are one of the most autonomous regions in Europe. They have called for laws of rupture with the State and of approval of a totally illegal referendum, bypassing the regulations of their own chamber. Those condemned are condemned for having attempted against the legal regime. They are not judged by their ideas, they have been sentenced for attacking the laws, otherwise there would not be an independent coalition governing for years. The government is truffled by a political elite that is decaying and corrupt to the core. All this with less than half of the census in favour. Catalan is the dominant language in administrations, schools, universities and the media. The financial argument is a fallacy: It is a rich region, but it also receives many transfers from the State. They talk about social justice but when it comes to money they don't want to collaborate fiscally as a "rich region". How do you understand that? It's not the Catalans, it's the independentistas, it's not the same thing. Let them not sell a revolution of smiles because they are violent and we are finally seeing it. The violence is not exercised by infiltrated groups, they are hundreds and hundreds of young victims of the indoctrination of years through public television and schools. It is not worth distinguishing between peaceful and violent independents because they all justify violence, which by the way is promoted by Waterloo and by the current president (not elected) Torra. No European state would tolerate such an attack on its integrity, they cannot sell this as a fight for justice and freedom because it is not at all. Do not sell them the idea of the romantic revolution, the fight of the weak just against the giant tyrant and oppressor because the oppressed are really the non-independentistas in Catalan territory, which they always consider to be ethnically and linguistically inferior. A political and economic inbred and corrupt elite for decades in full flight forward. That's "the process".
Brilliantly explain, word by word. Please to all of you with quick replies about this situation should research a bit about all parts involve and you will see who are the real repress people in Cataluña, all that is related to Spain there has been manipulated by their own leaders/schools/regional Tv channel to looks like we (spaniards) are rule by a dictatorship government so their fight is justified to break free from the rest of Spain. Lies, manipulation, false facts are feeding the brain of the independentistas and now, for the last few days, they think violence is justified. it is crazy!! I bet that many of you if not all have spend sometime in Spain as holidays or work related time, do you really buy the idea of Dictatorship and repression is the normal rule in Spain? Crazy!!
I don't know who you are but some of your historic information is WAY OFF. The catalan language was never prohibited. It was not allowed to be spoken in official government buildings. and Luis Companys was also a murderer.
@@macedo8410 Yeah, sure, just like Joan Manuel Serrat was executed for writing songs in Catalan language during Franco's dictatorship... Oh, wait, that didn't happen.
The funny thing is that Catalan language had the same status in Franco's dictatorship than it has in current French democracy. It simply wasn't an official language in that time the same way it is not official in south France nowadays (Roussillon area).
No estaba prohibido, solo que si lo hablabas en el colegio, en el médico, en el ayuntamiento o la cua de la carnicería venían y amablemente te daban una paliza.
@@arletestanyol6101 Claro, claro... Entonces, ¿cómo cojones explicas que a Salomé se le permitiera cantar en catalán (y ganar) en el Festival de la Canción Mediterránea de 1963, celebrado en Barcelona? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1hR5LuWdtxY.html Los separatistas vivís de la mentira y la exageración, de hablar de cosas que jamás vivisteis en primera persona.
Culture seems a stupid reason for independence to me, but maybe that's because I come from a multi-cultural country. That has cities full of people full of nationalities from all over the world. Than again I also can't believe what my country did in 2016 as I find that stupid as well.
dragon_2cu Maybe it's because I grew up in the United States, and unlike most countries, it's not based around a common cultural heritage but around an ideal. We haven't always lived up to that ideal and there are disagreements about the best ways to go about implementing said ideals, but it's still more about ideals than about having to have a shared culture.
A fellow New Yorker, by any chance? I can understand culture being a divisive issue, but Catalonia has been part of Spain for centuries so the whole thing seems somewhat ridiculous to me as well.
And the Czech republic and Croatia had been a part of Austria for centuries when they succeed, so where is the problem? Who said it's just a cultural issue? But if we talk about culture, I'll say that I want Catalonia to be a republic because I don't want my language, Catalan, to be replaced by Spanish. I don't want immigrants and other foreigners in Catalonia to speak only Spanish (nowadays they don't learn Catalan because they may think that it's a vulgar and useless dialect), I want to received publicity of Catalan songs when I'm watching videos on RU-vid and not latin american songs. I want tourists that come to visit Barcelona to know that our language is Catalan, not Spanish, and we don't dance flamenco, we don't eat paella, we don't drink sangria... I want to live in a country where the police doesn't hit the people who want to vote, arrest people for talkikg the police in Catalan or go after catalan nationalists politicians. You are a New yorker, your language is the most important language in the world, you don't know what it feels like when your language is getting replaced by a bigger one in your own country, and you cannot get independent because it's "illegal". I'm so damn tired of Spanish laws, made by the same francoists leaders (Suárez, Fraga, etc.) something that spaniards usually forget. I'm so tired of living in the same country as people who vote and vote again the most corrupted party in Europe, but wait, you cannot get indepedent, it's illegal... Illegal my ass.
