Catalan Claims - 28th Oct 2017 8:57am
Desperate efforts are being made by Farage, the Torygraph and the potty Express to persuade us that Catalan's rejection of Spain is a rejection of the EU.
It is nothing of the sort of course. Catalan would really love to be part of the EU as an independent nation, although this would be embarrassing to Spain. Should Catalan actually manage to secede, I imagine the EU will not recognise it for about 20 or 30 years when tempers will have cooled to the extent when it will admit Catalonia with Spain's agreement.
It is an internal Spanish dispute, and apart from having to remain on good terms with both sides, nothing to do with the EU. Spain, like all the other members of the EU, is a sovereign nation and will have to handle the dispute as best it can.
Madrid seems to have handled it very badly. They would have been wiser, I think, to allow a non-binding referendum in the region. According to the polls, the 'leavers' - although numerous, are not in the majority.
It is nothing of the sort of course. Catalan would really love to be part of the EU as an independent nation, although this would be embarrassing to Spain. Should Catalan actually manage to secede, I imagine the EU will not recognise it for about 20 or 30 years when tempers will have cooled to the extent when it will admit Catalonia with Spain's agreement.
It is an internal Spanish dispute, and apart from having to remain on good terms with both sides, nothing to do with the EU. Spain, like all the other members of the EU, is a sovereign nation and will have to handle the dispute as best it can.
Madrid seems to have handled it very badly. They would have been wiser, I think, to allow a non-binding referendum in the region. According to the polls, the 'leavers' - although numerous, are not in the majority.