Will a democracy ever be the same again? The democracy that made America is dying. And this, it turns out, is to be the story of the 21st century.
It all began in 2011, when Spain’s semi-autonomous regions—Basque Country, Catalonia and the Canary Islands—decided to hold a referendum on their status within Spain. In each case, the outcome of the vote was decisive: the people chose autonomy. But it was the Catalan separatists who became the biggest heroes and the Basque separatists who became the biggest villains. They were all in the same team: an independent Catalonia, which would have inherited the Spanish crown’s much-vaunted sovereignty, tax revenues and royal powers over the judiciary and police, would have been a great victory for both nationalists and the EU.
The separatists were now the centre of attention, both domestically and internationally.
And when Spain’s constitutional court, the ‘Consejo Supremo’, nullified the votes, the real issue was revealed. The Basques and Catalans, through a coordinated separatist push, had created an ideal scenario for secession: it was not a question of whether or not a referendum should be held, but when and where.
The separatist movement became an open rebellion. The separatists set themselves up as a nation and claimed to have the moral high ground. Their refusal to recognise the rule of law and the right of the Spanish government to impose its will on the people was nothing short of treason.
They flouted the law, using the courts to steal money and property from Spanish taxpayers. They made common cause with terrorist groups. They bullied the entire Spanish state and got away with it. They defied the entire international community.
Ultimately, their act of defiance came at a cost. And that cost is the death of democracy. The Basque and Catalan nationalists have now taken over Spain’s government, state-run banks, the courts and the media. Even the military now adheres to the separatists’ goals. Even Spain’s opposition parties have deserted the country’s ruling centre-right party, Ciudadanos, and become a mouthpiece for the separatists.
The story of the Spanish crisis is a tragedy for all of us. We need to learn the lessons of this painful experience.
After all, it was a Spanish government that for five decades unleashed and protected the National Front of Catalonia (FNC), a nasty be359ba680
Related links: