The Struggle for Catalonia

Waving the Flag for a New Nation

Catalans, or at least a significant percentage of Catalans, have long seen themselves as a people apart from the rest of Spain. Catalonia’s hard-core nationalists have sought independence for centuries. The Catalan secessionism movement gained new momentum in 2011, amid a European financial crisis that hit especially hard in Spain – as well as in Greece, Italy and Portugal.

Catalans’ annual demonstration, the Diada, or National Day, began to draw huge crowds. The 2012 event attracted perhaps two million protesters, organizers said, though the police figure is 1.5 million and skeptics pegged it at 600,000. Whoever is right, many of Catalonia’s 7.5 million people came out for a show of state pride. The Diada demonstrations started as a communal expression of pathos as the economy collapsed. But, the notion of secession took root as Catalans saw the appeal of leaving the moribund Spanish state and forming a vibrant new Catalonian nation. Young people especially responded to the appeal of seceding since they bore the brunt of the financial crash. Catalans across generations began to call for independence...