There is strength in staying together. The world is too economically unstable to be splitting up. While they may have their reasons they should not be looking for a handout after.
International Level: New Activist / Political Participation: 24 2.4%
Leader of Catalonia separatist vote tells USA TODAY he's determined to move forward on independence from Spain. Carles Puigdemont said he is concerned that the Madrid government might deliberately inflame tensions with a provocative action to block the vote. It would be "Highly suspicious" if "Somehow, at a time when Madrid has put thousands of police on our streets, an incident happens." Ref. USAToday.
I support self-determination. Even though I don't like the political persuasions of the Catalonian separatists, I strongly believe that the more local the government the more responsive it is to the will of those within it's jurisdiction.
To deny secession is to deny people the right to choose their own destiny. Secession is the last peaceful route to redress a people's grievances. It is to cling to stasis, forgetting that mankind is a part of nature - and that nature is dynamic. So whether it be the Southerner, the Scotsman, the Catalonian, or any other people - I will support their right to forge their own path, even if it's not technically "Legal".
I don't like how the police were handling the protestors. They were kicking and throwing them like they were rubber balls. People should have the right to protest the referendum without being kicked.
International Level: Senior Politician / Political Participation: 177 17.7%
Trans,
I agree with you and it was even worse than what you said. Most of those people weren't protesting… they were voting, or at least trying to. The police went in and broke up voting places across Catalan. They also confiscated many if not most ballot boxes. I read where they were so heavy handed there were those in line who planned on voting to remain in Spain and then changed their minds after the show the police put on.
On the other hand, I also saw video of the pro-independence group throwing rocks and bottles at the police and knocking down barricades. That will definitely set the police on edge and turn a tense situation into a battleground. The thing is, I don't know which thing happened or if they happened at the same time. But that doesn't excuse the way the police acted and in a few instances to children and the elderly. There was no need for that.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that his government was seeking to remove the leaders of Catalonia's regional government from power and call new elections as soon as possible.
The unprecedented measures would be taken under Article 155 of the Spanish constitution and must be sent to the Spanish Senate for approval. This would happen happen in the coming days, Rajoy said.
The move, intended to quash an independence bid led by Catalonia's regional government, follows weeks of division triggered by a banned independence referendum on October 1. Ref. CNN.