Although the Scottish referendum in September has failed to bring about an independence, very few polling questionnaires in the last decade (only anomalies) have shown a support for 'No', unlike the Scottish referendum which have shown a 'No' lead since the beginning of the campaigning.
There will be an additional question from the Scottish referendum in the Catalan one, that being: " Do you want Catalonia to become a State? " which basically means granting Catalonia extreme autonomy from Spain, but still being within it. To vote for question B ("Do you want this State to be independent?") one must vote 'Yes' for question A as well.
Criteria for voting are:
- One must be 16 or over on 8th November 2014
- Be a resident of Catalonia as of 7th November 2014 (Must be on local municipality rolls.) *Exceptions: Spanish citizens who hold identity cards marked as 'Catalan resident' and anyone on a local Catalan municipality electoral roll who has announced a 6-month stay or shorter abroad.
Although the Catalan Provincial Police have not politicized this referendum, they have not excluded being deployed to guard the ballot stations and have refused to give a comment on the Prime Minister's statement that the referendum will not be allowed to go ahead.
Additionally, the (President?) of Basque Country, Iñigo Urkullu, has announced that he wishes to organize their own referendum should the Catalan one succeed.
Countries whose referendums have not been recognized by their respective governments, but went ahead and became widely recognized as independent
- Zimbabwe
- Liberia
- Kosovo
- Greenland
- East Timor
Catalonia is the first region to have officially recovered from the global crisis and the second to exit recession (after Basque country). It is predicted a 1.4% growth in 2014 and 2.1% in 2015. Catalonia is also the motor of Spain's economy, providing the largest portion of the GDP as well as being the largest net contributor to the national treasury. It has below national average unemployment rate and is one of the richest regions in the EU. There is no doubt Catalonia can become an economically stable country in Europe.
Spain has a history of suppressing referendums where Riot Police (and allegedly military) was deployed to prevent a referendum from occurring on 15 September 2008, in Basque Country.
Thoughts, NS? Will the referendum go ahead? Will (/would) Catalonia be successful? Will Basque Country follow suit?