Catalan separatists launch campaign to secede from Spain (no, this isn't one of my cat threads)

[TexasTowelie]

Manu Fernandez
EDS NOTE : SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN A boy waves a pro-independence Catalan flag, known as the Estelada flag, and a European flag during a electoral rally for the Catalan regional elections in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. For a fourth consecutive year, hundreds of thousands of pro-independence Catalans are expected to rally Friday to break away from Spain, kicking off a fresh secession bid in a push to carve out a new European nation. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Advocates of independence for Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia have launched their campaign to try to elect a majority of secessionists in regional parliamentary elections on Sept. 27.

The campaign began Friday on the same day as the Catalan National Day holiday that separatists have used for years to rally hundreds of thousands of people in Barcelona to call for the creation of a new Mediterranean nation.

Pro-independence parties need 68 seats in the 135-member parliament to push their effort forward. Polls show them on track to win a slim majority.

They say a win would put Catalonia on a path toward a unilateral declaration of independence in 18 months.

Read more: http://kdhnews.com/news/world/catalan-separatists-launch-campaign-to-secede-from-spain/article_8c9f4360-b9af-57e8-aabc-83a9303cbb11.html

[a la izquierda]

1. I was just in Catalunya and support seemed really high.

I'm in Madrid now, I guess we'll see what happens.

[DFW]

2. I have lived there, visit frequently and speak Catalan

Many are for separation in theory, but it would be complicated, especially if Spain isn't OK with the separation, and many of the services now provided by the Spanish government would then fall on the people of Catalunya to pay for. Then there is the issue of who is involved. The provinces of Alicante and Valencia also speak versions of Catalan. Are they in on this? How about the Balearic Islands? They are Catalan-speaking, too. Does Catalunya get a new pesseta or does it adopt the euro, and with whose funds? Does it join the EU? Does it join Schengen? All that would need to be voted upon. It's nice to go out and wave a flag and march in the street, but there would be a lot of unpleasant practicalities to deal with in such a separation.