An Independent Catalonia?

About half of the residents of Catalonia favour independence (perhaps not surprisingly, the majority being those with Catalan parents and grandparents), while the rest are content living in a solidly democratic state where they enjoy control over their own education, police, healthcare, transport, agriculture, environment policy, and municipal governments and get to keep most of their tax money.

Although Catalonia would be richer if it kept all its tax money, Catalans also know that independence would mean, at least for a while, a colossal blow to the economy. The EU has already made it clear that Catalonia would have to start from the bottom in reapplying for membership.

But recently, the tide has turned. In 2017, the Catalan government’s Centre for Opinion Studies found 48.7% of Catalans supported independence while 43.6% did not. In July 2023 a new survey found that 52% of Catalans were opposed to independence and 42% in favour. They are probably tired of the chaos!

The First Referendum