Is Catalonia saying goodbye to Spain? <\/p>\n
Sunday 27 September, Catalans are called to vote in their regional parliamentary elections. Commentators call it an actual vote on the region\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n
Recent surveys point out that the main pro-independence political group ‘Junts pel S\u00ed’ (‘Together for Yes’) will obtain a clear and consistent victory gathering up to 40 per cent of the vote. The second party on the polls ‘Ciudadanos’ (‘Citizens’), which is contrary to independence, would obtain 15 per cent. <\/p>\n
Given this political panorama, we asked Spanish students at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) to share their thoughts on the possibility of Catalonia breaking apart from Spain. Catalan independence is a sensitive issue in Spain and some of the students interviewed preferred that we not reveal their surnames. <\/p>\n
Maria: “In my opinion, however, there are issues in Catalonia that require a stronger attention, as for example the economic debt or the high unemployment rate”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
“Nobody really knows what\u2019s going to happen”, says Esther, a 22-year-old Catalan master’s student at the Faculty of Humanities, “it is clear that the main pro-independence party will obtain the victory but \u2026 what will happen next? I think it will be a long process and it will even require several years.”<\/p>\n
“One of the main principles under international law is state\u2019s recognition,” says Carlos, a 23-year-old law student at UCPH who is from Madrid, Spain. ”If a new state is not acknowledged by other states, it will have slim chances of succeeding in economic terms,” he reckons.<\/p>\n
“The European Commission has confirmed that if a territory of a Member State ceases to be a part of it, it will no longer be subject to the EU\u2019s treaties,” Carlos continues. “In other words, it will leave the European Union. Of course then Catalonia will be able to apply to become again part of the Union. However, it won\u2019t be that simple since, in order to be accepted, the applicant state needs the approval of all of the EU\u2019s member states. Will Spain vote in favour? I don\u2019t think so!” he concludes.<\/p>\n
Is it the right time?<\/h2>\n
Mar\u00eda is a 21-year-old political science student from Valencia, Spain, and she believes there are more important issues that should be addressed first instead of independence. “I\u2019m neither in favour nor against independence. I\u2019d prefer them to stay in Spain but I do think that they have the right to decide. In my opinion, however, there are issues in Catalonia that require a stronger attention, as for example the economic debt or the high unemployment rate,” says Mar\u00eda.<\/p>\n
Alexander: “Why should I decide something about Madrid or Andalusia? I don\u2019t have the right to decide on other regions, but I do have it to decide in mine.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Esther agrees that the upcoming elections are not only about independence. ‘”Of course the main focus is on Catalan sovereignty, but political parties also include in their programs measures to fight other problems that we have in the region,” she says.<\/p>\n
Carlos, the Madrid law student, says that Catalan independence is a distraction. “It\u2019s a political tactic. Catalan leaders are using independence as a way to distract people from the real problems. Of course there\u2019s a large percentage of the population who desires to be independent, but I don\u2019t really believe it is their number one priority.”<\/p>\n
Only Catalans should decide<\/h2>\n
Catalan independence or not, another question is on who should decide, just Catalonian voters or all Spanish voters? In the recent referendum on Scottish independence that would have split the UK, English voters were, controversially, left out of the vote.<\/p>\n
Carlos: “Catalonia is under the jurisdiction of Spain. Therefore, it is bound to the Spanish rules and, specially, to the Spanish Constitution.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Alexander Paez Garc\u00eda, is a 24-year-old Catalan film and media student. He believes that the right to decide belongs to Catalans.<\/p>\n
“Why should I decide something about Madrid or Andalusia? I don\u2019t have the right to decide on other regions, but I do have it to decide in mine. Consequently, Catalans are the ones to decide on their own future and not Spain as a whole. It is not a political movement, it is the people who are claiming this.” <\/p>\n
Spanish people should decide<\/h2>\n
Alexander believes that the Spanish government has led a campaign of hatred towards the Catalans: ”The Spanish central government\u2019s attitude is largely responsible for the increase of the independence desire in Catalonia,” he says.<\/p>\n
Carlos has a different opinion on the matter:<\/p>\n
”It\u2019s very simple. From a legal perspective Catalonia is under the jurisdiction of Spain. Therefore, it is bound to the Spanish rules and, specially, to the Spanish Constitution, which clearly states that the national sovereignty rests with the Spanish people.”<\/p>\n
universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n
Do you have a good story? We would like to hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on Facebook<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
University of Copenhagen students from Spain are debating a vote that is actually a referendum on Catalan independence. The University Post talked to them about whether only Catalans should decide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Spain or Catalonia? Students argue before key election<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/spain-or-catalonia-students-argue-before-key-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spain or Catalonia? Students argue before key election\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Copenhagen students from Spain are debating a vote that is actually a referendum on Catalan independence. The University Post talked to them about whether only Catalans should decide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/spain-or-catalonia-students-argue-before-key-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-20T21:42:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/maria_and_flag3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/spain-or-catalonia-students-argue-before-key-election\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/spain-or-catalonia-students-argue-before-key-election\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"headline\":\"Spain or Catalonia? 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The University Post talked to them about whether only Catalans should decide","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Jos\u00e9 Manuel Garc\u00eda","contributor_title":" ","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Is Catalonia saying goodbye to Spain? <\/p>\n<p>Sunday 27 September, Catalans are called to vote in their regional parliamentary elections. Commentators call it an actual vote on the region\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n<p>Recent surveys point out that the main pro-independence political group ‘Junts pel S\u00ed’ (‘Together for Yes’) will obtain a clear and consistent victory gathering up to 40 per cent of the vote. The second party on the polls ‘Ciudadanos’ (‘Citizens’), which is contrary to independence, would obtain 15 per cent. <\/p>\n<h2>Atmosphere of uncertainty<\/h2>\n<p>Given this political panorama, we asked Spanish students at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) to share their thoughts on the possibility of Catalonia breaking apart from Spain. Catalan independence is a sensitive issue in Spain and some of the students interviewed preferred that we not reveal their surnames. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Maria: “In my opinion, however, there are issues in Catalonia that require a stronger attention, as for example the economic debt or the high unemployment rate”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>“Nobody really knows what\u2019s going to happen”, says Esther, a 22-year-old Catalan master’s student at the Faculty of Humanities, “it is clear that the main pro-independence party will obtain the victory but \u2026 what will happen next? I think it will be a long process and it will even require several years.”<\/p>\n<p>“One of the main principles under international law is state\u2019s recognition,” says Carlos, a 23-year-old law student at UCPH who is from Madrid, Spain. ”If a new state is not acknowledged by other states, it will have slim chances of succeeding in economic terms,” he reckons.<\/p>\n<p>“The European Commission has confirmed that if a territory of a Member State ceases to be a part of it, it will no longer be subject to the EU\u2019s treaties,” Carlos continues. “In other words, it will leave the European Union. Of course then Catalonia will be able to apply to become again part of the Union. However, it won\u2019t be that simple since, in order to be accepted, the applicant state needs the approval of all of the EU\u2019s member states. Will Spain vote in favour? I don\u2019t think so!” he concludes.<\/p>\n<h2>Is it the right time?<\/h2>\n<p>Mar\u00eda is a 21-year-old political science student from Valencia, Spain, and she believes there are more important issues that should be addressed first instead of independence. “I\u2019m neither in favour nor against independence. I\u2019d prefer them to stay in Spain but I do think that they have the right to decide. In my opinion, however, there are issues in Catalonia that require a stronger attention, as for example the economic debt or the high unemployment rate,” says Mar\u00eda.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Alexander: “Why should I decide something about Madrid or Andalusia? I don\u2019t have the right to decide on other regions, but I do have it to decide in mine.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Esther agrees that the upcoming elections are not only about independence. ‘”Of course the main focus is on Catalan sovereignty, but political parties also include in their programs measures to fight other problems that we have in the region,” she says.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos, the Madrid law student, says that Catalan independence is a distraction. “It\u2019s a political tactic. Catalan leaders are using independence as a way to distract people from the real problems. Of course there\u2019s a large percentage of the population who desires to be independent, but I don\u2019t really believe it is their number one priority.”<\/p>\n<h2>Only Catalans should decide<\/h2>\n<p>Catalan independence or not, another question is on who should decide, just Catalonian voters or all Spanish voters? In the recent referendum on Scottish independence that would have split the UK, English voters were, controversially, left out of the vote.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Carlos: “Catalonia is under the jurisdiction of Spain. Therefore, it is bound to the Spanish rules and, specially, to the Spanish Constitution.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Alexander Paez Garc\u00eda, is a 24-year-old Catalan film and media student. He believes that the right to decide belongs to Catalans.<\/p>\n<p>“Why should I decide something about Madrid or Andalusia? I don\u2019t have the right to decide on other regions, but I do have it to decide in mine. Consequently, Catalans are the ones to decide on their own future and not Spain as a whole. It is not a political movement, it is the people who are claiming this.” <\/p>\n<h2>Spanish people should decide<\/h2>\n<p>Alexander believes that the Spanish government has led a campaign of hatred towards the Catalans: ”The Spanish central government\u2019s attitude is largely responsible for the increase of the independence desire in Catalonia,” he says.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos has a different opinion on the matter:<\/p>\n<p>”It\u2019s very simple. From a legal perspective Catalonia is under the jurisdiction of Spain. Therefore, it is bound to the Spanish rules and, specially, to the Spanish Constitution, which clearly states that the national sovereignty rests with the Spanish people.”<\/p>\n<p>universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you have a good story? We would like to <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/article\/how-share-stories-university-post\" target=\"_blank\">hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\"> Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":45,"name":"International","slug":"international","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":315,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11492,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/maria_and_flag3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31951,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4792\/revisions\/31951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}