3rd of March the Welsh celebrated an official referendum to ask their people if the Welsh Assembly should be entitled to take care of all the Welsh laws, independently of the UK government: over a 63% vote yes! It is indeed a good new, however, it also remarks the pitiful conditions of the Catalan country. So the United Kingdom is proving to be a multi-national state fully respecting the competences of the nations that compose it, not like Spain.
According Mr.Jonqueras. euro-diputate of ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya-Left Wing Republican Independent Party), Scotland and Wales have more secure “armor-plated” conditions as nations inside the UK, than Catalonia with Spain. Furthermore, he believes the Spanish Constitutional Court intervention during the remake of the Catalan “Estatut” (the Catalan statute of autonomy) seriously damaged Catalan competences and autonomy.
So we see, in a century when a democratic monarchy like the UK, which still does not let go Northern Ireland, is able to evolve and offer full autonomy to the nations under UK administration, allowing an official referendums to take place. But Spain does not want to evolve at all: they keep with their already-outdated-early-20th-century-imperialist mentality and force everyone else into it. They do not let Basque or Catalans to be independent neither they respect the Catalan autonomy.
Catalonia Direct
Col·lectiu Emma
Catalunya Oberta
The New York Times
The TIMES
March 13, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Anthony commented this post at Linkedin in Catalan:
Al Regne Unit, existeix un respecte cap els altres països que formen part de l’estat (Escòcia. Gal.les, Irlanda del Nord). És cert que hi ha rivalitats, sobretot a nivell esportiu (tenim les nostres seleccions esportives pròpies), però ningú posa en dubte la realitat que Escòcia, Gal.les i Irlanda del Nord són nacions individuals i que tenen les seves cultures, dins de l’estat que és el Regne Unit.
També és curiós que, a nivell polític, i és bastant recent, s’han introduït els seus parlaments propis (devolution). Això va ser amb l’arribada a Downing Street de Tony Blair a finals dels anys 90. Jo no tinc cap dubte que si algun dia Escòcia es proclamès a favor de l’independència, els britànics no tindriem cap alternativa més que acceptar-ho (si votés així la majoria de la població)
En el cas d’Espanya, estic també d’acord amb el primer article – que la constitució actual es va acordar i votar durant el anys 70 i que després s’han produït tants canvis estructurals (l’entrada a l’UE, l’introducció de l’Euro, Internet…etc) i que tambè la constitució espanyola actual fou un consens entre tots els interessats per facilitar la transició a la democràcia. ¿Per què no es pot modificar una constitució tan antiquada? Ara – l’any 2011 – Catalunya ha de reconsiderar les seves relacions amb Espanya.
March 13, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Translation from Anthony’s comment: In the UK there is a lot of respect for the other nations that are members of the United Kingdom (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).It is true that there are rivalries, specially in sports (we all have our own national teams), but nobody calls into question the fact that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different nations and have their own culture, inside the estate which is the United Kingdom.
It is curious and also quite recent, that to a political level they have introduced their own parlaments (devolution). That happened when Tony Blair arrived to Downing Street at the end of the 90’s. I have no doubts that if one day Scotland would want to be independent, the British would have no choice but accepting it (as long as the majority would vote yes).
In the case of Spain, I also agree with the first article: the current constitution was issued and approved during the 70’s and there have been many structural changes since then (entering the EU, the Euro introduction, Internet, etc.); the Spanish constitution was also a consensus of all the parties in order to facilitate the transition into democracy. ¿But why cannot such an outdated constitution be amended? Now,in the year 2011, Catalonia needs to reconsider its relationship with Spain.