Mass rally referendum of independence of Catalonia. | Photo by: REUTERS / Yves Herman
Catalonia was once an independent territory in the Iberian Peninsula, an area including Spain and Portugal, which has its own language, laws, and traditions.
The Catalan government this week declared a referendum last Sunday showing 90 percent of voters wanting independence from Spain. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont says Catalonia will declare independence from Spain this weekend or early next week.
Puigdemont reasoned that Catalonia had a moral, cultural, economic right to self-determination.
Catalonia is one of the richest and most productive regions in Spain with the capital of Barcelona, home to 7.5 million inhabitants.
History
The marriage of Queen Petronilia to Barcelona nobleman Ramon Berenguer IV in 1150 made the couple build dynasties and leave their territory in Aragon and Catalonia to their sons.
In the Civil War during the reign of King Philip V, Valencia finally defeated in 1707 and then Catalonia submitted in 1714. The event marked the modern era of Spain.
The powerful king wanted to apply Spanish language and law in the region but eventually they surrendered and restored the Generalitat or the Catalan autonomous government.
General Fransico Franco then defeated the separatist rebellion of the Ebro War in 1938 and seized control of the territory. The incidents were 3,500 people killed and thousands more displaced into exile.
Catalonia then regained autonomy in 1977 when Spain began democracy after the death of Franco who died in 1975.
Free wishes
The voices calling for full independence began in July 2010 when the Constitutional Court in Madrid rejected the 2006 autonomy treaty and declared there was no legal basis for recognizing Catalonia as a country within Spain, as quoted from the Telegraph page on Wednesday (4/10) .
The economic crisis in Spain increasingly makes the Catalan want to be independent, especially Barcelona is a rich region that became the center of industry, maritime power, trade, textiles and finance and technology companies, compared to other areas in Spain are poor.
The Catalans reasoned they were entitled to independence from Spain because what they gave to the central government was not worth what they got. The Gross Domestic Product of Catalonia covers 19 percent of Spain's GDP.
Popular conservative party that carries Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is only the fifth largest party in Catalonia and strongly rejects independence.
The president of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont was supported by the nationalist coalition of the CDC party and the left wing of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) as well as the radical left wing of the CUP Party which holds the majority seat in the Catalonia parliament.
In September 2017 this majority vote proposed a referendum on Catalonia's independence even though the Constitutional Court considered it illegal.
In 2014 Catalonia then also held a symbolic referendum stating that 80 percent of voters want independence.
Thank you for reading the article I post, if you like it don't forget to give comments, upvote, and resteem