Civil war fears as 450,000 protest after Spain moves to impose rule over Catalonia "As the region's president was threatened with arrest he declared it the "worst attack on Catalonia" since military dictator Francisco Franco in a passionate speech to the crowds. More below. Pro-independence Catalans gathered in the Spanish city this afternoon to demonstrate against Mariano Rajoy - after a dramatic press conference.
The crowds waved Catalan separatist flags as they marched against the decision, and the imprisonment of civil society leaders Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, both leading figures in the October 1 referendum. Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont gave a speech after joining the afternoon protest, saying in a mix of Catalan, Spanish and English: "[The Spanish government has waged] the worst attack on institutions and Catalan people since the decrees of military dictator Francisco Franco abolishing the Catalan government. "I ask the parliament to meet in a plenary session during which we, the representatives of the citizens' sovereignty, will be able to decide over this attempt to liquidate our government and our democracy and act in consequence.'" Is Spain ready for its close up, Mr. DeMille? The pressure of secession is coming, wanted or not. Spain is not long away from dangerous authoritarianism; it is unlikely to weather this crisis well. The government will want to shut down the protests and lash out at any opinions which differ from the government's. The opposition will remember Franco and his predations, and be unlikely to accept such actions. Spain will make arrests which will antagonize the secessionists, and the end game is likely to be ugly. But Spain is about to be shredded by the long-term recession it finds itself in any way. The Spanish people will not long accept permanent economic depression absent lavish amounts of money flowing from the EU and Germany. That won't happen because it cannot happen. Germany does not have the money to bail out Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Brussels, etc. And all will have their hand out if Spain gets a cut. As of now, the basketcases which are the Southern European nations seem to be driven by the desire to get back to the borrowing trough with its low-interest rates and faux prosperity they had until about 2008. Sorry, that ship sailed, it will not return. My guess is over the next year, or so we will see more and more secession movements spring up predominantly in wealthier areas of the EU. These peoples while diverse all are tired of paying for the slackers. This is the essential problem we see in red state America. While the dynamic is a bit different, it is similar. The red states are tired of paying huge taxes so the wealthy can get Social Security, Medicare, and the inner city poor can be bought off with a trillion per year. The red states would like to see government priorities altered and their tax monies going elsewhere. As would the Catalans and the rest of the secessionists of the EU. As the authoritarians of Spain rise, Franco's Ghost smiles.
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