Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

For the past ten years, Catalonia, a region in northeast Spain, has doggedly pursued independence from Spain. After decades of political and cultural suppression under Francisco Franco, Catalan culture has experienced a robust renewal. Although Catalonia initially only sought greater regional autonomy, the central Spanish government's intransigence on the issue has created a much bigger political conflict

Despite warnings from the Spanish government and the Spanish Constitutional Court, Catalonia has held several independence votes, which have overwhelmingly shown that the Catalan people want the chance to at least vote in independence in a more meaningful way. Most recently, the Catalan Parliament elections were viewed as a plebiscite on independence; an indirect mandate on the will of the people to pursue independence.

At the domestic level, there is a constitutional question on whether the Spanish Constitution would even allow a Catalan independence referendum. The Spanish Constitution would probably allow for the question of Catalan independence to be submitted to the entire country. Even if the whole of the Spanish nation voted to allow Catalonia to vote on independence, and Catalonia subsequently voted to become independent, the latter vote would not be automatically binding. Rather, it would open the door to constitutional reform on the issue of auto-determination.

In the event that Catalonia could overcome its constitutional issues and gain independence from Spain, it would face significant roadblocks on the European and international levels. Catalonia would probably not belong to the European Union automatically, and would face opposition from Spain and other Member States to gain membership. And although public international law is largely silent on the issue ofsecession, secession inherently undermines the principles ofsovereignty and territorial integrity. These principles are integral to international law. There are few international law cases which deal conclusively with issues of external selfdetermination, which includes secession. Additionally, an independent Catalonia would need to apply for membership to international organizations such as the United Nations; an applicant must receive at least nine votes in favor from the Security Council, and those nine votes must include all five permanent Security Council members. This result isfarfrom assured. In light of the significant hurdles Catalonia would face on the way to independence and afterwards, Catalonia would be better served by pursuing greater regional autonomy and remaining part of Spain

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