Catalonia: debunking dishonest arguments in favour of the bogus “referendum”
I am not by principle opposed to Catalonia splitting from Spain and becoming an independent state. I consider myself a classical liberal, believe in individual rights above all, and see modern states solely as guarantors of those individual rights. I strive to get rid of all remnants of tribal instincts within me: nationalism, patriotism, chauvinism, inherited guilt, collective pride, irrational attachments, groupthink. Because of that, I can’t feel proud —nor ashamed — to be a Spaniard.
I suspect that there is an honest and coherent case to be made for Catalan secession. Many of us who love politics, economics and reason would be thrilled to engage in a debate about those ideas. Unfortunately, that is not what we are getting from the separatists in Catalonia on a daily basis. What we have heard on TV during the last decade or two, from elected officials in Catalonia, is embarrassing demagoguery, circular logic, regionalist hatred based on the worst of stereotypes, historical lies and conspicuous attempts at deviating public attention from their own corruption scandals and budget cuts and from social issues in Catalonia (immigration and unemployment, among others).
With the international press playing a misleading “neutral” role in all of this, when not tacitly acknowledging Catalan independence as a just cause (in these days I read mainly The New York Times, sometimes others), I often feel frustrated when well-intentioned friends of mine outside Spain ask me about the situation here. Add some confused (or even suspicious) tweets by Assange and by Snowden to the mix, and the damage is done (see this dissection of lies expressed by Assange). I lament that the picture my friends are forming in their heads is that Barcelona is a new Tiananmen Square and Spain some kind of banana republic, and that the separatists are fighting for basic human rights against an authoritarian state.
What follows is not a list of arguments against Catalan independence, but a succinct rebuttal, in no particular order, of some sophisms that are being repeated ad nauseam —both inside and outside Spain — by many proponents of the so-called “referendum”. There may be good reasons for Catalan independence; I claim only that the arguments below are not valid to defend the farce of a referendum next Sunday, 1 October.
#1 “Simply casting a ballot can’t possibly be illegal”
Organising a referendum, and voting in it, is illegal when the matter being submitted to popular vote is out of the jurisdiction of the institution calling the referendum —and definitely so when the courts have confirmed that is the case. A city can’t decide about national defence. The United Nations can’t vote about recycling policies in Wales. Citizens of a province don’t get to vote whether their nation should ratify or not some international agreement. State A within a federation can’t call a referendum about whether the amount they contribute to the federal budget is to be shared with state B in particular or not. According to the Spanish Constitution, regions of Spain (officially, “autonomous communities”), though they enjoy a high degree of self-government, don’t have the power to unilaterally change their legal status. The Constitutional Court ruling officially confirmed that notion, and it is a tenet of the rule of law in a democracy that “no mob, however unruly or boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law”. One more thing to consider: three years ago, the separatist Catalan government authorised police force to stop a popular “multireferendum” about a number of social issues in Catalonia, confiscating ballot boxes. Clearly, the Catalan leaders do not think that casting a ballot is always okay.
#2 “Voting is always a moral act”
Calling a referendum, and taking part in it, are immoral acts when the question being decided is immoral in itself. A government could call a referendum asking whether the country should deport all members of some ethnic minority, or instead sterilise them. (Think “have you stopped beating your wife?”) What would then be the right ballot to cast? There isn’t one. Even a blank vote alone would not be enough. The only right thing to do would be to denounce that referendum and actively boycott it, and then obliterate its proponents in the next electoral cycle. (Or would you rather defend such a referendum “because free speech” and “because voting is good”?) More plausibly, a government could call a referendum to ask citizens whether they want to continue paying taxes (without a clear alternative or a transition plan), or whether the country should simply ignore its international creditors and don’t pay back its debts (breaking international law, or the terms of perfectly legitimate treaties or agreements with other countries). All these are examples of quandaries that are either flawed in the first place, or outside the realm of popular referenda. I am not arguing that the “referendum” on 1 October is objectively immoral. I am merely demonstrating that it is not self-evident that it has to be moral just because it is a referendum. (Which it isn’t, anyway — see the answer to argument #11 below.)
#3 “Catalans have a right to express themselves”
Nobody’s denying the citizens of Catalonia that right. Freedoms of expression, of the press and of assembly aren’t eroded in Catalonia, or elsewhere in Spain. The Catalan language shares official status with Spanish, and it is widely used both in public and private media organisations. The regional governments have been, for many legislatures, profusely funding institutional campaigns and initiatives to bolster “Catalan culture”. The regional government, other public institutions, NGO’s and media companies are free to fund and publish polls and studies, and to advocate and lobby for secession. Separatist parties are fully legal and receive public subsidies. The fallacy is to assume that the fact that citizens and collectives are protected to express their views about anything means that opinions are automatically binding.
#4 “More democracy is always better”
The frequency by which citizens are called to vote is a bad proxy for the quality of a democracy. There are questions no sane parliament would ever submit to the people. Elections and referenda cost time, money and public attention (and some of them have tremendous potential repercussions; see “Brexit”). Representative democracy and elected officials exist, among other reasons, to relieve us of the burden of having to think hard and decide all the time about every conceivable topic. Defending that direct democracy is always better is an absolute argument that, if applied, would never condone delegating or delaying a single decision. Perhaps that’s why no political entity on Earth applies it.
#5 “Things can’t go on like this in Spain”
They don’t have to. But this “referendum” is predicated on the wrong assumption that there is no other way to proceed. One does not have to approve of the current relationship between Catalonia and the rest of Spain to dislike this “referendum”. One does not have to like Mr Rajoy or his party to be against this “referendum”. The balance of power and money between Spain and Catalonia has changed a lot in the last 39 years of democracy via other means (coalitions, budget transfers, etc). In fact, that works so well for the nationalists in Spain that, this very week, the government is negotiating with nationalists (Basque ones) to pass the national budget. Both conservative and socialist governments have accepted repeatedly the terms of nationalists in Catalonia, the Basque Country, even the Canary Islands — in exchange for parliamentary support. Those deals, and the resulting new privileges or funds for the respective “autonomous regions”, have been seen by other regions as unfair for a long time now. But, at least, they are legal. This illegal “referendum” is far from being a necessity for anybody.
#6 “The Spanish Government is not willing to discuss and negotiate”
The Spanish Government is legitimate and democratic, as are the Parliament and the Senate. Both branches of power represent the will of the people. So let’s not assume the Government is some kind of extraneous entity. If the government were not willing to negotiate with the separatists, it would mean that the Spanish people are not willing to negotiate — and that would be a legitimate position. But then again, the accusation is false in the first place: democratic governments, from both sides of the aisle, have negotiated with Catalan (and Basque) nationalists for decades. All kinds of concessions have been made as a result of those talks. The central government establishes limits to the negotiation, of course — just as the separatists do. It is a symmetrical deadlock. Spain rejecting secession is as logical as separatists demanding secession. How would you “negotiate” with an organ whose only goal is to stop functioning or to abandon your body?
#7 “Spain is authoritarian and repressive; they’re curtailing human rights in Catalonia”
It’s easy to relate to the cause of the “little guy”. It is tempting to interpret that this is a “David and Goliath” situation, and that if there’s repression, it has to be exerted by the larger power against the smaller one. But there is no authoritarianism in Spain. And if there is one side abusing propaganda and striving to marginalise dissenters, in Spain that is the pro-independence bloc, not the unionist one. The Spanish democracy is young, but also very robust. According to The Economist’s Intelligence Unit “Democracy Index” report of last year, Spain ranks #17 among all “full democracies” in the world. For reference, Spain’s ahead of the United States, France, Italy and Japan, all of which are considered “flawed democracies”. One more data point: Spain is rare among European countries in that it is free of that pervasive malady, the far right: its two biggest populist xenophobic parties combined got ~0.24% of the vote in the last general election, and can’t dream of getting even one seat in the national Parliament (compare with the situation of the far right in almost every other major EU member, from Germany to Norway to the UK to France). The Spanish government is applying the rule of law, not curtailing liberties.
#8 “Catalonia is a net contributor to the central budget. They’re being robbed.”
That claim is subject to debate: figures vary widely depending on the period taken, on taxes considered, public infrastructure spending, EU funds, and lots of other factors. In any case, that may be the case of other regions, too: Madrid, the Balearic Islands, Valencia and others. And, finally, an appropriate answer to that argument may well be: “well… tough!” In a federation, rich regions and cities contribute more than poor ones to the federal budget. It’s the principle of solidarity. Progressives and those in the left, more than anyone else, should defend that principle. If being the biggest contributor to a federal budget were an argument for independence, one should be in favour of all regions in all countries becoming independent, one by one, as they in turn become “the richest” region in what’s left of their respective territories.
#9 “The response from Madrid is out of proportion: they’re sending the police to Catalonia”
Let’s make it clear that, contrary to what some headlines seem to suggest, there have been very few outbursts of violence, and that those have been minor (ie, some injuries, zero deaths). Also, those outbursts almost always have been prompted by mobs trying to impede lawful arrests of suspects by police holding warrants (peaceful demonstrations are happening without police intervention). Those mobs, and the threats of more to come, made it necessary to mobilise more police to Catalonia. Plus, the regional budget is being audited to detect illegal use of funds in these days. What else do you suggest would be a commensurate reaction? The Constitutional Court was adamant in its ruling. Hundreds or thousands of elected officials and public servants in Catalonia are disobeying the law, perverting justice, defying judges and diverting funds for the “referendum”. They had to be stopped, thus the few detentions (all mandated by independent judges who are acting well within the law). That is no excessive use of force.
#10 “They’re calling a referendum because self-determination is a basic human right”
The United Nations’ “Millennium Declaration” and other UN resolutions consider self-determination only in three very specific cases: basic human rights being curtailed, “colonial domination and foreign occupation”, none of which apply to Catalonia. Anyway, neither Mr Puigdemont (the regional president) nor his party believe in self-determination of peoples as a principle: in 2014, the party and the now-president himself voted against a parliamentary motion for the self-determination of the Palestinians and the Syrian Kurds, and against a referendum for the independence of the Saharawi people of the West Sahara. And when asked about the possibility of regions within Catalonia (eg, Tarragona, the Aran Valley) being given the chance to become independent themselves, to stay in Spain, or to become part of France, Mr Puigdemont and his acolytes have consistently either evaded the question or answered negatively. They don’t practice what they preach.
#11 “This is a referendum”
Not even remotely. Certain things in life have to come in absolutes. A boring novel full of grammatical errors is still a “book”, but a rigged farce with a predetermined outcome and no legal guarantees is not a referendum. Almost everything about this event speaks fraud: from the dubious census to the lack of transparency to the absence of impartial observers to the institutional meddling. The recent Catalan “laws” that serve as an excuse for the farce were approved by simple majority (qualified majorities are usually required in matters as important as these) and in abbreviated form, and are in blatant contradiction with higher laws, including the Constitution. The Catalan government, far from staying neutral, shamelessly started instructing the citizenship about how to celebrate the “yes” victory and when to take the streets. Today, the Spanish chapter of Reporters Without Borders denounces pressure and intimidation originating mainly from the Catalan government. One more thing: there is no campaign for the “no”. That’s right: not even Mr Rajoy, his party, the Socialist party, or any other organisation that matters is campaigning in this referendum in opposition to the separatists. That, alone, should raise all alarms.
#12 “The terms of Catalan independence are clear”
No, they’re not. The question on the ballot this Sunday is one sentence-long, but one could fill entire shelves with relevant questions about the particulars of a secession, for which the separatists have provided no specific answers: expected cost to the taxpayer, time frame; how to settle public debt, taxes and infrastructure costs with Spain; what to do about the military, borders, international treaties; criteria for nationality and for double nationality; etc. As I’ve argued before [in Spanish], for starters, nobody knows who is in the electoral register, or who among Spaniards would qualify in the future as “Catalan citizens”.
#13 “The situation is stalled because Mr Rajoy is not doing anything”
See answers to arguments #5 and #6. The separatists have been gaining ground for decades.
#14 “Catalans aren’t allowed to express themselves and to have their own culture”
Every honest Spaniard knows that is not the case. Catalonia enjoys a degree of self-government similar to many states or cantons within federations, if not higher. See answer to argument #3 above.
#15 “Catalans don’t feel they’re part of Spain. Their feelings aren’t being heard. This referendum is about that.”
First of all, it is not clear what proportion of Catalans feel that way (and no, a fake binding referendum is not the way to gauge that). But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that a vast majority of Catalans think they’re being neglected or alienated by the central government, and don’t feel like Spanish citizens: the appeal to feelings itself is yet another troubling sign. Feelings aren’t legal tender in the realm of political discourse. Feelings are subjective and unmeasurable, and change with time, and with the times. History, law, economics and mathematics are what counts. Whoever disagrees with this rational approach to politics will be forced to weigh in also the “feelings” of the much larger majority of Spaniards (including arguably half of the Catalans themselves) who think of Catalonia as part of the Spanish territory, who have family ties with Catalans or live there, who have invested heavily in Catalonia, or who would be deprived of their share of aggregated natural resources, wealth, culture and international clout if Catalonia leaves.
#16 “If you don’t support this referendum and the possibility of Catalan independence, you are a fascist”
Spain knows, first hand, what fascism is. Advocating national unity is not fascism. Even doing so from an old-fashioned, religious idea of national grandeur isn’t fascist. What is fascist is trying to silence dissenters, banning certain ideas, using violence, prosecuting minorities, expecting groupthink and attacking the individual. Fascism is in the means. Spain is defending its interests by legal and peaceful means. Also, the left should believe in solidarity, and secession is against solidarity among regions. Antonio Muñoz Molina expressed very well the awkward complex of the Spanish left [in Spanish].
#17 “It doesn’t matter what the Spanish Law says about this referendum — or about anything else for that matter— because Catalonia has long overturned Spanish jurisdiction anyway”
The secessionists have always played “mix and match” with the law. When asked about the minimum turnout that will be required to consider the “referendum” valid, Mr Puigdemont repeatedly invoked Spanish law to defend that no minimum was stipulated. Even to this day, his coalition is also very eager to wield rulings from the Constitutional Court whenever those rulings benefited them (and again, the existence of those rulings in their favour speaks volumes about the quality of the Spanish democracy and the degree of respect for self-government and freedom of speech in Spain). Make no mistake: Catalan separatists are playing by no rules.
