Catalonia declares independence!

[Pat Mustard]

Woof..incoming Article 155 from Madrid..  Not gonna be pretty.

Not sure exactly how Catalans thought this was going to go.. no major European country will recognize them (UK has already said they won't), they have no army, they can't get into the EU (as Spain would vote against them).  I can appreciate their sentiments in wanting more autonomy, but did they have any idea at all about how that would actually work?  Now Madrid is going to invoke Article 155 of their constitution and assume even more direct control over the region.

They have a plan. Use Rajoy's stupidity to make the situation so intolerable that even the most one eyed outside observer concede that they may have a point.

Fortunately for the Catalans Rajoy is as thick as shit. For example if he allowed the referendum in the first place the pro-independence side would have lost c. 60-40, today they are in a majority in Catalunya, slight but growing.

Oh and about the autonomous regions, the Partido Falangista (for that is what the PP really is, the Spanish Fascist Party) has progressively weakened Catalunya's autonomy using some very dubious means, including getting a non-quorate Supreme Court to declare an autonomy agreement between a previous Socialist government and all the autonomous regions unconstitutional, but only pursue and limit Catalunya's powers.

If I were a leader of one of the other autonomous regions, I'd be thinking "After Catalunya where is Rajoy going to focus his authoritarian tendencies?" and get very worried.