If Catalonia demands a referendum to leave Spain, so could the Vallès county (in order to leave Catalonia); or Matadepera (1), if it wished to leave Vallès. This matryoshka doll trick is sometimes used to ridicule and caricature Catalonia's demand for self-determination. Hardly news. It was used in almost the exact same terms in response to Quebec's demands and, in a much more tragic way, in the self-determination processes in the Balkans. This farcical argument is often accompanied by another: none of the countries we recognise as democracies would ever accept the exercise of that so-called right. Nobody can imagine France, Germany or the USA allowing Corsica, Bavaria or Texas to vote (although they forget that Canada and the UK did allow a referendum when it came down to it). Deep down, albeit in a deceitful way, this formulation shows us the true key issue: who is and who isn't a political subject; who has the right to decide.
In response to this caricature, we could start a long debate about the historic, demographic, cultural and identity traits needed for a community or a territory to be regarded as a political subject. This is a pertinent debate, but it rarely ends in agreement. What is self-evident to you (for instance, that Catalonia is a nation), the other camp denies. They contrast your historic arguments with opposite ones, which you find altogether fictitious, as they do yours. I am not advocating relativism. One of the two sides is right and has the arguments to prove it, whereas the other camp isn't or isn't quite as right. But there is a very slim chance of reaching an agreement. You say: because we are a nation, we must be allowed to vote. The other side says: since we don't want you to vote, we deny that you are a nation.
So let us find a different yardstick: a will that is expressed freely and democratically. Catalonia proclaims its right to decide with a genuinely democratic endorsement: 80 per cent of Catalan MPs are in favour of a legal, consensual consultation. The two main political parties in Catalonia were voted in after pledging a referendum in their manifesto and they have a wide majority in the Catalan institutions. In an independent Catalonia, if 80 per cent of the elected representatives of Vallès Occidental demanded a referendum with a similar endorsement, the government would have to listen. If Matadepera had its own political parties and an 80 per cent majority demanded whatever, they would have to be heard. When faced with a proposal of this nature, with such an unquestionable democratic endorsement, nobody can feign deafness. Neither Spain nor Catalonia nor Vallès. Likewise, I am certain that if a particular territory in France, Germany or the USA made a democratic demand with such broad support, their government would not turn a blind eye, unlike in Spain. Great Britain didn't when a party that pledged just that in its election manifesto won at the polls in Scotland. And it won precisely with this argument, as opposed to historic or legal ones. The Constitution of Canada did not acknowledge Quebec's right to self-determination. But a court of law ruled that, if it was the people's will and it was expressed democratically, the government simply had to listen and negotiate.
Therefore, history, language or a distinct identity are not the best criteria. An unmistakable democratic will is. It is the will that defines the subject. If the independence of Vallès is just a joke told over a cup of coffee, an abstract right, then it makes no sense. It's a caricature. If 80 per cent of the population supported it, they'd have to be heard and they'd be entitled to an answer. And let's not fool ourselves: for anything like that not to be a joke, for it to be endorsed by a large majority, many relevant, difficult factors need to coincide. A deep-rooted desire, a steady will, a grievance felt by most, trust in the feasibility of the project, a hope that it will make things better. And all that is no accident. Something like this can only grow on solid foundations, made up of identity, history, culture and interests -financial, too- which people feel are viewed with scorn.
Independence for Matadepera? Perhaps. If a majority wanted it. And that is virtually impossible, in every respect, except maybe as a joke told in a café. A majority, you see, is not built on jokes, but on feelings and interests shaped by history, culture, the economy and identity. They're either there or they aren't.
_______________________________
(1) Matadepera, the author’s hometown, is a small village in the Vallès Occidental county, which in turn is one of the 41 counties that make up Catalonia.
