Why revisit the question of Catalan independence today? Because the debate on regional funding has resurfaced, once again, shrouded in language that expresses grievance against Catalonia, explicitly portraying it as a subordinate society, not fully involved in defining strategies in Spain. And because the recurring infrastructure crisis—commuter rail, the Mediterranean Corridor, decades of accumulated investment shortfalls, the strangulation of all public services—can no longer be presented as a series of technical issues. When these shortcomings are systematically repeated in the same region, the issue ceases to be administrative and becomes political.
This context compels us to return to the heart of the debate. Does the Catalan people exist as a political entity? For me, the answer is yes. Catalonia is a nation because there is a community that recognizes itself as such, with a language, culture, institutions, and a sense of historical continuity. And if it exists as a nation, it must have the right to decide its political organization.
The 1978 Constitution introduced the term nationalities By avoiding study, the Constitution defined a single nation coexisting with different nationalities, but left the question of sovereignty unresolved. When a significant and persistent part of a community demands a vote on its relationship with the State, the problem does not disappear by appealing to a supposed constitutional literalness. The question remains essential: who decides about Catalonia? If there is a nation, there is a right to decide. This is the Gordian knot that current circumstances have brought back to the forefront. We will continue next month.
