The Catalan Conflict

October 16, 2017

With Spain and Catalonia at a standoff following an October 1st referendum, pressure is mounting on the separatist government of the autonomous region to either declare or abandon its push for independence. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has given Catalonia’s separatist leader five days to say whether or not he has declared independence. If Catalonia confirms it has, the state will be given a further three days to withdraw that declaration. If they keep to their desire for independence, Madrid has warned it will invoke Article 155 of the constitution, allowing it to suspend the region’s autonomy and impose direct rule. In response, the Catalan leader has accused the Spanish government of ignoring his calls for negotiation. Earlier in the week, he pulled back from declaring independence by proposing a delay to allow time for dialogue. U of T News spoke with Carolina de Miguel Moyer, assistant professor of political science at U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science and an expert on the region. The full article is available here.

A follow up to this article was published on October 27th in U of T News.