Juan-José López Burniol, 24 August 2024
Image: Xavier Cervera
I’m sorry to insist. I only claim that my thesis – that Spain admits, for its own benefit, the self-determination of the “historical nations” – should be considered, given the seriousness of the situation, even if it is to oppose it. I am trying to clarify some points:
1- A friend whose judgment I value writes this to me, after reading my last article: “From your article, just a small (big) nuance to the last paragraph: the right to decide is for everyone.” My answer: of course, all the Spanish people are the holders of national sovereignty and, therefore, have the right to decide whether or not to grant Catalan citizens the right to self-determination of Catalonia. And my position is clear: the Spanish must make this self-determination possible, in their own interest, which requires a constitutional reform. That is where and when the Spanish would decide.
There is no solidarity possible when the sense of belonging to Spain is very weak
This constitutional reform should be used –in my opinion– to deeply reform the Senate, turning it into a territorial decision-making chamber within the framework of a federal State of which the current autonomous State is a comparable precedent. And, among the new powers of this renovated Senate, there should be the approval or rejection of the successive and periodic agreements signed by the central Government and the governments of Euskadi and Navarre, within the framework of their respective Agreements and Conventions. In this way, a federal (participatory) nature would be given to what until now are, certainly, confederal relations.
It is obvious that this reform can be rejected by Euskadi and Navarre. They would be within their rights. But the alternative should not be to accommodate the Constitution to their demands, but to leave the door open for their citizens to exercise the right of self-determination. Neither the Spanish can impose their recipe on the Basques and Navarrese, nor the latter on the former.
2. It is common to approach the Catalonia-Spain dispute as a mere financial issue. This is a mistake that Catalan corporations and economic entities, as well as part of the Catalan business community, often make, always with strong media support. But the issue goes much further. The crux of the matter is that, in the “historical nations”, and specifically in Catalonia, the sense of belonging to a nation that is denied – Spain – is very weak, replacing it with the State that legally articulates it: the Spanish State. The consequence is obvious: if there is no sense of belonging to the nation, there is no affectio societatis, and, if there is no affectio societatis, there is no possible solidarity. Hence, today there is so much insistence on plurinationality as a justification for bilateral or singular relations, in order to escape from the federal State, since this is still a variety of the unitary State, since there are some matters in which the general interest of the federal State prevails over the particular interest of each of the federated states. Consequently, it is as wrong to think that the Catalan claim will be satisfied with “the key to the box” as it is to believe that the Spanish will swallow everything as long as the Catalan contribution to the solidarity fund arrives. This is not the case.
Plurinationality as a justification for bilateral or singular relations,
3. Perhaps if the history of Spain had been different, a reasonable solution for everyone could have been articulated. But today it is too late: serious things have happened, and loud words have been said. The situation has become so poisoned that there is no other option but to face it with realism and courage. It is not enough to appeal to the principle of legality – that the law be enforced! – when it has been violated for years and judges and courts have been scornfully disqualified. Legality has already been broken by everyone, including those politicians who, by reason of their position and both in Barcelona and Madrid, were most obliged to respect and enforce it. For this reason, in this situation, there is no other way out than to appeal to the democratic principle and submit the decision of the conflict to the verdict of the ballot boxes. Hence my insistence that: 1. The Spanish people must make possible the self-determination of the “historic nation” that claims to want to leave. 2. The “historic nation” that determines itself will have to submit, if it does not opt for independence, to the common regime of the current federal State, without any new singularity.
I know that this will seem excessive to the well-meaning, who always dream of a fix. There will be no such thing, but impotence and uproar. For everyone.
https://www.lavanguardia.com/opinion/20240824/9887672/cuestion-dinero.html
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