Pluralist communication
OpenKat is a non-partisan and pluralist communication and debate platform opposed to every form of excluding nationalism, defending the rule of law and democracy in Catalonia, Spain and the European Union.
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Channel for opinions
OpenKat includes collaborators from Catalonia, the rest of Spain, Europe and the rest of the world, who share similar values. The aim is to provide a communication channel for opinions covering the entire political spectrum as long as they are respectful of the existing laws of Spain and the European Union, including those views which express the need to change the existing legal framework through established mechanisms.
Seek to contribute
OpenKat seeks to contribute to finding via consensus, the required long-term solutions to the challenges posed by the recent unilateralist behavior of the Catalan separatists; challenges which deeply impact Catalan and Spanish society and also bring disruption to the European Union.
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General Principles
OpenKat seeks to serve as an information channel aimed at international public opinion reflecting the pluralistic nature of Catalan society in particular and of Spain in general, as well as to highlight the existence of multiple answers to the Catalan stalemate stemming from within Catalonia, albeit respectful of the Spanish constitutional framework (including those which seek its reform).
Spain is one of the 10 most advanced democracies in the world according to international rankings by prestigious institutions. Spain is also one of the most decentralized states in the world in terms of the percentage of public spend under regional and local administrations.
Catalonia enjoys a very broad and intense level of self-government from both the political and the economic viewpoint. It manages up to 80% of public spend in its territory.
Catalonia´s parliament legislates in broad matters including: education, health, regional police, social assistance, public media (TV and radio), regional development and infrastructures. Parliamentary sessions are held in the Catalan language which is also the language of public education, whereas Spanish is relegated to being taught during 2 to 3 hours per week. Although there is room for reform an improvement within Catalonia as well as regarding the entire regional system in Spain, such an objective can be achieved through consensus following the mechanisms foreseen by the Catalan and Spanish constitutions.
OpenKat rejects categorically the slogan “Un Sol Poble” (One People) used by separatists trying to establish a distinction between “Good Catalans” (i.e. the secessionists) and “Bad Catalans” (i.e. the non-secessionists). Instead the main division existing today is not between Catalonia vs. Spain” but between Catalans themselves given that those who have not voted in favor of secession constitute a majority.
OpenKat seeks to help as both a debate and communication platform aiming to finding solutions to the present stalemate, including the sort of answers which could potentially require (or not) constitutional reforms at the Spanish level or alternatively only within the existing basic legal norm of the autonomous region of Catalonia (or “Estatut”). Such reforms in all cases would require the corresponding qualified majorities (in the Catalan parliament and in the Spanish Congress) depending on whether the objective is simply a more transparent and equitable financial system for Spain´s regions or a deeper reform aiming to convert Spain into a fully-fledged federal state similar to others in the western world.
OpenKat does not have a position on the aforementioned matter and only seeks to serve as a facilitator and communication channel for every potential alternative achieved via the required consensus at the Catalan and all-Spanish levels, within the framework provided by the Constitution.