Accessibility help Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

The Catalonia question

Opinion Focus: The October 1 independence referendum in Catalonia has plunged Spain into a constitutional crisis, threatening to undermine the post-Franco settlement. Here is the best of our comment and analysis

Sovereignty and self-determination collide in Catalonia
Catalans cannot vote to secede without affecting Spanish citizens elsewhere
The Catalan crisis poses a threat to the European order
The nationalists’ push for independence risks opening a Pandora’s box of problems
Talks are the only way to solve the crisis in Catalonia
Experience shows both sides are more likely to agree if a third party is involved
Catalan separatists must step back from the brink
Dialogue, not a declaration of independence, is paramount
The fraught right to self-determination
Catalans have brought questions of identity and cohesion to the world’s attention
Force is not the answer in Catalonia
Allowing an independence referendum need not mean making separation easy
Catalonia’s road towards secession has complex roots
An existential crisis was sparked by declining role in Spanish politics
Solution to Catalonia crisis can only come from inside Spain
Helping Madrid and the separatists step back from the brink is not a job for the EU