POLITICAL UNREST

Independence for Catalonia would sink Spain: minister

Gallardón says self-determination would not resolve the region’s economic problems Government argues sovereignty, street protests are damaging country’s image overseas

Miquel Noguer

Barcelona - Oct 08, 2012 - 19:59CEST

Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón said Monday that it would be a “mistake” to believe that greater autonomy for Catalonia would help it overcome its economic difficulties, and warned that if Spain’s richest region broke away from the rest of the country, Spain itself would become unviable.

If Catalonia were to secede, it would be immediately excluded from the European Union, which in turn would slap trade tariffs on Catalan exports, the minister said in a meeting with Catalan businessmen. It would also mean Spain could not continue in the euro zone. “The hypothetical independence of Catalonia would not mean taking Catalonia out of Spain, but rather it would do away with Spain, because Spain makes no sense without Catalonia,” Gallardón said.

Catalan premier Artur Mas has argued that Catalonia needs its own “structures of state.” He has said he will call a referendum on self-determination for the region, if his CiU center-right nationalist coalition wins the early elections he has called for November 25.

Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo on Monday also said the flying of a giant Catalan flag and chants in favor of independence during the derby soccer match on Friday between Barcelona and Real Madrid, along with street protests in the capital against the government’s austerity drive, were undermining Spain’s image abroad.

According to a report released Monday by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), a growing number of Spaniards are in favor of abandoning Spain’s system of regional government and instead wish to see powers return to central government.

The poll was carried out between September 3 and the 11^th of that month, the latter date seeing a massive street demonstration in favor of independence for Catalonia. It showed that 24.5 percent of those interviewed favored a return to centralism, up from 21.9 percent in July. The preferred option is for the country to stay as it is. Support for this arrangement rose to 30.8 percent from 29.4 percent.

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