Why Separatists are on the Rise in Spain

CORRECTION: At 3:05, we describe Francina Armengol as a Catalan native. As commenters have pointed out, this isn't quite correct - she is in fact from the Balearic Islands, where Catalan is widely spoken. Apologies for this sloppy error, and we hope you nonetheless enjoyed the video.

“I am firmly convinced that Spain is the strongest country of the world, Century after century trying to destroy herself and still no success”

"Here lies half of Spain, it was killed by the other half." - Mariano José de Larra (1836)

Worry about tldr's increasing reliance on clickbait title images

This episode is seriously behind the times. We got home 🇨🇵 from Girona in Catalonia yesterday and follow the Spanish and Catalan press. The wave of separatism surrounding the referendum (and its aftermath) has passed, and the flavour of the moment is "increased autonomy within Spain".

Catalan separatists being called "junts" or together is very ironic 😂

Guys, what happened here? Usually your analysis might not be ultra-depth, but are right. In this case, though, there are quite a lot of failures. From Catalonia part: Armengol is from Mallorca, not Catalonia. The referendum thing is usual election talk, but no formal initiative had been taken (nor will be, because support for separation in Catalonia is in historical minimum and separatist know they will lose it. Maybe when the right wing is in government they have a chance), and Puigdemont have as much a chance of being president of the Generalitat as Richard Tice to be PM. BTW: the only party bringing the immigration to the forefront is Junts, being very right wing as they are. The government will be of Socialist party with support of ERC, and that is already well known unless something really big happens. About the Basques: EHBildu is not an "offshot of ETA". Some parties in the coalition (particularly EH) were. Look, politics in Spain is not chaotic, is just complicated. There are more axis than just left-right, like the unitarian-plurinational. And autonomic parties move also in a gradient between autonomism and separatism. So, when an analysis this in depth is done, you need a bit more expertais, and also consult a lot of sources, because many things are heavily polarized. Some of this polarization have filtered in your analysis and it shows.

Just one thing, Francina Armengol is not Catalan she is from the Balearic Islands. Another’s key issue, the support to make Sanchez prime minister does not include support for budgets

As a Portuguese citizen I wish everything goes well for Spain although I'm not exactly certain what going well would be.

Short answer: No Long Answer:

Separatism is on the rise? Really? Catalan separatist parties are polling lower today than the results they got in the 2021 regional elections. For the first time in decades the nationalists might not get a majority in the Catalan parliament. How on Earth is that a rise?

The real deal is not actually independence, but having a fiscal superiority compared to the rest of Spain, since these regions have always benefited from less fiscal pressure in order to attract foreign investment and industry, thus creating a feedback loop in which they have been the only ones to get richer, in detriment of the rest of Spain. Now that that reversed due to the instability brought upon by the referendum and the displacement of investment to Madrid and other regions (that have a more liberal tax code than Cataluña), they are complaining even more, and demanding special treatment. Last year Cataluña got 70.000 million € in debt pardoned as part of basically blackmail to keep Sanchez in power. About the Basque Country, it is well known that the roots of the Basque movement for independence lie in a supremacist and racist idea of the rest of Spain (look up Sabino Arana), which was later followed by the terrorists from ETA, many of whom have a voice in parliament now. It is disgusting. The real question is how long it will take for the rest of Spain to be fed up, not them. Obviously it is far more complex, with the oppression of languages during the dictatorship and all. But it is undeniable that they have received more care and attention than the rest of Spain. In the end, it all comes down to the education and ideals passed down through the extremely manipulated educational system, that each community controls, with 0 centralization. The real beneficiaries of these movements are the politicians, the rest of us (all of us) would only see downsides. It is also ridiculous since Spain is one of the most lenient and tolerant countries when it comes to the regional identities within. Imagine if the centralist iron fist of France was brought upon them. It is all a bunch on nonsense and hypocrisy in order to distract from the real problems haunting the country.

Spaniard here. Contrary what it might look actually the current situation is very stable. In Catalonia the independent movement is very much in declined. There are going to be elections for the catalonian party on May 12th and everything points that the nationalist parties are not going to get the majority in the parliament (first time in a decade). Plus, the 2 main catalonian parties (ERC and Junts) just can't stop fighting with each other and there is no way they will do a coalition. They rather join the PSE (catalonian PSOE). In the Basque country, both nationalist parties (Bildu and PNV) have made clear that they don't pursue independence but rather gaining more auto government.

“I am firmly convinced that Spain is the strongest country of the world. Century after century trying to destroy herself and still no success.” - Otto von Bismarck, addressing Spain's secessionist problem.

The islands (canary and balearic islands) we are not considered as part of Spain in the video 😢

It's worth noting that what is today the Basque Country is not what the Basque Nationalists claim to be the Basque Country. For both EHBildu and PNV the Basque Country is formed by all those territories which they consider ethnically Basque (and in their view, part of the Basque Nation): Basque Community, Navarre and the Pays Basque François. The independence of the Basque Community is not what EHBildu wants.

As other have commented, this video contains so many inaccuracies that you would do well in deleting it and either making a new one or focusing on topics you know better about. Something that has not been so pointed out is that separatist/nationalist parties in Catalonia have always won the majority of seats at the election and, for the first time, they may NOT do. So what rise is this?

I am surprised Tldr haven't made a single video on georgia

Spain has this problem, because it has always been tolerant of other cultures. You just have to look at France, it not only had Catalans and Basques, but also Corsican Bretons, etc. All eliminated from the roots, everything that was not like Paris eliminated. The problem is over.

I don't think that our mediterranean Brothers (italian here) Will be so stupid to risk leaving the EU. If catalonia, basque, canary, whatever ever leave Spain, they Will be blocked forever from joining the EU. What for? It seems to me that it's Just posturing