Prominent personalities in Spain, including Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian-born Nobel prize-winning author, and Albert Boadella, a theatre director, have introduced an initiative that aims to engage all Spaniards in the debate over Catalan independence.
Inspired by Better Together, the campaign against Scottish independence backed by JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, and the former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Libres e Iguales (Free and Equal) presented its manifesto on Tuesday on the steps of the Spanish parliament. It urged politicians to ensure all Spaniards have an equal say in the measures taken to deal with the growing drive for independence in the wealthy north-eastern region.
The initiative, which began with 50 professionals from the world of politics, the unions and the cultural sector, sprang from the observation that much of the debate has been centred in Catalonia, said Arcadi Espada, a Catalan journalist. "We want it to be a Spanish discussion. There is a possibility that … our country could lose 20% of its territory and its people. This is something that affects all Spaniards, you can't deny them the right to decide."
Polls show a strong majority of Catalonia's 7.5 million residents would like an independence referendum, but those who would vote to break away from Spain hovers around half. Polls taken across Spain consistently show that the majority of Spaniards are against independence.
Just hours after its online launch, the Libres e Iguales manifesto had gathered more than five hundred signatures. "We don't want to be a political party, we don't aspire to have any kind of political power. We want to be a civil lobby group that contextualises the debate over this question in Spain," said Espada. The group is planning a series of events across the country.
A demonstration is being planned in Madrid on 11 September, the national day of Catalonia, he said, to counter the show of force expected by Catalan nationalists in Barcelona.The Libres e Iguales platform also rejects any push by Catalonia to hold a planned referendum in November, echoing Madrid in calling it "unconstitutional."
After Spain's parliament voted overwhelmingly in April to reject a request by the region to hold a referendum on independence, Catalan leaders said they will pass a law to allow the region to hold its own non-binding consultation on independence.
After months of political stalemate, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, and Catalan leader, Artur Mas, agreed last week to a meeting. Days after the announcement, Libres e Iguales called on Spanish politicians to "apply the law to its full effect and clearly warn of the consequences of violating it," in their manifesto. They urged them to reject any negotiation with Catalonia that would limit the sovereignty of Spanish citizens and agree to put any constitutional changes to a cross-country referendum. Spain's political parties must avoid "the defeat of Spanish democracy," they insisted.
