It was the option that had long been threatened, but few people imagined that the Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, would actually have the guts to follow it through.
A few weeks ago, when I stood outside the parliament building in Barcelona after Puigdemont had apparently backed away from the brink, the mood was despondent as thousands of separatists, wrapped in Catalan flags, saw their dreams going up in smoke. Today, however, they were punching the air and partying after Catalonia’s regional parliament voted to declare independence following the referendum earlier this month, in defiance of the consistently aggressive dialogue from Madrid.
But their jubilation may very well be short-lived. There are now real fears that the Spanish government, which presided over the brutal suppression of Catalonia’s illegal referendum that made the world gasp in alarm, will respond even more forcefully this time.
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