The Catalan Parliament has voted for a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain. President Carles Puigdemont had toyed with taking the decision but in the end left it up to the legislature. It is now not a question of Madrid deposing him; it will have to shut down the whole operation.
Direct rule is all but inevitable. Madrid held out this nuclear option in the hope of dissuading the nationalists from taking the leap but the bluff has been called. After the scenes that greeted the October 1st referendum on independence, only an optimist would expect the Spanish imposition to be a bloodless affair. Most Catalans did not want to end up here — only 43 per cent of them turned out for the plebiscite — and will hope any period of direct rule is brief and peaceful. But tempers are frayed and there are true believers in the streets. Violence lurks nearby.
All this could have been avoided if Madrid had learned from the UK Government’s handling of Scottish independence.
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