! Spanish News Today - Catalan Independence Could Include Valencia And The Balearics

The movement for the independence of Catalunya has been occupying the headlines in the Spanish news for much of the last few years, with calls for a referendum growing in strength and frequency as Catalan politicians pressurize the national government in the hope of obtaining concessions, but the latest statement by one of the parties involved marks a new twist in the demands being made.

The ERC (Republican Left of Catalunya) party has issued a policy document in which the point of view stated is that the independence movement should include not only the Spanish region of Catalunya but also the Comunitat Valenciana, the Balearics, part of Aragón, various southern French “départements” and Andorra. This collection of territories would then form a “Catalan nation”, according to the statement.

The reasoning of the ERC is that over the centuries the “Catalan nation” has been progressively dismembered, and that control over Catalan areas has been divided among other political powers. It is the view of the party that all of these areas ought to be reunited by secession from the central governments of Spain and France while maintaining membership of the European Union. In this way, the policy document concludes, the effects of “over 300 years of oppression” by the Spanish and French States can be reversed.

It remains to be seen whether CiU, the main party fighting for an independence referendum and the one which currently holds power in the regional parliament, will incorporate the ERC view into its policy in future.In the 2011 general election the ERC received over a quarter of a million votes and was the fifth most popular party in Catalunya, while in the regional elections of the following year the vote rose to almost 500,000, second only behind CiU.

Image: Spanish and Catalan flags. Copyrighted.