Should Spain pay homage to Catalonia?

Things have just been escalated by the Rajoy Government in Madrid. Catalan regional autonomy has been suspended and direct rule imposed. It's like the US federal government suspending the legislature of a major state. Nothing like this has happened in modern times.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/22/spain-calls-on-catalans-to-respect-decision-to-impose-direct-rule

My own view is that I support the Catalan's right to have a referendum on grounds of democracy and self determination, even though I think Catalan independence would be a bad idea. This is an autocratic decision by Rajoy. It's legal within the Spanish constitution but that is not the point. There is no good defence for it on ethical grounds and it will make a difficult situation worse.

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bijouxbroussard · F

I’m still trying to educate myself on that situation before deciding what I think. I know how I’ve felt when someone with no understanding of my country’s history or political contradictions wades in and offers an oversimplified “opinion”. So I’m trying not to do that. My knee jerk reaction is that if a majority of Catalans want to separate from Spain, why not ? But these things are [b]never[/b] as simple as they look from the outside. 🤔

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@bijouxbroussard I'm with you on that all I really have is an instinct to side with the underdog. But not many people are writing on why Catalan wants to separate.