Catalonia votes on autonomy plan

[Jacobtm]

If Catalonians aren't happy with their position in Spain, then by all means they should govern themselves. I can never understand why people have to deal with so much BS to set up their own new government...

It's really noble that Zapatero isn't going nuts over this, even though he'll lose support in the Spanish parliament if Catalonia full secedes.

[Jacobtm]

It's really noble that Zapatero isn't going nuts over this, even though he'll lose support in the Spanish parliament if Catalonia full secedes.

Is Catalonia center-left on the national level?  I always thought it was generally conservative, with the most recent local elections being an exception to the general rule.  But I could be wrong.

I'm no expert on Spanish demographics, but in reading an article in The Economist, it was said that it was foolish for Zapatero to sign off on Catalan independence, since Catalonia sends Socialists to the Spanish Parliament that he relies on to keep his coalition in power. It's foolish if he's power-hungry, but it's great if he respects peoples wishes.

[Jacobtm]

Thanks, Jacobtm.  I was confusing Catalonia with Galicia at the northwest (as opposed to northeast) end of the country.  Galicia seems to be quite conservative on the national level, while Catalonia did indeed support Zapatero in the 2004 election and may generally elect Socialists to the Congress of Deputies.  I agree that it would be noble for Zapatero to let Catalonia seceed from Spain, but autonomy and secession of course are not the same thing.  Will the plan agreed to in the latest referrendum result in Catalonia voters having less of a voice in the Spanish parliament (whether through fewer members in parliament or what - I'm pretty sure the Chamber of Deputies is not elected by first past the post, but if the proportional representation is done by a region-by-region basis you could reduce the influence of voters in an autonomous region by reducing the number of members elected from that region)?  That could hurt Zapatero, but Catalonia merely gaining increased autonomy while retaining its citizens' current influence in the Spanish central government wouldn't hurt the party those citizens tend to support unless and until the region actually seceeds or otherwise loses all or some of it's representation in the Spanish parliament.

Yeah, you're right. The article I was referencing was from quite some time ago when the proposal was not in its current form. It was up in the air whether or not it would be more autonomy or full secession. The Economist was just saying that Zapatero supporting these guys could backfire if they did get the votes to secede.