Opinió
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Alfred Bosch: 'Gibraltar, per a Espanya, és com Catalunya'
Alfred Bosch
13.08.2013
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Manel Alves: 'Necessitem 70.000 persones per omplir les Terres de l'Ebre'
Manel Alves
09.08.2013
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Què implica prorrogar els pressuposts?
Elisenda Paluzie
07.08.2013
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Maria Antònia Font: 'Bauzá vol infondre la por entre el professorat'
Maria Antònia Font
01.08.2013
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Joan Joan: 'Veig cendra, silenci i pedres'
Joan Joan
30.07.2013
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Jordi Bilbeny: 'Universitat Nova Història: un espai per a recuperar la història i la dignitat'
Jordi Bilbeny
29.07.2013
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Lengua Viua: 'Cau contunhar persutant tà qu’er usatge der aranés sigue present ena vida vidanta dera gent'
Lengua Viua
28.07.2013
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Tretze federacions de països no independents al Mundial de Natació. I Catalunya?
Albert Bertrana
22.07.2013
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Eugeni Casanova: Que enviïn algun tanc, per favor
Eugeni Casanova
18.07.2013
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RTVV: la penúltima desfeta del País Valencià
Amàlia Garrigós
16.07.2013
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Salvador Cardús: Una candidatura excepcional per a una oportunitat única
Salvador Cardús
11.07.2013
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Dels nervis i les tupades del 1992 a l'emoció i la comunió del 2013
Tomeu Martí
04.07.2013
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Odei A.-Etxearte: Sóc de 'Santako', no imbècil
Odei A.-Etxearte
03.07.2013
Liz Castro
07.03.2014
It's not the F-word, or identity politics, that's the problem, it's the BS
David Gardner's article in the Financial Times this morning gives a good background for the secessionist movement in Catalonia, and suggests federalism is a possible answer, despite the reticence of the Spanish (and British) governments. He writes, 'The eventual answer to this problem does not have to be either separatism or unionism (monarchy is a secondary issue). It could as well be a creative form of federalism, even though federalism as a word, let alone a formula, sends semantic shivers up the political spine of both countries.'
Gardner describes a 'curious reluctance' to discuss federalism, even as he describes the seismic event that has triggered the surge in Catalan pro-independence: the Spanish Constitutional Court's evisceration of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, passed in a popular referendum and in both the Catalan and Spanish parliaments. The Statute of Autonomy was Catalonia's best effort at federalism and the Spanish government spit in its face.
But Gardner gets it wrong when he says 'identity politics… catches anyone suggesting federal solutions in its crossfire'. It is not identity politics that has undermined federalism's credibility, but the clear lack of traction that any pro-federalist proposals get in Spain. We have heard multiple times how PSC (Catalan Socialist Party) is negotiating a federalist option with their PSOE counterparts in Madrid that will serve the 'special needs' of Catalonia, only to have the PSOE leadership debunk those assertions within hours. Or PSOE promises a nebulous federalist reform of the Constitution which it knows it could never get through Congress. PSC's implosion—as dissenters speak up and desert the party almost daily—is not due to a conflict about Catalanism, but to the PSC's obvious and growing impotence.
That no one is considering real federalism in Spain is a question of wanting to hold onto the reins of power and the economic benefits thereof. That no one is considering real federalism in Catalonia is because they are tired of talk of unicorns and rainbows.
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Liz Castro is coordinator of VilaWeb's English edition.
Editorial
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La manera de guanyar importa
Vicent Partal
27.07.2015
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La fi de Pujol i la fi de la Catalunya autònoma
Vicent Partal
25.07.2015
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7 contra 155?
Vicent Partal
24.07.2015
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El 155 o l'evidència de la desesperació
Vicent Partal
23.07.2015
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Rajoy i els conceptes més elementals
Vicent Partal
22.07.2015
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Anem a totes
Vicent Partal
21.07.2015
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Ciutadans contra el(s) valencià(ns)
Vicent Partal
20.07.2015
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Contra la revolució
Vicent Partal
17.07.2015
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Les tres explicacions que no entendran mai
Vicent Partal
16.07.2015
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Setanta-cinc dies per a treballar tots com bojos
Vicent Partal
15.07.2015
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Bones vibracions…
Vicent Partal
14.07.2015
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Turbulències, també a Podem
Vicent Partal
13.07.2015
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Lleida és un gran exemple
Vicent Partal
10.07.2015
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I ara un parell de preguntes
Vicent Partal
09.07.2015
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Entre Irlanda i la CUP
Vicent Partal
08.07.2015
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(In)justícies
Vicent Partal
07.07.2015
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La democràcia té límits?
Vicent Partal
06.07.2015
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Persistència per a guanyar
Vicent Partal
05.07.2015
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Sumar
Vicent Partal
03.07.2015
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L’embolic d’Iceta amb el 9-N
Vicent Partal
02.07.2015
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Contra la 'llei mordassa'
Vicent Partal
01.07.2015
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Europa, en perill
Vicent Partal
30.06.2015
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A les vostres mans
Vicent Partal
29.06.2015
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La trampa
Vicent Partal
26.06.2015
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El retorn de la Generalitat
Vicent Partal
25.06.2015