Spain to remain silent on Scottish issue

Many Catalans want independence from Spain

This year could become the year in which the wheels are set in motion for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, with a referendum on Scottish independence scheduled for September.

Among the many arguments against this happening, it has often been cited that other regions in Europe may see it as the green light they need to pursue independence from their own countries…

One of those regions is Catalonia in Spain, which has long harboured vocal secessionist supporters keen on forming an independent Catalonia. Spain has always erected numerous hurdles to deter this from actually coming to pass, but there is widespread sentiment across Europe that should Scotland choose to go it alone, Spain would have little choice but to grant Catalonia the vote to decide its own future.

Hence, there have been rumblings that Spain would look to interfere with Scotland’s own referendum vote, such as blocking access to the European Union, if the country did become independent.

However, Spain’s foreign minister has this week moved to confirm that the country has no intention of interfering with Scotland’s referendum, stating that they would happily consider any Scottish application to join the EU as an independent nation.

“If Scotland becomes independent in accordance with the legal and institutional procedures, it will ask for admission to the EU,” confirmed José-Manuel García-Margallo in an interview with the Financial Times. “If that process has indeed been legal, that request can be considered. If not, then not.”

The minister went on to stress that the case for Catalonia was “fundamentally different” to that being put forward by Spain, adding that Madrid will resist Catalan plans to hold a shotgun referendum in November – two months after Scotland’s.

“We don’t interfere in other countries’ internal affairs,” continued García-Margallo. “If Britain’s constitutional order allows – and it seems that it does allow – Scotland to choose independence, we have nothing to say about this.”

With the UK government already stating that it would be willing to work constructively with Scotland in transitioning to independence should the people vote for it, García-Margallo did however issue a word of caution to Scotland, saying that an independent Scotland would have to “wait in line and ask for permission” to join the EU – a process that will take time and will surely not be in place by March 24, 2016, which is the date at which Scotland would officially become independent.

“They have to resolve a mountain of problems, as Better Together has explained very well,” added García-Margallo. “You have to achieve candidate status. You have to negotiate 35 chapters. It has to be ratified by the institutions of the EU. It then has to be ratified by 28 national parliaments.”

Such political hoops would not be enough to deter Catalonia, which is angling for a breakaway from Spain on the basis that it believes its economy is robust enough to thrive alone, and that its own cultural identity is far-removed from Spain’s. Should Catalonia be granted a referendum, then the ‘yes’ vote would almost certainly win with a landslide. For Scotland the vote is much closer, but the unionists – those who would want to remain in the United Kingdom – currently outnumber the secessionists.

If, after undergoing a wholly democratic process, the Scots vote to remain part of the UK, then Spain could well be encouraged by such a result, which could help dampen secessionist feelings in parts of Catalonia.

Should Scotland decide to go it alone, though, then that could open up a potentially combustible can of worms for Spain’s politicians. García-Margallo does not see it that way, warning Catalan leaders not to pursue a unilateral declaration of independence. “A state born through a unilateral declaration of independence would have no international recognition whatsoever,” he said. “It would be absolutely isolated in the concert of nations. Such a state would not have access to the United Nations system, or to the World Bank or the IMF.”