What if Catalonia becomes independent? (areas, best, people, pay)

[Warszawa]

The bright side about all of this, now that Catalunya has left, Real Madrid can say they're the best team in Spain once again


Catalunya was never really Spanish. It's time to accept defeat imo

[irish_bob]

seems a great shame that catalonia wishes to break away but how stupid is the madrid government with their police brutality actions over the weekend ? , a sure fire way to bring people out in support of an independence vote

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by pigeonhole

60% of the citizens of Catalonia didn't take part in that illegal referendum. So those who pretend that the eventual proclamation of a "republic of Catalonia" is legitimate are not democrats.

And there are widespread allegation of electoral fraud for those who did vote:

[Jourennacht]

Look Catalonians are better at business and make more money. Sorry, rest of Spain, but it's true.

Why should Catalonia give all their money to Madrid? It's their f*&$ing money!

Rest of Spain, work harder, make more money, then maybe Catalonia would want to stay with you...

[Pokitobounto]

Originally Posted by Nebulosa

False, Catalonia receives much more money than sends back to Madrid, and the best at business are Madrid and the Basques, not Catalonia. So get your facts straight. and many major Spanish companies made their headquarters in Barcelona for the proximity to the other parts of Europe. Such as SEAT.

Your account is just to boast up Catalan independence, a brand new acc where half of the messages are on this thread, blaming Spain and lying about how great is Catalonia. Spanish forums are full of pro-independence trolls, wasn't rare to see them in International forums too.

Catalonia wants to stay with Spain as it was shown 2 days ago. The vote of 38% don't represent 100%. Fact.

Yes, like Macron is technically elected thanks to his first round = to 24% of the people that voted...with 23% that didn't vote. = 18.48%

Better!
He's president with 49.28 % of the population that voted for him, because he had 66.1% of the votes with 25.5% of people that didn't vote for the second round...
Trump is also elected by a minority.

I blame people that didn't move to vote "no".

"Qui ne dit mot consent"? (silence gives consent)

[thelogo]

I gave the same explanation to another person who argued that the referendum isn't valid because most people didn't vote.
Stupid argument, but you can't blame them, they can only accept what their leaders say is democratic. In other words, select a few people to do what they please, but when it comes to deciding on what to actually do other than selecting people they say it's undemocratic.

I'm going to repeat what I have said. Having said the above, I am not pro-independence. The majority can be wrong, in fact they usually are.

[Pokitobounto]

I will translate this little article from Les Echos, my favorite newspaper . It's in general a good source.

Here is the original, written by Alexandre Rousset:
https://www.lesechos.fr/monde/europe...ne-2118851.php

It's bad translating (google + adjustments) but better than french :

"What would Spain look like without Catalonia ?

Population, surface, economy... portrait of a Spain that would lose its richest region

That's a divorce, so far fictive, that would be painfull. After the victory of the "yes" on the referendum for the independance of Catalonia last Sunday, the separatists are demanding the creation of an independent state. A scenario, still hypothetical, that would completely change the configuration of the Kingdom. Portrait of a Spain amputated of its richest region.



-A country smaller than Sweden-

Fifth most populated country in Europe with 46.5 million inhabitants, Spain would lose 16% of its population after the departure of 7.5 million of catalan. This new Spain would weight the same than Poland.

The surface loss would be less impressive but still significant. With a territory equals to 506.000 km², Spain is the second biggest (idk if that's the word lol) country in European Union, after France. Without the 32000km² of Catalonia, 6.3% of its territory, Spain would be now smaller than Sweden.


-From the 13rd place to the 16th place for the ranking of nominal GDP-

Today's 13rd economic power in the world with a nominal GDP equals to 1114 billion euros in 2016, Spain would claim only 902 billion of them without Catalonia. The region is indeed the richest in Spain, just ahead of the Community of Madrid, with a GDP of 212 billion euros. That is to say, to a few billion, the equivalent of that of Portugal or Greece.



Five of the largest companies lost

Out of the 20 largest Spanish companies, five have their headquarters in Catalonia: La Caixa, Spain's third-largest bank, private bank Banco Sabadell, Abertis highway manager, present in Europe (notably in France through Sanef) and in South America; the gas and electricity giant Fenosa and the pharmaceutical company Grifols. (ofc they could move to Madrid...if they want to)
In Barcelona, there are also big names in fashion, including Mango, and luxury with the perfumer Puig (Paco Rabanne, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Nina Ricci, etc.).


25% less tourists

Third world tourist destination (behind France and the United States) with 75.3 million visitors in 2016, Spain would lose one of its most dynamic sector with the split of Catalonia.

The region attracts 18 million tourists each year thanks to its capital, Barcelona and to the beaches of the Costa Brava.


Madrid, only major airport

With the departure of Catalonia, Spain will lose its second airport in terms of passenger traffic: Barcelona-El Prat airport and its 44 million passengers in 2016 (against 50 million for Madrid-Barajas airport).

In the maritime sector, Spain would separate from its third commercial port. But with about 2.2 million containers received and shipped in 2016, the port of Barcelona remains far behind the ports of Algeciras, Andalusia, and Valencia, which saw passing 4.7 million containers each in the same year.


A football championship without Barcelona

This may seem anecdotal, but football is an important part of Catalan identity and Iberian sport. By 2014 already, the Spanish league had threatened to exclude the Catalan clubs in case of declaration of independence of the region.

Currently, out of the 20 teams competing in the Spanish championship, three are Catalan: Girona FC, Espanyol Barcelona and, therefore, FC Barcelona, one of the most popular clubs in the world, which plays a major role in the international the city and the country.


Few figures that show that in no way Catalonia must leave Spain. That would hurt a lot, everyone, even outside the frontiers...

[Bluefox]

It's jealous of Andorra.

[Novosibirsk]

Recommended article: The Catalan independence referendum is a smokescreen for other issues | The Independent

I strongly agree with that. Spain built up Catalonia and i'm aware that Franco's regime installed most of the industry near Barcelona. The independence is nothing more than a smoke curtain for heavy corruption cases in the regional govt of Catalonia. This last sunday less than 40% voted yes for the independence, while polls were expecting a 41-42% yes. It's an important number of people, but the vast majority of Catalans don't want the independence from Spain.

A big support from Germany to Spain and Catalonia. Catalunia es Espana !!!

[Jourennacht]

Originally Posted by Nebulosa

Catalonia wants to stay with Spain as it was shown 2 days ago. The vote of 38% don't represent 100%. Fact. In HDI, Catalonia is barely the 9th region of Spain out of 17. So stop lying, although it's what your regional government always does and brainwashes many like you. You can't fool anyone here except for you, as we can do a quick search in the Internet to prove you wrong.

Like the article from Les Echos says, Catalunya is 16.1% of population of Spain, but 19% of GDP. Thus, per capita they do better than average for Spanish regions.

And perhaps Catalonia is planning something bigger than anyone can even dream involving Northern Catalonia? Pay attention, Macron...