Two narrativesThe hegemonic narrative will tell you that Catalonia has been oppressed by a central state for centuries, a state that treats it as a colony. This is no less than a de facto unilateral declaration of independence for Catalonia. But instead of acknowledging this fact, they declared the vote to be a historical achievement demonstrating the overwhelming will for independence of the Catalan people. ‘Either a referendum or a referendum’, has been the mantra of the Catalan president so far. This is, unfortunately, just another example of the old story of 'Us' versus 'Them', now being revisited – be it under the guise of Scots versus English, British versus Europeans, Americans versus Mexicans, Catalans versus Spaniards.

Source: The Local September 22, 2017 08:26 UTC