Break-Up of the Spain and the EU? Nationalism on the Rise in Europe

According to local and international reports, the Catalonia region of Spain will official secede from Spain and become its own country. Unbeknownst to world observers, Catalonia has a long-standing culture and has desired independence for centuries. The most brutal attempt to suppress and end the push for Catalonian identity occurred during the repressive Franco regime, in which the fascist dictator took every violent measure possible to remove any trace of Catalonian identity, culture, and politics.

Those moves only intensified the drive for the country to break away from Spain and form a full autonomous state. Despite somewhat recent reforms to grant Catalonia and other regions in the country, Catalonia was paying more than its fair share of the taxes, while picking up the tab for the rest of the country.

The latest plebiscite to determine Catalonian views on self-determination took place this past week. With 42% of the population casting ballots, 90% want to become independent of Spain.

They have their rich history. They have a rich culture, their own language, and they do not want to answer to Madrid anymore. Instead of respecting the interest of self-governance, the Spanish government, with aggressive police measures, attempted to shut down and prevent the "illegal" independence vote.

The political class (especially the more liberal political parties) do not want to lose Catalonia. The Eureopean Union leaders do not want regional separatism to gain traction, either, since these moves further undermine the whole globalist project.

To the chagrin of the anti-nationalist progressives, this nationalism train is already out of the station, and there is nothing to be done that will stop this. If nation states like Spain resort to military intervention, expect more nation-states to agitate for freedom and further erosion of the entire EU experiment.

Here is a list of other regions opting for independence from larger European nations, too:

Eyeing more independence in the EU

- Scotland, Britain -

An historic 2014 referendum on leaving the United Kingdom shook the country to the core and resulted in a narrow 55 percent vote against a split.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, head of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, wants a second referendum once the outlines of the deal for Britain's exit from the European Union become clear.

Scotland, home to 5.2 million people, has been semi-autonomous since 1998 with a devolved parliament that handles matters of education, health, environment and justice, while diplomacy and defence remain the domain of London.

- Flanders, Belgium -

Born in 1830 as an independent state to act as a buffer between France and Germany, Belgium is an uneasy mix of a Flemish-speaking, conservative north and a French, left-leaning south.

With Flemish nationalist sentiment more powerful than ever, the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has emerged as the biggest party in the country and a key partner in the coalition government.

- Basques, Spain -

The separatist group ETA was founded in 1959 to promote the culture of the Basque region straddling the French-Spanish border but veered into a violent independence campaign blamed for 829 deaths.

The group carried out its last attack in 2010 and disarmed in April this year.

- Corsica, France -

The Mediterranean island of 330,000 people is a part of France with its own language and a troubled history.

The separatist National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) ended its armed struggle in June 2014 in favour of a political process and since 2015 nationalists have been leading the island's assembly.

Corsica today has a special administrative status that grants its certain powers and retains a strong sense of autonomy.

On September 22 the Corsica assembly underlined "the indisputable legitimacy of the government of Catalonia".

- Faroe Islands, Denmark -

Denmark's Faroe Islands, home to 48,000 people, will hold a referendum in April 2018 on a new constitution that would grant self-determination.

The islands have been autonomous since 1948, although foreign affairs and defence are still the domain of Copenhagen.

- Lombardy and Veneto, Italy -

These wealthy regions in northern Italy are to hold non-binding consultative referendums on October 22 to ask voters if they favour more autonomy from Rome.

Politicians in Lombardy and Veneto, which together account for nearly a third of Italy's economy, are fighting for a bigger share of tax income and, in some cases, for secession.