The shit in Spain falls mainly in the fan

[Richard Hakluyt]

It is very worrying. I think the separatists have played their cards well (leaving morality aside of course).

[Tamas]

It is very worrying. I think the separatists have played their cards well (leaving morality aside of course).

Do you think their Scottish counterparts are taking notes?

[Josquius]

The Spanish government is really doing their best to get a leave vote aren't they with all this trying to stop the thing even happening.

[Richard Hakluyt]

It is very worrying. I think the separatists have played their cards well (leaving morality aside of course).

Do you think their Scottish counterparts are taking notes?

They are on the back foot at the moment. I think the SNP annoyed a number of lukewarm supporters by pressing for a referendum just two years after the last one. There are a number of Scots who would "quite like" to be independent but it is not a constant burning issue for them. Meanwhile the formerly superior Scottish educational system now underperforms England's......on the SNP's watch; the SNP is starting to be judged on its incumbency. I think we have dodged that particular bullet for the foreseeable future.

[Josquius]

The SNP look set for a split between the right nationalists (anti EU and anti UK) and the left nationals (pro eu and and Uk) IMO.
Scottish independence has become very tied to avoiding brexit. Which has won some support, though lost a lot more in marginals.

[Liep]

I'm going full Tim today. The atmosphere is really heated and I can't see this ending without - at least - street violence.

I agree, Spain needs to cool the fuck down. Seeking refuge from the blistering sun in a restaurant somewhere south of Córdoba right now.

[Duque de Bragança]

Dude needs to work on his Spanish.  That's not even close.

[Gups]

It is very worrying. I think the separatists have played their cards well (leaving morality aside of course).

Do you think their Scottish counterparts are taking notes?

It's a bit harder for them when they've already had a referendum and nobody (not even the SNP) wants another one.

Spanish Govt really seems to be doing its level best to encourage the separatists.

[Valmy]

I thought Madrid was on the right track before they arrested the separatist politicians. I mean you might as well be secretly a separatist if you are going to do something with such a proven track record of failure. The British government would be rocking along with basic support in Ireland and then blow everything to shit by doing something heavy handed like this in the past and we saw how wonderfully that turned out.

It still might work out but they needed to let cooler heads prevail here.

[Tamas]

I thought Madrid was on the right track before they arrested the separatist politicians. I mean you might as well be secretly a separatist if you are going to do something with such a proven track record of failure. The British government would be rocking along with basic support in Ireland and then blow everything to shit by doing something heavy handed like this in the past and we saw how wonderfully that turned out.

It still might work out but they needed to let cooler heads prevail here.

Yeah, I just don't get it. They really expect this to go away by locking up the leaders? Is that how they wish to solve the issue? The only more surreal than an independence movement in today's western Europe is a police crackdown on it.

[celedhring]

The leaders weren't locked up, they just arrested the underlings that were most directly involved in organizing the referendum. The highest ranking person arrested is the equivalent of an undersecretary or deputy minister (of the regional government).

It was ordered by the court, although the judge who did it has a reputation of being prison-happy.
I think it was a fatally dumb move. You can't apply justice selectively, but surely this could have been more quietly dealt with after the referendum date. Madrid had been focused on seizing materials/blocking expenditure until now, trying to make the logistics of the referendum unfeasible.

Tempers are running really hot now. The 10 next days are going to be very, very long.

[Valmy]

Ah well it is not as bad as I originally thought.

Still stupid though.

[Barrister]

I agree - the surest way to guarantee Catalan independence is to tell Catalans they don't even get to decide whether or not to be independent.

[Iormlund]

The thing is, they don't.

Unless they a) convince the rest of us to change the Constitution and split amicably. Or b) start a war and win it.

[celedhring]

A small moment of levity.

The Spanish government has sent 5,000 additional policemen to Catalonia in advance of the referendum. Thing is, there aren't enough quarters available to host such a surge. So they went and chartered 3 passenger ships, which are now moored in Barcelona harbor.

This, is one of them: