Actually, IMHO a good thing about an independence referendum in the Basque Country and Catalonia would be to force PNV and CiU to stop sitting on the fence and being all things to all people regarding separatism.
But the Referenda would have to allow subsets of the respective regions to opt out of independence, too. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
This could be a reaction to Puerto Rica's always smoldering independence movement. Of course, the solution is a dose of reality as one PR native told us: "We don't want to starve to death."
http://www.topuertorico.org/government.shtml I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
And independence referendum would shut the PNV and CiU up, however what happens if they win. Or turning to the Basque county, it passes with 65% of the vote in Vizacaya and Guizpoca, is rejected by 65% in Alava, and is narrowly defeated with a a 51% no vote?
That will create all sorts of problems. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
The problem at heart is not one of nationalism, but of democracy, community, and hierarchical and overlapping allegiances. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
Mind you, not to leave Australia, just to enter Australia as a separate state to New South Wales.
So in the end it passed in the areas originally agitating for seperate statehood, with larger majorities the closer to Queensland (and further from Sydney) ... but was overwhelmingly rejected in the Hunter and went down to defeat. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
Part of the reason the proposed Basque referendum was so contentious was because polls showed the referendum would pass with a narrow victory. And that would sort of fuel the assertion by ETA that the Spanish state is undemocratic, no wouldn't it? And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
In the long term, I suspect that a divided Basque country, Vicaya and Guipuzcoa Basque, Alava Spanish, and Navarra a state of its own would reduce the prevalance of conflict. Significant minorities in Viscaya and Guipuzcoa support violence, but with their own state, the hardliners would lose the support of sympathizers.
This is but one example of the type of messes that nationalism let lose by Scots independence could bring. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
