OPINION — Editorial

Spain's separatist debate

Catalonia's separatist leaders say they will declare independence from Spain within 48 hours of victory in the independence referendum they've called for Oct. 1. Spain's highest court has ruled the referendum unconstitutional, and the government is determined to disrupt the ballot.

A toxic combination of festering frustrations, nationalist myth, and mismanagement by Madrid has brought Spain to this point. Climbing down won't be easy for either side, but it's both possible and necessary.

Certainly, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy should continue to insist that the referendum is unlawful and does not bind the government. But at the same time, Rajoy should attend to the Catalans' complaints--for instance, about lack of transparency in federal spending. Successive national governments have let political concerns shape infrastructure investment, neglecting rail and other links in Catalonia. Rajoy needs to make good on his promise to address that.

He also needs to promote a stronger sense of national identity. One way to do that is by encouraging workers to move more freely from region to region, through further reforms in the labor market and the public sector. One thing that has historically given cohesion to the federal system in the U.S. is the ease with which workers move between states; Spain can encourage that too with further reforms.

Editorial on 09/19/2017

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