Catalonia's Unresolved Issue of More Autonomy or Independence

Minority Issues Research Institute (MIRI) is organizing the first MIRI Seminar on Current Affairs in Fall 2024 with Dr. Jordi Graupera on Catalonia's unresolved issue of more autonomy or independence.

Catalonia held a referendum on October 1, 2017, regarding the region's independence from Spain. The overwhelming majority of over 90% of participants in the referendum chose independence, but the Spanish government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the referendum and questioned its outcome. As a result, democratically elected members of Catalonia's regional parliament, who organized the referendum, were eventually arrested and given lengthy prison sentences. In 2023, the current Spanish government granted amnesty to the leaders of Catalan independence, thereby reviving global interest in the subject. The primary goals of this MIRI discussion are to provide more information about the referendum and the events that followed for the people of Catalonia and to draw attention to prospective developments in the…