Episode 20: The Catalonia Crisis

Txell Donyate is an Italian, French, English, Spanish, Catalan and Finnish linguist. And while she's lived in Barcelona since 2014, she's originally from the Comunidad Valenciana just to the south of Catalonia. She offers a unique outsider/ insider perspective on the independence movement in Catalonia. In October of 2017 the regional government of Catalonia held a referendum and then declared independence from Spain. This measure was quickly stopped by the central government in Madrid which invoked Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, stripping Catalonia of its autonomy, sacking the regional government, and imprisoning several ministers and prominent activists, while Catalonia's president and other ministers fled and went into exile. This episode attempts to lend some historical and personal perspective to the current political situation. And if you've been wanting to know more about modern Spanish history you may find the speed history lesson at the beginning to be helpful. Be sure to check out some recommended reading on the post for this episode at LatitudeAdjustmentPod.com if you want to learn more about the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War and about contemporary Spanish history and society.