The International Press on the Catalan Referendum

The voting in the non-official referendum on the independence of Catalonia still have several hours to go, so I will take the opportunity to list links to different international media reactions published so far.

Judging from comments I have heard in one of VNG Decideix's polling stations of found on Twitter, I judge that the French LeMonde is the newspaper which has won the most admiration among the platforms which organise the consulta popular, for presenting it on the front space and for the depth of its coverage and analysis.

December 12, and with title "the Catalan Evil" (le Mal Catalan), LeMonde's international editorial pointed out that the closer and closer cooperation between the states of the EU has not managed to dampen minority nationalism. It is the other way around: since some very small and poor states which liberated themselves from the former Soviet Union or gained independence when Yugoslavia fell apart, have already been accepted as members, the richer as well as more numerous populations of Catalonia, Scotland and Flanders now ask themselves why they should not have the right to question their current states. The article end with a warning that Madrid might be playing with fire.

In a news article, the same paper explains the background of the referendum and promises to follow it from the comarca Osona, where almost all municipalities vote today.

Another media which has made a very thorough presentation of what is happening here are the BBC News.

Here is a list of other media links:

In English, the Telegraph (the picture with burning flags is quite different to our Vilanova reality).
In French, Libération
In Italian, il Giornali, Corriere della Sera
In Swedish, Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenska Dagladet.
In Czech, Deník
In Slovak, Dnes
In Polish, Wirtualna Polska

Finally, from an international perspective it might be of interest that similar referenda will now be organized in the Balearic Islands. The movement bears the name Avançam and states that Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera are a historic nationality which forms part of the Catalan and European culture.

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Relaterad posts on this blog:

- The Voting Procedure for the Catalan Referendum on Independence
- Catalan Independence and Yet Another Neutral Swede
- Catalan Independence? Coming Sunday Brings Us the Answer
- Catalanism is Not Independentism
- The Referendum in Vilanova
– Highly Interesting or Utterly Boring?
- December 13, Catalonia Holds a Referendum on Independence
- Arenys de Munt – the First of Many Catalan Referenda
- Can Catalonia Hold a Referendum om Independence?

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Technorati tags: Catalonia, Independence, Spain, Vilanova