New pact or independence for Catalonia

On July 10 hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Barcelona to protest the ruling of the Spanish Constitutional Court in Barcelona according to which parts of Catalan's Autonomy Statute are invalid. There are only two options for soothing the citizens' discontent, writes the Catalan daily El Periódico de Catalunya: "With respect to Catalonia the autonomous region system has outlived its usefulness. This is the most important conclusion to be drawn from the Constitutional Court's judgement. The problem this poses is not legal in nature, but political. The only way out of the trap in which Spain finds itself is a new political pact between Spain and Catalonia - the judgement has nullified that of 1978. From the Catalonian point of view there are two options: either a pact which redefines Catalonia's integration into Spain, based on a plurinational and federalist concept of the state, or the long and arduous path to independence."

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