Earlier this past Saturday, the Catalonia independence movement took a massive hit, with the Spanish government invoking the long-arm of its constitution to reign in the culturally-distinct region. While Catalonia broke international headlines for the past few months, sentiment towards its autonomy could quickly collapse if Spanish authorities make good on their warnings.
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy essentially threatened to invalidate Catalan separatists by dismissing Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont and his administration. Furthermore, Rajoy could assume command of the Catalan region’s police force, as well as public television and radio channels. The Spanish Senate could ratify these draconian measures inside of a week, according to the latest Bloomberg report.
Writing for InvestorPlace, I mentioned that the controversy underlining the Catalonia independence movement, as well as the aggressive conflicts between Catalan separatists and “mainlanders,” creates a poor investment environment for Spain-centric ETFs. Indeed, the leading regional ETF trends poorly in light of aggressive calls for autonomy.
I further mentioned that Europe is mired in an unprecedented identity struggle. In the creation of the European Union, each member state sacrificed their own individual culture for the supposed aggregation of combined wealth. Instead, what each participating nation received was open borders, and the influx of terrorists and third-world “migrants.”
In the greater context, what Catalan separatists are fighting for represents a wide-ranging sentiment shift — a shift away from foreign allegiances and one towards national sovereignty. The Catalan independence movement coincides with individual European concerns that their unique culture and heritage are threatened with “diversity” and “multiculturalism” protocols.
The implications behind unrest in Catalonia reaches across the globe as well. In many parts of the world, right-wing nationalism, which was once a fringe element, is now taking center stage. The momentum is particularly poignant here at home, where extremist groups — emboldened by the Trump Presidency — are more vocal than ever before in the modern era.
Amid the raucous noise, a recurring theme can be heard: forced multiculturalism does not work. Neither does a government body that serves the interest of multinational corporations, but not the will of the people. In the rush to join foreign allegiances and to sacrifice sovereignty on the altar of political correctness, a backlash erupted. Individual citizens do not want to participate in a globalist agenda.
Ultimately, that is what the Catalonia independence movement signifies — the desire to forge one’s destiny through an administration that looks after its own citizenry and interests first. Irrespective of what happens from here on out, the Catalan separatists have spoken. It’s up to the rest of Europe and the world to listen.