Barcelona and Madrid
Barcelona was at the forefront of nationalism and revolution in Catalonia and proved to be a problem since Barcelona was a prime competitor to Madrid, a city in Spain (Dowling 123). Despite having monetary leverage, Catalonia still did not have the political influence to bring about change and their agenda to separate from Spain. There are people from Catalonia who disagree with splitting and having independence. Most of these feelings can stem from the insecurity of Catalonia being unable to thrive by itself and not having any help from an influential country like Spain. Mixed feelings and conflicts are the main reasons for Catalonia to struggle with the idea of independence. It can also be assumed that Barcelona is the only recognizable place in Catalonia and would be the only city to thrive under independence, which would leave the smaller and more unrecognizable areas to suffer or be ignored by another greater power.
Text source:
“5 Nationalism and Autonomy, 1984-2011.” Catalonia since the Spanish
Civil War Reconstructing the Nation, by Andrew Dowling, Sussex
Academic Press, 2014, p. 123
Image source:
“Catalonia Crisis in 300 Words.” BBC News, BBC, 14 Oct. 2019,