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| Catalonia tales: 'What will we eat?' | Catalonia tales: 'What will we eat?' |
| (4 months later) | |
| After I appealed on Twitter for more voices opposed to Catalan independence, a number of people contacted me to give their views. They are – for what it's worth – not nearly as numerous as those who have wanted to explain why and how much they desire independence, but here is a selection. | After I appealed on Twitter for more voices opposed to Catalan independence, a number of people contacted me to give their views. They are – for what it's worth – not nearly as numerous as those who have wanted to explain why and how much they desire independence, but here is a selection. |
| Eduardo Sanz, banker: "No one is explaining how we will make the journey to independence. What will we have in our backpack? What will we eat? Will we have enough to eat? Will we be able to go everywhere freely, speak the language we choose? We all know about the feelings, but we need more hard facts. We need to know a proper plan that will convince people that they are not being misled. We need realism, not some idealised picture of how happy we will all be when we are independent. No one is giving us a clear, defined plan of action. What will actually happen? For these reasons, I will be voting no to independence." | Eduardo Sanz, banker: "No one is explaining how we will make the journey to independence. What will we have in our backpack? What will we eat? Will we have enough to eat? Will we be able to go everywhere freely, speak the language we choose? We all know about the feelings, but we need more hard facts. We need to know a proper plan that will convince people that they are not being misled. We need realism, not some idealised picture of how happy we will all be when we are independent. No one is giving us a clear, defined plan of action. What will actually happen? For these reasons, I will be voting no to independence." |
| Carlos Rivadulla, entrepreneur: "From an economic point of view, independence is the worst business we Catalans can pursue. Companies based in Barcelona are active in important sectors of the Spanish economy as a whole: the so-called 'regulated sectors' that include, among others, banking, insurance, energy, construction, food, etc. In order to operate in these sectors you need to establish a company in that national market, be controlled by the national supervisor and, of course, pay taxes in that country. This means an Italian bank cannot operate in Spain directly; it has to incorporate a branch here and pay taxes here. This would be mean that, for instance, 43 out of the 50 most important companies based in Barcelona would have to incorporate a Spanish subsidiary and be taxed in Madrid. It is just a plain lie that Catalan GDP and taxes would remain the same. We would suffer a major loss. Pro-independence politicians hide this from the public opinion. On the other hand, the cost of establishing a brand new state would be huge for a country of 7.5 million. In short: income decreases dramatically, and expenses grow exponentially. If the problem is the fiscal deficit, independence is not the solution. The solution is to push and negotiate a better fiscal arrangement like similar federal countries." | Carlos Rivadulla, entrepreneur: "From an economic point of view, independence is the worst business we Catalans can pursue. Companies based in Barcelona are active in important sectors of the Spanish economy as a whole: the so-called 'regulated sectors' that include, among others, banking, insurance, energy, construction, food, etc. In order to operate in these sectors you need to establish a company in that national market, be controlled by the national supervisor and, of course, pay taxes in that country. This means an Italian bank cannot operate in Spain directly; it has to incorporate a branch here and pay taxes here. This would be mean that, for instance, 43 out of the 50 most important companies based in Barcelona would have to incorporate a Spanish subsidiary and be taxed in Madrid. It is just a plain lie that Catalan GDP and taxes would remain the same. We would suffer a major loss. Pro-independence politicians hide this from the public opinion. On the other hand, the cost of establishing a brand new state would be huge for a country of 7.5 million. In short: income decreases dramatically, and expenses grow exponentially. If the problem is the fiscal deficit, independence is not the solution. The solution is to push and negotiate a better fiscal arrangement like similar federal countries." |
| Nuria Fragoso, journalist: "I feel Catalan, although my parents are not. But the important thing is that it's good to have diversity; we should be open to other cultures and people. And the way they're moving towards independence we're closing down, not opening up. And the language issue: my two kids learn Catalan at school and of course that's fine, that's right. But we should not push things to extremes: the law that fines companies if they don't label goods in Catalan, that's wrong. People should have the choice. I don't reject Catalan, but the two languages should co-exist equally. I feel this movement is becoming more and more extreme, and I don't like extremes. I don't want anyone to tell me what to do, how to speak, what to think. We're going backwards. Closing down, not opening up." | Nuria Fragoso, journalist: "I feel Catalan, although my parents are not. But the important thing is that it's good to have diversity; we should be open to other cultures and people. And the way they're moving towards independence we're closing down, not opening up. And the language issue: my two kids learn Catalan at school and of course that's fine, that's right. But we should not push things to extremes: the law that fines companies if they don't label goods in Catalan, that's wrong. People should have the choice. I don't reject Catalan, but the two languages should co-exist equally. I feel this movement is becoming more and more extreme, and I don't like extremes. I don't want anyone to tell me what to do, how to speak, what to think. We're going backwards. Closing down, not opening up." |
| • If you have a story to tell, know someone Jon should talk to or live somewhere you think he should visit, please contact him via email at jon.henley@guardian.co.uk, or Twitter @jonhenley (the hashtag for this journey is #CataloniaTales) | • If you have a story to tell, know someone Jon should talk to or live somewhere you think he should visit, please contact him via email at jon.henley@guardian.co.uk, or Twitter @jonhenley (the hashtag for this journey is #CataloniaTales) |
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