This Friday (27), the Parliament of Catalonia declared independence from Spain, something that took euphoria to the thousands of Catalans who accompanied the news. In practice, however, the region remains under Spanish rule, so much so that the Senate authorized an intervention to oust the government of Catalonia.

This fight is not from today: until 1714, Catalonia was not part of Spain, having specific culture, laws and language. With the War of Spanish Succession, which took place between 1701 and 1714 by the throne of the country's monarchy, the region was eventually defeated and annexed to Spain as we know it today.

Since then, whoever assumed the throne always tried to impose Spanish customs until, in 1931, the Generalitat, the Catalan national government, was restored. But General Franco, however, did not swallow this story very well, regaining control of Catalonia in 1938 after a battle with more than 3, 500 Catalan deaths.

War of Spanish Succession ended Catalonia being annexed to the country

Economic conflicts

In 1977, with the return of democracy to Spain, Catalonia became increasingly independent, always seeking complete autonomy - something that can finally happen in the coming months. The economic crisis has accelerated the process, so much so that 90% of Catalans voted for independence in a referendum on October 1 this year - despite allegations of fraud and vote tampering in this poll.

Mariano Rajoy, president of Spain for the Popular Party (PP), is against the separation. However, PP in Catalonia is extremely weak, opening gaps for CDC conservatives and ERC leftists. Even CUP radicals are more numerous and popular than PP in the region. Together they succeeded in uniting the Catalans in favor of separatism.

Catalonia is the industrial heart of Spain. If it achieves independence, it would be born as the 34th largest economy in the world - ahead of Portugal and Hong Kong, for example. Per capita GDP, on the other hand, would be higher than that of large powers such as Italy and South Korea.

Catalan population approves of separatism

It turns out that Spain would lose about 20% of its economic power, and that is not in the plans of the country already facing a prolonged economic crisis. Because of this, conflicts are taking place in Catalonia between Spanish government officials and separatists, without, however, the world knowing what will be the end of this dispute.