Quotes About Catalonia

All we want is to carry out the greatest expression of a free democracy and vote on Catalonia's future. This is not about independence: it is about fundamental civil rights and the universal right of self-determination.

We're seeing a reaction - and people taking to the streets with pots and pans - in areas where the independence movement isn't supposed to exist. People have to choose between one model and another. Everyone in Catalonia has realised that not taking part means ratifying the politics of repression of the Spanish government.

Our plan is what the Scottish government had with the U.K. It's an agreement to consult over the independence of Catalonia. And we will not abandon this plan until the end.

I think, for Catalonia, FC Barcelona means a lot because it is one of the top clubs in the world, and that means that it's a way to show what Catalonia is in the world.

The Catalonian movement is quite serious; I don't think it's simply symbolic. I think that they believe that Catalonia can be more successful on its own than as part of Spain.

It is crucial that there is a government in Madrid secure enough to engage with Catalonia politically rather than continue the denial and legal obstructionism of the Rajoy years.

Gaudi was surrounded by the rich folk of Catalonia, I've seen a picture of him with people wearing elegant hats and drinking wine. But that's not like me - I'm on my own.

I express Catalonia's wish of being in the E.U. We'll see what happens.

The independence project in Catalonia is... a peaceful revolution, carried out in suit, shirt, and tie.

No menos acertado fue al advertir que el movimiento independentista de Cataluña y el País Vasco, dos importantes regiones de España, sería en el futuro uno de los problemas más graves con los que tendría que bregar su país.

To be honest, I am very worried about the possibility of the U.K. leaving the E.U. But of course, like in the case of Catalonia, we have to respect the right to decide of the British people on a relationship that part of the Brits consider is not satisfying enough.

With Rajoy, there is a taboo topic, which is the aspiration of Catalonia to decide its future.

In 2010, the Spanish constitutional court annulled a large part of the Catalan statute of autonomy negotiated between Catalonia and the previous prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero. This demolished one of the main agreements achieved during the Spanish transition to democracy - Catalonia's recovery of self-governance.

Spain's parties must steel themselves to do the sensible thing and treat the Catalonia issue with the seriousness it deserves.

The cause of self-determination in Catalonia is no different to other citizen causes that fight for a fairer, more democratic future, as we've seen in Chile, Lebanon and Hong Kong.

Legend has it that when Franco's troops crushed Catalonia in 1939, relegating it for the next thirty-five years to abuse and neglect, one of his generals was asked what more he could possibly want now that he had Barcelona.

But bankers used to be subjected to Hammurabi's rule. The tradition in Catalonia was to behead bankers in front of their own banks

The only problem is that there are a lot of people here in Catalonia who want to separate from Spain and a lot of people who don't want to. We are talking about 50-50, more or less, and that is why it is difficult.

We must have serious dialogue between Catalonia and the Spanish state on a referendum, on independence, and on how a separation from Spain - if that's what the Catalan people choose - would be accomplished.

Independentistas, en Cataluña, ha habido siempre desde hace un siglo: gente con mucho corazón y poca cabeza

As I have said, the social contract is not the same in Catalonia as it is in France; superficially it is rougher in some ways, but beneath the surface it is often far more friendly, direct, and indeed more sensitive.

So, nationalism (Spanish nationalism as well as Catalan nationalism), both in Catalonia and in Spain, takes the forefront of the political landscape in line with a broader trend sweeping European democracies.