Catalonia declares Independence

[MaryN]

I am not sure it is as simple as "rich area and poor area" MB. The Catalans consider themselves to have a different culture from the rest of Spain and wish to govern themselves according to the "way they do things". There are quite a few countries that have this situation developing: The Basques in North-East Spain are a bolshy lot; very independent and probably watching the Catalonia situation unfold. We had the same situation when we lived in Brittany, France. The Bretons consider themselves Bretons first and barely rate France as being connected. They associate far more closely with the Celts. There are also similar movements in Belgium and parts of Italy. The world, it would appear, is on the move.