The Legitimacy of Catalonia's Exercise of Its Right to Decide

Abstract

Catalonia’s decision to convene a referendum of Self-determination on October 1st 2017 constitutes a major challenge for Catalonia, as well as for Spain and the European Union. Scholars from all over Europe and beyond have been studying the recent self-determination trends that have their most salient expressions in Scotland (a self-determination referendum was held on 18 September 2014), the Brexit vote (23 June 2016) and Catalonia’s claim for self-determination. Numerous conferences, workshops, articles and books flourish on the topic. However, contrary to the Scottish and British referendums, the legality of the Catalan referendum is heavily contested by Spain national authorities, raising a legitimacy issue; not about the outcome, but about the process itself. This is these legitimacy issues of the process itself, the question of the legitimacy of the exercise of a right to decide by a people without a State within the EU, that the present report explores.

Keywords: Catalonia, Spain, Sovereignty, Self-determination