BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Scotland’s decision to remain in the United Kingdom has cost separatists across Europe political momentum. But the parliament in Spain’s Catalonia region on Friday overwhelmingly gave its leader the power to call a secession referendum that the central government in Madrid has denounced as illegal.
The prospect of an independent Scotland had captivated European separatists. Besides the Catalans, their ranks include pro-independence Basques in northern Spain; Corsicans who want to break away from France; Italians from several northern regions; and Flemish speakers in Belgium demanding more autonomy, independence or union with the Netherlands.
Ferran Abello, a 38-year-old dog trainer, said if Scotland had chosen independence that would have provided a roadmap for how to break up a nation that would later seek to re-enter the 28-nation European Union.
“There are steps that Scotland would have taken first,” he said in the Catalan capital, Barcelona. “But they had the chance to vote and voted No, so we will have to knock that door down.”
Scotland’s decision could delay successful secessionist efforts for years, said Marc Hooghe, a political science professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium.