Why is catalonia an important region in spain

On a weekday afternoon less than two weeks before the referendum, about 40, people gathered outside Catalan government offices in downtown Barcelona to protest raids and arrests of local officials by the Spanish police force, the Guardia Civil. The raids came days after police also raided printers, newspaper offices and private delivery companies in a search for campaign literature and ballot boxes.

He speaks in Catalan, the prominent language of the region. Having lived through the Francoist dictatorship as a young adult, when the region experienced repressive measures that abolished Catalan institutions and banned the official use of the language, he feels Catalan people continue to be oppressed.

But others, like Jessica Boluda, said the issues are economic. Paluzie said the economic crisis helped increase separatist sentiment in Catalonia — the region experienced the highest budget cuts. Then, in , Catalonia sought a statute that would have allowed it to collect its own taxes — much like the system in another autonomous region of Spain, the Basque Country. The Spanish government rejected that.

Our mission at Marketplace is to raise the economic intelligence of the country. This is because Catalonia would retain its current trading partners and continue to use the euro. Catalonia, however, does not have an automatic right to membership in the European Union. This issue echoes problems that arose during Scotland's own independence referendum in In order to become a part of the union it must receive a unanimous "yes" from EU members and that includes Spain and its allies, which are unlikely to vote for Catalonia's addition to the union.

If the new nation were to be denied entrance or have difficulty joining the union, the Catalan economy would face large transition costs, as the EU accounts for roughly Catalonia could also face economic turmoil due to its separation for the European single currency, and increased tariffs on their goods and services. Ultimately though, Catalan nationalists will pay any price for independence, regardless of the economic losses.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Catalonia accounts for around 7 percent of Spain's total national public debt. Skip Navigation. Pro-referendum demonstrators gather in front of a building with a banner reading 'Welcome to the Catalan republic' during a protest near the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government in Barcelona on September No one knows precisely.

VIDEO Squawk Box Europe. But fresh Catalan elections in December returned a majority for pro-independence parties, although a pro-Madrid party emerged as the single largest group in parliament. The use of Catalan - a language as close to regional languages of southern France like Occitan as it is to Castilian Spanish - has equal status with Castilian and is now actively encouraged in education, official use and the media.

However, Castilian predominates in Barcelona, and is still the first language of a narrow majority of Catalans, who are nearly all bilingual. Variants are also spoken in the region of Valencia to the south, and on the Balearic islands, leading many Catalan nationalists to regard all three regions- as well as the traditionally Catalan-speaking Roussillon region of France - as forming the "Catalan Countries".

Close-Up: Catalonia's human towers. Catalonia government. Statute of autonomy. Media - from ara. Image source, Getty Images. Building human towers - "castells" - is a Catalan tradition originating in the 18th century. Catalonia's beaches attract tourists from across Europe. Independence moves.