[spireitematt]

" very little condemnation coming from certain other governments and the EU with their self-interests to protect!!"

This isn't Franco. Spain isn't officially a fascist state. The government is apparently socialist. Yet ......

The Catalonian movement was/is non-violent. People going to the polls were beaten-up by police. The innocent were imprisoned. Their leaders are now even charged with crimes of violence. They certainly broke the law, but they only wanted self-determination for what they regard as their nation and tried to prove their majority status only by organising elections, which would have been free and fair had it not been for violent government intervention.

Despite its stated aim of ever closer union the EU has had nothing worthwhile either to say or do. Indeed so enamoured are they by the Spanish that, with regard to Brexit, they describe Gibraltar as a "colony". In my eyes the EU is a twentieth century organisation with twentieth century ideas doomed to fall apart well before the middle of the twenty first century.

Catalonia as a whole may, or may not, want its freedom. I'm for letting it determine its own fate, just as I am for Scotland and Northern Ireland .... or even Gibraltar for that matter.

Gibraltar had 2 sovereignty referendums. The first in 1967 where 99.64% wanted to stay under British sovereignty and 44 people voted to be under Spanish sovereignty. The one in 2002 was should Britain and Spain share sovereignty of Gibraltar and they said No.

The EU don't recognise Catalonia and the other 27/28 member states have the same view, how odd? So if Scotland left the UK and tried to join the EU then it would cause uprising in Spain and Catalonia.