Catalonia's Separatist Threat to Spain and the EU

Guest: Mònica Clua-Losada, PhD, Professor of Global Political Economy, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Imagine if a state – say Texas – gets serious about seceding from the US and holds a vote about it. And the federal government sends soldiers to polling places to stop Texans from voting. Hundreds of people get hurt in the melee. And then imagine the vote goes ahead anyway and the result is a resounding “yes” for Texas independence. And then the Governor of Texas tries to have his state legislature formalize the vote, but the US Supreme Court says he can’t and then imagine a week of protests for and against independence in the streets of Texas while the rest of the world watches in disbelief.  That is what’s gone on in a region of Spain called Catalonia over the last week. Tourists know Catalonia for its beautiful capital, Barcelona. As early as tomorrow, Catalonia’s leader could follow through on his threat to declare independence from Spain. What happens next will have serious consequences for Spain and the rest of the European Union.