Addressing a packed audience at the European Parliament, the head of the Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, said on Tuesday 24 January that a referendum on the independence of Catalonia would be the exact opposite of the decision “by some to leave Europe”, a reference to the United Kingdom.
He argued that the proposed independence referendum is “pro-Europe in inspiration”: if Catalonia became an independent state it would be within the framework of the European Union. “We...