Financial TimesOctober 26, 2012 6:43 pm The town that started Catalan delugeBy Julius Purcell in Arenys de Munt, Catalonia Two rolls of Catalan flags stand in the window of Gloria Clopés’ haberdashery store in the town of Arenys de Munt, “The one with the blue triangle is the older independence flag, I think,” says Ms. Clopés, 29, “and the one with the red Tucked inland away from the ribbon development of the Catalan coast, Arenys de Munt is remarkable for Nearly every one of the elegant, modernista facades along the street sports a Catalan flag. This is hardly surprising: Here, three years ago, local nationalists held the first of a series of informal, local plebiscites on independence that led In the wake of that rally, Catalonia’s regional president, Artur Mas, called early elections for November, “We’re proud of what we started here,” says Ms Clopés. It was just up the street from her haberdashery that the first plebiscite was held, on September 13, 2009, Over the next two years, the polls were rolled out in over 500 towns, offering residents a non-binding vote “We were the spark,”Josep Manel Jiménez, mayor of Arenys, explains proudly. Mr Jiménez says his backing of the 2009 initiative earned him death threats from Spanish neo-fascists. A member “For three hundred years Catalans have been fighting this battle with Madrid,” he says, in reference to the Forty-one per cent of Arenys residents voted in 2009, the overwhelming majority saying Yes to independence. “Back then, we had plenty of motives for being angry: tax revenues which are taken to Madrid and never returned The wave of copycat plebiscites, Mr Jiménez says, involved 60,000 volunteer organisers across Catalonia. These Finally, in March this year, these all came together under the new umbrella body of the Catalan National Assembly, While all Catalans have heard of Arenys de Munt, fewer will have heard of Carme Forcadell. Despite her relatively Three days after the rally, Ms Forcadell was invited to a meeting with regional president Mr Mas. “Mas agreed with us that Catalans should decide whether we want our own state,” Ms Forcadell told the FT in her “Our job now is to check that the next Catalan government delivers.” Back in Arenys de Munt, however, not all are convinced by the secession argument. Alexandra Massip, 40, school administrator, says independence would make no difference to austerity policies, While she is a minority voice in the town, Ms Massip’s concerns are reflected in wider Catalan society. Both Away from the flags of secessionist strongholds like Arenys, these are the details many Catalans will be demanding |