Podemos and the Spanish left risk alienating their own support base if they ally with independence movements in Catalonia

The Government of Catalonia has announced its intention to hold a referendum in November on whether to declare independence from Spain. Enric Martínez-Herrera and Thomas Jeffrey Miley write on the role of the financial crisis in the Catalan independence movement, and how parties on the Spanish left such as Podemos have positioned themselves in the debate. They argue that while it might be tempting to support anti-system groups pushing for Catalan independence, the real focus for the Spanish left should be on opposing austerity policies supported by both the Spanish Government in Madrid and the Catalan Government in Barcelona.