The Catalan endgame: how we got to where we are

Large pro-independence demonstrations are expected in Catalonia today ahead of a proposed referendum on independence on 1 October. Karlo Basta highlights that although many explanations of the Catalan independence movement focus on technical issues, such as the legal provisions for Catalan autonomy or Catalonia's fiscal arrangements, it is the role of symbolic politics that has perhaps been most important in bringing Catalonia and Spain to their current impasse.