What’s happening?
Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain that around 7.5 million people call home, is trying to break up with Spain; meanwhile, the Spanish government is pretending that everything’s normal.
Thousands of police reinforcements have been sent to the region, and the central government is saying that holding a referendum to let Catalonia vote for independence is illegal. But Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont told Reuters today that Sunday’s planned vote is definitely happening.
How does this affect me?
Remember the financial crash of 2008? A lot of European countries are still trying to recover, while also fighting to keep groups within their borders from breaking off into their own nations.
Spain is the 14th largest economy in the world, and Catalonia accounts for 20 percent of its annual GDP. If there’s a domino effect among Europe’s economies, the world could be hit with another – possibly worse – recession.
Glenn’s take:
We haven’t seen a global shift this dramatic since World War I.
“Europe is on the verge of a complete redesign,” he said. “The amount of nations looking to split from the [European Union] or regions looking to gain independence is staggering.”
