Analysis | Catalan independence averted for now, but regional separatism is simmering across Europe

Europe’s separatist movements aren’t going away.

While the threat of an immediate rupture in Spain has been averted for now, resentment simmers from Edinburgh to Venice. The frustrations stirred up by continent’s economic woes might have manifested themselves as an anti-immigrant populism in eastern Germany or the French rust belt; but in Bruges, in Bilbao and in Barcelona they spurred separatist movements seeking to break away from Europe’s traditional nation states and strike out on their own.

“The Madrid-Barcelona stand-off, Spain’s heavy-handed response to Catalonia’s independence referendum, and the European Union’s failure to stop the slide into confrontation have dangerous repercussions,” said Shada Islam, director of Europe and geopolitics at the Friends of Europe think tank in Brussels. “Spanish democracy, the EU’s standing with an already-jaded European public, and the future of other European separatist movements” could all be shaped by events over the past couple of weeks, she added.

Many of Europe’s modern nation states were forged out of the ashes of 19th century wars, and as they’ve bound themselves more tightly over the past 20 years, with a single currency and open borders, their ancient regions have become restless.

While national identities have been blurred under the umbrella of the 28-nation EU, regional individuality has flourished. And where once that was confined to language, music and flags, now it’s about political independence.

Catalonia held an illegal referendum on independence on October 1, prompting scenes of police violence against peaceful voters that drew international condemnation and inflamed the separatists. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to keep Spain together come what may, and on Tuesday night the Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, stepped back from a declaration of independence, appealing instead for Rajoy to enter talks.