Talk politics.

Catalonia. Referendum. Independence. Violence. Battle scenes accompanying an illegal, unconstitutional referendum for secession. All of this has clouded the sober assessment of the whole process of Catalonia's drive for independence. Many, regardless of their alignment, whether they sympathize with the Catalan irredentists or the supporters of Spain's territorial integrity, have allowed their opinions to be affected by Madrid's firm actions.

The last couple of decades have seen a dominance of the liberal notion in Europe that the state (i.e. the police) shouldn't be beating up its own citizens, no matter what sort of madness they may descend into. If it starts beating them up, it means that state is neither democratic nor European, not to mention civilized. It seems Europe has a rather short memory, it has forgotten the way Margaret Thatcher used to bash IRA, or, while we're about Spain, how Luiz Carrero Blanco used to treat ETA.

In reality, the very idea of statehood is mostly associated with the territory that this statehood encompasses, and the borders denoting it. And if someone dares violate the territorial integrity of a state and tries to alter its borders, that state has the full moral right to use force to defend itself. The acceptable norms and limits of that force are stipulated in the Geneva Convention, not by the "consciousness of public opinion". Which, by the way, was confirmed by the Spanish king the other day. And by the European Commission, too.

( So how about shedding all emotions here )