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외고2018-웹용.qxp_Layout 1 2018. 6. 23. 오후 3:05 페이지 45

Incheon
Zenith Foreign
the 8th Language
High School

Standing at the unfinished road of inde-

pendence : Catalonia

On October 17, massive rallies and candlelight vigils
were held to denounce the imprisonment of Catalan
independence activists in Barcelona, Spain. People
in the rallies are crying for independence and free-
dom.
Catalonia is the region which is located in northeast-
ern Spain and accounts for 25 percent of Spain’s GDP
with a population of about 7.5 million. Its GDP per
capita is about 40,000 dollars and it is about one and
half times the GDP per capita of Spain. It is about one
and half times the size of the U.S. It is clear that these
two countries have big and small differences. Catalo-
nia has insisted on their independence for a long time
for many reasons : first, Catalonia has preserved to-
tally incompatible culture and language, establishing
a different identity. Second, Catalonia accounts for a
big percent of Spain’s GDP so they are paying taxes
heavily, even though, the benefit for them is very low.
Moreover, most of their taxes are invested in the back-
ward parts of Spain so they have perception that they
are being imposed to sacrifice for a backward reign.
The conflict was exacerbated when Spain’s economic
crisis came about after the Eurozone crisis in 2010.
This is the first time that Catalonia independence ac-
tivists are placed under arrest after a referendum on
independence in which 90 percent of people voted
yes. Candlelight vigils were held in many different
cities such as Gerona, Reus. According to the reports,
even in the afternoon there was a protest with thou-
sands of people and some students of the major uni-
versity in Barcelona refused to attend classes and
participated.

Lee, Ji hyeon (2-10)
iou0409@nate.com

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