[doozy]

It's surprising how weak the Spanish government is. The obvious course of action would have been to arrest the entire leadership and charge them with treason and sedition. In Germany the parties promoting this movement would have been declared illegal and dissolved long ago.

It all boils down to a regional government using taxpayer's money to stage a mock election as a means to usurp the functions of the democratically elected national government.

And suddenly those who respect the Rule of Law are the bad guys.

Maybe the Spanish government is just waiting for them to actually declare independence to bring down the hammer.

[gonvaled]

> treason and sedition

What is this? Treason to what? Something they do not believe in?

Sedition? By definition, but not necessarily with the negative connotation of your word choice.

Regional vs national government? This is exactly what Catalans are trying to sort out.

Taxpayer's money? This is one of the issues that Catalans are complaining about (rightly or wrongly)

Your whole arguments boils down to: "things are as they are, and trying to change them is bad because that would mean things do not stay as they are".

[flukus]

> And suddenly those who respect the Rule of Law are the bad guys.

So what is the legal path to independence? You can claim it's illegal all you want, but unless there is a legal avenue to pursue then legality is irrelevant.

[gonvaled]

That is indeed the core of the problem. Catalans have so far only been offered fake alternatives: "Reform the Constitution", for which they will never have a majority.

[6t6t6t6]

In Turkey they arrest journalist following the rule of (their) law.

In Spain, the paramilitary police injured 800 citizens who wanted to vote. Following the rule of (their) law, of course.