Spain should grant Catalonia its Independence

The independence of Catalonia will negatively impact Spain, Catalonia, and Europe; therefore, Catalonia shall not be given independence.First, it is important to recognize the negative impact independence would have on Catalonia. With Catalonia splitting from Spain, it would need to create its own military, fund its own education, collect its own intelligence, etc. By doing so, all the money that Catalonia would hypothetically save by separating from Spain and more will be put towards making Catalonia a state, putting it in economic collapse. Further, due to the tension and unpredictability, companies are moving out of Catalonia by the thousands, this will increase unemployment dramatically and shrink the economy, making Catalonia much worse off that it is as part of Spain. According to CNBC, “ Catalonia could see its economy shrink by 25 to 30 percent and its unemployment double if it splits to form a separate state.” The impact of this is huge, as the main reason Catalonia wants to separate from Spain is that it believes it will do economically better without Spain, but in fact, Catalonia will face a huge economic crisis. Its current unemployment rate is 15.28% according to Statistia; therefore, independence could mean a 30.53% unemployment rate. With unemployment rates this high, Catalonia is likely to face its own Great Depression. This is further backed up by The Express interview with Josep Bou, president of the ‘Entrepreneurs of Catalonia,’ when he stated that “We know perfectly well that this would become an exodus, Catalonia would go into an economic collapse.” Furthermore, The New York Times states, “Since the referendum, more than 2000 companies, including CaixaBank and Sabadell, have moved their legal headquarters outside Catalonia” Catalonia hasn’t even seceded from Spain and companies are already fleeing, imagine the amount of companies that will leave if Catalonia becomes independent— the effect of its economy will be detrimental. Furthermore, Massachusetts, California, and other states put more money into the United States than the United States gives to it, but this does not mean that they are even considering separating from the United States because they know that they are stronger as part of a larger whole than by themselves.Next, it is important to consider the effect Catalonia's independence will have on Spain. Catalonia is the wealthiest region in Spain, and losing it will be a hit to its economy. Further, Catalonia owns a larger part of Spain's debt, and Spain is unsure as to whether or not Catalonia will pay back their portion back if they become a separate nation. According to CNBC, “The establishment of a border would result in a loss of jobs, income and wealth for everybody, whether they live in Catalonia or in the rest of Spain," and they continue to state that “Catalonia makes a hefty contribution to the overall Spanish economy, making 223.6 billion euros ($262.96 billion) a year, according to the regional government. This is around 20 percent of its total gross domestic product (GDP). ” Furthermore, according to Al Jazeera, “Catalonia is by far Spain's top exporting region, with 25 percent of all goods produced there sold abroad last year and in the first quarter of 2017.” Furthermore, according to CNBC “Therefore, Catalonia accounts for 16.34 percent of Spain's debt, which is not a small price tag. This aspect, combined with the loss of Catalonia's tax revenues, would be a hit to the Spanish economy.” Therefore, Catalonia’s secession would greatly damage the Spanish economy, increasing unemployment, preventing people from being able to make money and stopping them from putting food on their table.Further, the independence of Catalonia will negatively impact Europe. The independence of Catalonia will only further promote European Balkanization, nationalism, and the segregation of the poor from the rich. Such Balkanization will turn poor countries poor, as they will no longer have rich regions to support them, yet rich regions are not getting richer; in fact, rich regions will become much poorer as they will have to pay for their own military, intelligence agencies, welfare programs, education, infrastructure, etc. This splitting will turn this now united continent of power countries into a divided Europe filled with weak microstates, each plagued with xenophobia and foreign and domestic attacks. This Balkanization has happened before, starting with Kosovo, when The Independent states, "In 2008, the country, which used to be a part of Serbia made a unilateral declaration of independence (just as Catalonia is threatening to do). Since it has been cited by other secessionist movements as evidence of their legitimacy. When Crimea declared independence from Ukraine, it literally cited the Kosovo precedent in its declaration of independence." However, the results could be a lot much more disastrous than what occurred after Kosovo as we are currently near the peak of a Nationalist movement. In fact, this is already happening, Public Radio International states that the situation is Catalonia is “also echoed within the wider European context by those in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands who are reluctant to transfer funds to hard-up southern countries.” Therefore, this is already happening and the process will accelerate if Catalonia is given its independence. In fact, according to The Telegraph, the co-head of the influential European Greens in parliament states that “the Catalonia crisis "threatened the spirit of European integration, even more than Brexit"” Therefore, Catalan independence could balkanize Europe, turning it into a continent of weak microstates, each of which will be more powerless to foreign and domestic attacks and will have less growth and development. Therefore, Catalonia's independence will likely lead to the Balkanization of Europe, splitting it into weak microstates, making Europe more unstable and disabling it from aiding other countries around the world in the future. The whole world will feel the loss of this global superpower if we let Catalonia become independent.According to Politico, only 41.1% of Catalans want independence, why should Spain give Catalonia independence if it doesn't even want it and if it is going to hurt Catalonia, Spain, Europe, and the World?Thank you!