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The past ten days have seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets - on both sides of the Spain/Catalonia divide. (Photo: Nuria)

Spanish constitution needs overhaul to avert Catalonia crisis

Television footage of Guardia Civil officers in riot gear manhandling Catalonian citizens as they tried to vote in Sunday's independence referendum has shocked Europe.

But this is not a simple case of a state denying the democratic rights of its people. The crisis in Catalonia is the result of a clash between increasingly radical separatism and a constitutional framework that is too rigid to accommodate those demands.

To de-escalate the situation, Mariano Rajoy, Spain's prime mi...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Matthew is EUobserver's Opinion Editor. He joined EUobserver in June 2018. Previously he worked as a reporter for The Guardian in London, and as editor for AFP in Paris and DPA in Berlin.

The past ten days have seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets - on both sides of the Spain/Catalonia divide. (Photo: Nuria)

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Author Bio

Matthew is EUobserver's Opinion Editor. He joined EUobserver in June 2018. Previously he worked as a reporter for The Guardian in London, and as editor for AFP in Paris and DPA in Berlin.

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