Catalonia Quotes

I am Catalan. Catalonia had the first democratic Parliament much before England. And it was in my country where there was a beginning of united nations. At that time—the eleventh Century—they met in Toulouse—today in France—to speak about peace, because the Catalonian people of that time were already against war. That is why, the United Nations, which work only for the ideal of peace, are in my heart, because everything relating to peace goes directly there.

All we want is to carry out the greatest expression of a free democracy and vote on Catalonia's future. This is not about independence: it is about fundamental civil rights and the universal right of self-determination.

If we allow Catalonia - and it is none of our business - to separate, others will do the same. I do not want that.

Millions of Spaniards have Catalonia in their hearts.

Barcelona are my favourite team in Spain, let's put it that way.

The welfare of Catalonia is only possible outside of Spain.

From Kurdistan to Catalonia to Scotland, from Syria to Chechnya to South Sudan, from indigenous communities in the Andean nations to tribal communities in sub-Saharan Africa, many people are shifting their primary political identities away from the nation-states in which they lived for many generations.

There's no alternative to Catalan independence.

The independence project in Catalonia is... a peaceful revolution, carried out in suit, shirt, and tie.

I could not disobey the will of the Catalan parliament.

If Madrid does not want an accord, and the majority of Catalans want an independent state, how can you avoid that?

We must have serious dialogue between Catalonia and the Spanish state on a referendum, on independence, and on how a separation from Spain - if that's what the Catalan people choose - would be accomplished.

The only problem is that there are a lot of people here in Catalonia who want to separate from Spain and a lot of people who don't want to. We are talking about 50-50, more or less, and that is why it is difficult.

What I believe is this: Catalunya is not Spain, it is something else and you have to feel it.

I think, for Catalonia, FC Barcelona means a lot because it is one of the top clubs in the world, and that means that it's a way to show what Catalonia is in the world.

I am and feel Catalan.

As president, I have the right to call a referendum based on a law that the Catalan parliament has approved.

In 2010, the Spanish constitutional court annulled a large part of the Catalan statute of autonomy negotiated between Catalonia and the previous prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero. This demolished one of the main agreements achieved during the Spanish transition to democracy - Catalonia's recovery of self-governance.

We're seeing a reaction - and people taking to the streets with pots and pans - in areas where the independence movement isn't supposed to exist. People have to choose between one model and another. Everyone in Catalonia has realised that not taking part means ratifying the politics of repression of the Spanish government.

I express Catalonia's wish of being in the E.U. We'll see what happens.