The Catalans are following the adage: "never let a crisis go to waste."
Spain is bankrupt and the central government in Madrid is incompetent----what better time for the Catalans to press their case for independence then during the current EU-wide debt crisis.

If the EU is going to turn into the "United States of Europe"...why shouldn't those states be based on national units like Scotland, Wales, Flanders and Catalonia instead of the current collection of bankupt larger countries.