Catalonia Closer to the Eurozone Than to Spain

The Spanish region of Catalonia in the North-Eastern corner of Spain wants to hold an independence referendum on Sunday, against the will of the central government in Madrid. Apart from the Baleares and the Madrid region itself, Catalonia together with its capital Barcelona is one of the economically more powerful parts of the country. Our infographic shows that the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of Catalonia lies closer to that of the Eurozone than of Spain as a whole.

This in mind, it comes as no surprise that Madrid is by all means opposed to letting go of Catalonia. Once before, in October 1934, shortly before the Spanish Civil War (1936 to 1939) broke out, Catalonia had announced its independence from the rest of Spain. This prompted Madrid to sent the army to Barcelona.