Barcelona’s El Prat airport bears the marks of the Catalan capital’s difficult relationship with Madrid. But is that set to change? Bernardo Andrade investigates.
BARCELONA
Catalonia. Much has been said recently about this quasi-foreign enclave within Spain. Viewed by some as a standalone country with its own unique culture and identity and by others as a rebel province, this conflict lies at the heart of the region and its capital Barcelona and is evident in the operations of its local El Prat airport.
The region has been in the spotlight, highlighted in news reports worldwide, after the referendum held by the local government to decide whether it would secede from Spain. The proseparation vote won in October 2017 and in the Catalan parliament declared independence from the Iberian Peninsula country with Carles Puigdemont, leader of the separatist movement and then President of Catalonia, as its new national leader.
The referendum was deemed illegal by the Spanish government, the autonomy Catalonia enjoyed within Spain was suspended and a warrant was issued for Puigdemont’s arrest on charges of misusing public funds. He later fled to Belgium, leaving his homeland under tighter control from the Madrid …
