We want the disputed territories series!

The disputed territory in Cyprus would be interesting to learn more about

While a series on disputed regions would certainly be interesting, you're inevitably gonna make people pretty angry with it, lol.

I'd like to see the (pointless) dispute about the Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco summit between France and Italy.

I mean, it sums up the recent history of the independence movement, but lacks the reason for its origin, which is what the title of the video talks about

I'm mildly annoyed that they labelled the map in the thumbnail with "Spain" and "not Spain", instead of Spain and Spain't

As a Canadian this reminds me of the 1990s and Quebec. Would love to see a video summarizing that fight

I normally love this channel's videos and I still believe that this video is well made. However, in this particular case in which the topic at hand is one I know particulary well, I feel like there are too many big omissions and massive details that have been omitted which paint things in a different light than they really are. Mind you, these omissions are not in favour of any particular side, rather they do not let people have the full picture. For example stating that the independence movement started in the 1920's does not make much sense: either you go to its roots several centuries earlier or you only mention the modern independence movement. Or saying that there was only a 43 percent turnover in the 2017 independence referendum without mentioning that pro-Spain voters mostly did not participate in the referendum whereas many pro-Independece people who wanted and tried to vote where not able because the police was trying to avoid the referendum to take place. Again: this does not mean that they are taking any one's side: in fact the omissions hurt both side's rethoric and of course I understand that they cannot do a one hour long video because they need the views, but this leads me to think that probably when they treat other country's issues that I am not well-versed in, maybe they are also omitting large pieces of information and I cannot get a well-rounded picture.

If you’re feeling brave you could cover Cornish Independence

A video about the Italian Südtirol region and its willingness to be reannexed to Austria would be really interesting.

In Belgium is there something simular going whit Flanders and Wallonia. And we now got a goverment since the last video :). Sidenote I think Puidgimont got refuge in Flanders when Spain wanted to arrest him.

You guys should do a video on the Western Sahara, it is usually over looked when talked about disputed areas, but it is pretty important for most North African relations.

I'd love a series on disputed regions and independence movements. One about Belgium wanting to slip in 2, I've heard about that idk if Belgians support it tho, could be good. Spain is full of independence movements aren't they?

We'd love to see discussions on these regions: - Hong Kong - Kashmir - Taiwan - Kosovo - Northern Cyprus - Palestine - Crimea

Western Sahara’s independence movement could be quite interesting, I know Trump put some fuel on the fire before his term ended by recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty there

Spain has always been a very regional country. Asturias is different from Murcia, Catalonia is nothing like Seville and Extremadura's culture differs massively from that of the Basque Country. Regionalism has always been a thing. Many people identify themselves as "galician" or "valencian" rather than "spanish". I'd even say that european sentiment is bigger than the national one, in some cases. Spain's nationalistic sentiment isn't generally strong, for a lot of historic reasons. That being said, Catalonia has always had that strongly regional sentiment. Modern independence movements are the result of nearly 20 years of exploiting that sentiment for mere political gain, aided by Madrid's perpetual disdain and inability to deal with the subject. It's quite sad, imho. Yeah, Catalans have a culture different from Castillians, and so what? So do Asturians or Canarians and (pretty much) no one is asking for independence. Now we find ourselves with a polarized society, two halves of a region believing in absolutely opposite ideals as a result of political irresponsibility. Dialogue is what this situation begs for, but sometimes I think the damage has already been done, and that even if independence doesn't happen, it will take at least a generation to clear today's issues. Many young people really believe that spain is a pseudo-fascist regime and that independence is the only answer to that. That's not gonna disappear in a few weeks, even if a referendum comes out against of independence.

Guys, I would appreciate if you will do a video on Transnistria. A very complex, yet such a neglected issue. Greetings from Moldova.

Fair play for taking on topics which are, by definition, contentious. I'm looking forward to more videos in the series!

I'd like to see coverage on the Basque independence movement!!

Spain is somewhat of a champion in disputed borders... 3 exclaves in Morocco, Olivença, Gibraltar, all the separatist states...

Szeklerland in Romania would be nice to include too. It's rarely talked about in English. :)

Transnistria would be interesting to be covered in this channel.

Guys you have to put the precentage of people that voted in the non-binding referendum not just the result, otherwise the % of the votes are meaningless. Come on get your shit together.

I think this video overlooked two big facts, which painted a distorted version of how Catalonians feel about this: 1. Since 2017 and before, polls have never shown a clear majority support for independence, with both options usually a few points below 50% (because of undecided respondents). What polls consistently show is that Catalonia is divided in two very polarized halves. 2. The results of both referendums have to be taken with a bunch of salt. Obviously, most people against independence was against the illegal referendums too, so they didn't show up. I was surprised you didn't mention the turnout of the 2014 consultation was a mere 37%. And the 2017 referendum was a huge mess, with no guarantees at all that the results were trustworthy. The overview of the independence movement was very lacking too, without delving into its causes, motivations nor why it became so popular in the last decades.

*No 1: Don't Only Hope On Government For Income,* *No 2: As An Individual Look For Different Self Income Not Only Waiting on Monthly Wages,* *No 3: Always Save The Little You Can And Think Of What To Do With It When It Become Good For Capital.* *It's 100% Good To Have Different Ways To Gain Income* *Because Government have failed us so therefore let's try and survive*

the high pro-independent result on both referendums is because unionist boycotted it from the get-go and many did not vote, it does not really mean much. Polls are more reliable and it has been a toss-up for more than a decade now (btw pre 2005 independentist were a tiny minority many Catalans still believing on enhanced self-governance via constitutional reform)

Catalan here. The topic is definitely hard to tackle in a 10 min video. Probably not intentionally, but some of the simplifications made seem inspired from a ERC pamflet. Separatists don't have a clear majority in popular support, but due to the election law get always the control of the government. Shouting referendum and democracy doesn't make them more democratic, the laws they passed before the October referendum are against the most basic democratic principles. Independence is a very legit political goal, but not by any means. A referendum with a 50℅ cut is clearly not a way to solve this issue (it might be the last resort for a war torn country, but catalan society is still strongly embedded in Spain). Looking at Scotland, it worked for a few years... Once a yes is passed, will we held referendums for reunification? All it does is split catalan society along national axis. The former government coalition had anticapitalist with free market lovers "working" together, which is why we went to elections. And the same coalition seems to build as only alternative after the veto of erc to psc. During these times ig crisis, see a government more occupied for infighting between independentist factions and undermining central government did not bring joy, probably also why many people didn't go to vote. We're back at the start, they talk about a new unilateral referendum, groundhog day

9:50 i think you should do Northern Ireland

How can you call the 2017 "vote " a referendum ? This so called referendum was held only by independentist, there were no list of registered voters (someone could vote multiple time at the same location), they counted vote before the end and with only independentist present. This was a political manifestation but absolutely not a referendum.

I'm from Puerto Rico, so, I would love to see your take on Puerto Rico's status issue.

Catalonia: We are not Spain! Portugal: That's my boy!

You'd likely not want to touch this subject with a 10 foot pole, and I don't blame ya, but I'd love to hear your take on the Palestinian Authority, Gaza and the territories occupied by Israel (yes, you can hear the bias in the question).

The Falkland Islands will be an awesome episode! Although it requires a lot of study about the subject from both sides!

And this is why Scotland leaving the UK and joining the EU is so stupid, spain would never allow Scotland to Join, imagine the confidence that would give the Catalans.

South-Tyrol independence/reunification with Austria would make for an interesting video since almost all parties in their regional parliament are autonomist or seperatist (except the far right LN).

Millions is an overstatement...

The Western Sahara, for sure! Between the renewed war between Morocco and the SADR and the seeming trade of US recognition of Morocco’s claim to the territory for Moroccan recognition of Israel, it is definitely an overlooked region.

A disputed regions series would be awesome

Good Video, big thanks from Catalonia ;-)

In 2014 a referendum was held, in which 80% of voter answered yes to independency... but something important is missing. ONLY 43% of the population voted in that referendum, voters for yes, mostly. The rest of the population (mostly voters for no) did not vote, because the referendum was illegal.

A great video altogether! However, when showing the results of the 2017 referendum it might be interesting to note that most people against independence did not vote due to the unconstitutionality of the matter. This is a more accurate reflection of the division of the Catalonian people on this topic.

I am literally busy doing geography homework on Andalusia.

5:19 that referendum was a flop literally less than 40% of people participated cmon now.... and the 2017 one was completely chaotic.

The indepedence on my opinion is a bad decision for them since they are already a part of EU. Even if they gained independence they would most likely have to apply to join the EU and spain would veto their admission. It just isn’t worth it.

You guys missed why there is such a strong sense of nationalism which goes back to medieval times. The video gives the impression that it is very recent, and while there have been some major events in recent years, the history goes way back.

Catalonia and Spain: arguing over independence. Meanwhile Portugal thinking Olivença lookin Hella thick

Thank you for this video.

I think you should have addressed the reasons for the autonomy movement more in depth - I haven't really understood why catalonia wants to be independent at all

I would be very interested in an analysis on flemish nationalism in Belgium and the current state of belgium in general from your perspective. As a belgian, I often find external views on this topic to be way more hindsightful than the very divided coverage from our national media

A video about the italian Ladin communities would be interesting. The 5 groups, Cortina, Fassa, Fondom, Gardena and Badia, were essentially split up between 3 provinces and are, to this day, politically dominated by the german and italian language group. Despite beeing a minority language in italy, the oldest to be exact, they still dont have the same rights as German and French minorities. For example German and French have german/french translations on their documents, while ladin people dont.

Actually Together for Catalonia the ERC and the Popular Unity Candidacy, didn't reach 50% of the vote. All three combined reached 48%, is when you add up the numbers of the also independentist Catalan European Democratic Party, a party seceded from Together for Catalonia that takes a more moderate stance on the independence issue, it's more right-wing and didn't achieve representation this election that you get more than 50% of the votes. 52% if you include the even smaller parties.

The video is missing a fair bit of context: 1: The Spanish Constitution does not allow for unilateral referendums. If Catalonia wants to secede, it must be by modificating the Constitution, or the conflict will continue 2. The rise of Catalan Nationalism in the 2010s is heavily linked to big corruption scandals in Catalonia, look up the name Jordi Pujol 3. This last Catalonia elections had a 50% participation due to the pandemic

Do Biafra.. btw. I'm yoruba. But in support of self determination

I really liked this video, very interesting, learned quite a bit, and it cleared up some things. Would appreciate a video on Ocitanian independance, if that is not popular then a video on the westen sahara would be interesting (the unrecognised country underneath Moroco). Thank you very much have a good day and keep up the hard work.

Whilst I'd consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to history, more modern history has sadly escaped me. I'd like to understand about Kosovo. When it comes to what the UN recognises, I dont think theres a more disputed region in Europe.

Europe is getting so much countries, we will get to a point where every city is a country...

Here in Scotland we had a legally binding referendum in 2014 in which both sides promised to respect the result. That lasted 5 minutes before the nationalists started harping on about having another one..

It would be really interesting to have a video talking about Tibetan independence

A series on contentious borders and disputed regions would be incredibly interesting! Taiwan and Hong Kong are two great options to start with 🤩🙌🏼

Feels like the only reason some Catalonians want independence is because the region is rich and don't want to share.

I would like to ad that the turnout was only ~53% (2017:~79%), so a legal mandate would be slim.

Ireland & The North.

It would be great to see an episode on the dispute between Flanders and Wallonia in Belgium. Although, bear in mind that a lot of people will be pleased and or angry with these types of things. Even so, it would be great because you simply present the facts and there is little to no Bias in the reporting :)

I'm from a region called La Rioja Next top the Basque country and I feel spanish, although I can understand in some ways catalans people (as I've been there and I have many friends) I see a lot of people feeling Spanish there and they are really not that different from spaniards in other regions. This conflict is being used by politicians to hide corruption and bad legislative policies, on one side and and the other. So I don't see Catalonian Independence happening in the near future. With all respect, let's unite and not divide. Best regards

Surely the tiny turnout in the referendum is relevant? The vote was already declared illegal so the only people willing to vote were those who were the most passionate in their view, ie mostly those looking for independence. I would argue it's dishonest to not mention the tiny turnout. Polling for Catalan independence gives support at 40-45%, whereas the 2017 referendum had a yes vote of 92% and a turnout of 43%. Are you starting to see a little bit of a discrepancy there? The vast majority of unionists didn't vote because why would they?

I remember seeing a Poll Catalunya wanting independence but weird enough was that many people in Barcelona voted against it. Imagine an independent Catalunya without the Main city.

Spanish person here. You're missing some context in this video: most of the atricles striken from the statute of autonomy were already approved (and confirmed constitutional) in other regions' statutes. The same happened with a lot of laws that were considered "inconstitutional" or "illegal" when approved in the catalan government, but are perfectly leglal and constitutional when approved in another region or the central government. The context on this video seems like catalans are independentists because of some cultural or historical reason, but for the majority of people, the Spanish government is using Catalonia as a scapegoat for a long time, and just discussing "the catalan issue" to avoid legislating on any other thing, which is why the social protections have been going down for all Spanish people in the last couple of decades. Most of the independentists (or "secessionists", as are called on this video), are just tired of how the central government treats Catalonia. The scary thing if Catalonia ever becomes independent is to think what region is going to be the next scapegoat. BTW, about using "secessionists" vs "independentists", they have different connotations (at least in Spain): - When using "secessionists", you imply there's a Spanish nationality and identity that would be broken. This is commonly used by the far right. - When using "independentists", you imply there's a different cultural identity and that people want to regain their own rights. To put it in a way easy to understand for somebody on the UK: - Indians wanting to stop being a colony were "independentists". - The people in the City of London who want to separate from the UK to create a tax heaven are "secessionists". I am assuming your current Spanish proofreader is not from Catalonia, for how this video was presented. I encourage you to find a Catalan proofreader for issues related to Catalonia (and have Catalonia-related videos proof-read by both), since you'll be a lot more neutral this way.

7:16 *president, even though we are a constitutional monarchy it’s different than the UK's, in Spain the king doesn’t have such an important or venerated role, you can see this just by comparing the UK crown and the Spanish crown. Edit: I forgot, we also call the leaders of autonomous regions president. Edit2: The independence polls can be a bit confusing because there are different degrees of pro-Spain/pro-Catalonia, for example there are moderates in each side(more so in pro Catalonia) right wingers(more so in pro-Spain) and leftists (there are a lot on each side and also vary in degree)

Well the main problem with Catalonias independence is that the Spanish Constitution very clearly states that the Territories and Autonomous Communities that constitute the territory of Spain are UNDIBISIBLE. Thats why the referedum was deemed ilegal before it even happened because it very clearly goes against the constitution. In order to let Catalonia make a binding referendum for indepence the Constitution would have to be reformed first, wich is incredible hard needing a majority of 2/3s of the chamber to rerwite the Preliminary Title wich is the one that covers this topic. This is incredibly hard not only in general but given the new political model of several parties in power that Spain has been having for the last years it's pretty much imposible to pass a Constitutional reform of said Title and of course Nation-wide parties don't want Catalonia to go independent because it's one of, if not, the wealthiest regions in Spain and the Independent movement it's pretty unpopular outside of Catalonia. Furthermore reforming the Constitution to allow this kind of independent movements would really damage Spain as whole since not only Catalonia but both Galicia and the Basque Country have strong independent movements. So as of right now the only way of achieving Catalonian indepence is through an armed conflict, wich, ain't gonna happen'.

Would Spain agree to let them join the EU if they separated ? i think not...

If u are going to talk about disputed territories, Maybe also talk about the Dutch/Belgian town of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog and the river where the border between the two countries was changed. It shows that you're stronger together and it is not impossible to negotiate

Franco died in 1975, not '78, Spain really became a democracy in '78. Nice video.

Cyprus please. I´m Spanish and I think this video summarised this complex subject quite objectively.

would be interested to get your take on the disputed subject of the reunification of the island of Ireland, especially given the recent border/Brexit issue

Please do more of these! One on Rojava or Cyprus would be interesting.

Another interesting and well researched video. Thank you. Yes, "Disputed Regions" would be up my street. I wonder if this would include regions or territories which WERE disputed but enjoy, today, a mutually beneficial autonomy. Eg: Monaco, Isle Of Man, London City..... and what are those benefits, loopholes and tax dodges agreed by both territories.

This was informative but you didnt say WHY. Why do they want independence, what did spain do in response, what would it look like and would an independent Catalonia be a member of the EU like Scotland wants.

It's worth pointing out that out of the 14 articles reviewed, only 4 were fully suppressed, the rest being subject to minor modifications. And, although the Sentence's preamble was pretty inflammatory, the highlight of the court's decision was the modification of Art. 218, which would have allowed the catalan parliament to regulate how much the region contributes to the state budget.

I think a video on Mayotte a territory of France in the Mozambique Channel which is contested by the Comoros islands would be a really interesting video

Nice video. You did miss the juicy topic: what would happen to Catalonia from a EU membership point of view?

The rich stay rich by spending like the poor and investing without stopping then the poor stay poor by spending like the rich yet not investing like the rich

Spain: Morocco should give right of auto determination to Sahara Also Spain: we will never accept Catalonia auto determination RIP logic

Simply said, Catalonia is an historical nation which had ruled itself until the Borbon's conquest of 1714, then the repression began; repression to language, culture and catalan institutions.

I would like a series on disputed borders and territories. Those would be great.

How about Scotland's independence and the end of the United Kingdom?

Can you make a video about shengen and the romania/ bulgaria/ croatia situation?

A disputed border (kinda): The Normand Archipelago aka the Channel Islands. From the split of the duchy of Normandy in 1204 to the "Northern Patagonia" prank that still goes on (last occurence in july 2019) including the Saint-Marcouf restitution

Well, we kind of have a conundrum here: if Spanish constitution states that there can be no dissolving national unity, any referendum for Catalonia's secession will automatically be unconstitutional... which, of course, cannot be satisfying for Catalonia. Even a Spain-wide referendum would make very little sense because Catalans are not even close to being 51% of Spain's population. There is no "legal" way for Catalonia to gain indipendence unless the central parliament graciously agree to amend the constitution which is not highly probable, is it.

"scotish way of independence" *brave heart intensifies*

Their arguments all seem to come down to "The people in Catalan voted for Catalan to become independant" but that doesn't matter. If a random town in France decided it wanted to be independant, it wouldn't just become independant, you can't just decide to leave in and of yourself. The votes that they assert justify their seperatism were proven illegal before they happened, something illegal cannot be a justification of why that thing is not illegal. If their goal in this manner is illegal in Spain (which they are currently a part of) then it is ilegal, the only way around this would be to flatly deny the authority of the entire Spanish government (like a convicted criminal simply refusing what they did was illegal).

The disputed territory of Åland would be interesting.

Disputed regions - anywhere involving a dispute from China (and the associated legality of such disputes) would be an interesting starting area.

with this type of movement "fighting" is entirely the wrong word.

i'm from catalonia and catalonia will be forever spanish

I'd love to see an episode about the Sami people and their politics. I always wondered if they are cool with being part of Sweden and Norway or if they want independence

great video!

I believe it would be fair to mention that the Guardia Civil deployed over 10,000 armed police and severely injured around 1,000 citizens on the day of the 2017 referendum - impacting the turnout to the referendum

I's suggest you to discuss the question of Transylvania between Hungary and Romania. I think it would serve as a great video

Imagine all Catalan-speaking (including its dialects) regions form a single nation….Catalonia, Valencia, Andorra, Sardinia, Southeastern France. Catalonia sends a lot of tax money to Madrid, but doesn’t get much from those tax proceeds.

It is worth mentioning the omission of the major Unionist protests right before the nuclear option was imposed after E.R. basically declared independence. The support for independence in Catalonia is mixed, it has been since before the Spanish Civil War and it will probably be for decades to come, even if a Pro-Independece party is voted in on the regional level in Catalonia.