IPDAL and Royal Elcano Institute (RIE) organized a debate dedicated to the “Crisis in Catalonia and Possible Consequences”.

The Director of RIE, Charles Powell, began his presentation by presenting a historical perspective on how Catalan independence sentiment evolved. The unique characteristics of the region were presented, which explain the recent growth of secessionist movements, as well as the latest national and European developments that fueled the phenomenon. The possible short and medium-term political and economic consequences of the current separatist process were also addressed.

Federico Steinberg, senior analyst at RIE, also explained the geographic and socioeconomic dispersion of voting trends in the last elections and their motivations.

IPDAL joined this initiative because it believes that political and economic phenomena in Spain concern Portugal and Latin America, in addition to considering RIE one of its most credible and long-standing partners.

The Real Instituto Elcano is the main Spanish think-tank, whose mission is to promote knowledge about international reality and Spain’s foreign relations in society. It also serves as a center for thinking and generating ideas that are useful for decision-making by political leaders, directors of private companies, public institutions, social agents and academics.