Spain must keep peace

MAYBE Spain wouldn’t be in such a dire constitutional crisis if the right-wing Government in Madrid hadn’t deployed armed Civil Guards to crack the heads of Catalans demanding independence.

Here, rancour marred the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 but mercifully there was hardly any violence, because Westminster didn’t send RoboCops to baton old women and shut polling booths across Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Arguments about the legality of the Catalan Parliament’s independence declaration are largely a matter for the people of Spain to sort out, hopefully peacefully. Europe doesn’t need another outbreak of nationalism.

Our Government refusing to recognise an independent Catalonia is to be expected, as nation states tend to support one another.

But whatever happens, we hope bloodshed is averted. Madrid wooing Barcelona might be a more successful tactic than using force.