Catalan secession

SIR – Catalonia (Letters, October 5) was never an independent state but part of the Kingdom of Aragon, and enjoys extraordinary devolved powers. All Spaniards have a claim on Spanish national unity, and no one region has any right to destroy the country.

Catalonia does not want to share resources with less prosperous regions, yet it has prospered from EU grants. Every EU state has regions that are more prosperous than others, just as the EU itself is composed of states of widely differing wealth.

In 1861, the US Confederate States declared independence. Faced with the break-up of the country, President Lincoln had no choice but to go to war.

Millions of residents of Catalonia oppose independence, but rightly respect Spanish law and did not attempt to vote. Should they suffer because of the demands of extremist nationalists?

The rest of Europe needs to rally to Spain’s support or risk similar demands from prosperous regions seeking control of their own resources at the expense of the rest. Guy Sainty

London W1