The Financial Times describes the developments in Catalonia as "the most serious political crisis in Spain since the attempted coup of 1981". "But this time it was not disobedient elements in the military who tried to end a newly formed democracy, but the populist threat of the 21st century to the integrity of Spain itself," the paper said.
The country's economic recovery was interrupted by developments in Catalonia. One option is to give the region more control over its finances and to recognize the Catalans directly as a "nation" rather than as various anonymous "nationalities", as referred to in Article 2 of the Constitution.