BARCELONA — Chris Nash, a 58-year-old English language teacher, is troubled by the thought of his adopted homeland, Catalonia — a wealthy region of 7.4 million people in northeastern Spain — breaking away from Madrid and becoming a sovereign state. “It’s difficult,” said Nash, who is from originally from London. “I don’t feel I can trust the [the nationalist parties] … Their campaign is somewhat opportunistic.” He has lived in Terrassa, a town 13 miles outside Barcelona, the Catalan capital, for the last 26 years. He thinks Catalonia’s ascendant separatist movement has failed to answer key questions about what independence would involve. “I’m not necessarily anti-independence, but it needs to be discussed,” Nash said. “All we’ve had so far is denial. [Nationalists] say we’ll be fine and there won’t be any problems. But this wave of romantic delusion is the wrong way to build an [independent country].” On Sept. 27, Catalonia held elections to its devolved parliament, which were billed by separatists as a proxy referendum on independence from Spain. A coalition of nationalist parties, including center-right Convergencia, left-leaning Esquerra Republicana and radical leftists Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), won 72 of the legislature’s 135 seats and now claim a mandate for independence. However, the Spanish government, under right-wing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, has ruled out any talks with Barcelona that could lead to the break-up of Spain. In order to force Madrid to the negotiating table, Catalan independentistas will have to find a way of boosting support for independence in a population that remains, despite Sunday’s election results, divided on the issue.

Traditionally, nationalist sentiment has been strongest among the Catalan-speaking middle class. But, like Nash, many in Catalonia’s sizable immigrant community — a group that includes people from other Spanish regions as well as from beyond Spain’s borders — are uneasy about secession. Maria Justina Moya, a 33-year-old madrileña who moved to Barcelona two years ago for work, said the debate over independence had made life in Catalonia more difficult for her. “For me, the situation is very sad. Sometimes it is quite uncomfortable to live in Barcelona as someone from Madrid because [Catalan] politicians are always saying that Madrid has stolen their money … but there are poor areas of Spain that need it.” She used to believe in a united Spain but now thinks that if Catalans want to secede, they should. “If they don’t want to be Spanish, they should just go,” she said. “I am tired, and I would prefer just to let them go. I don’t want anyone [to stay] in this country who doesn’t want to belong.” Moya’s views are echoed by Jenny Morrison, a student from Scotland who lives and studies in Barcelona. “Right-wing [language] dominates the Catalan independence movement,” she said. “They say, ‘Espanya ens roba’ — ‘Spain robs us’ — because Catalonia contributes more [in tax] to Spain than it receives back. But this is because Catalonia is a rich part of Spain, so their contribution should be higher in order to fund redistribution.” Morrison campaigned for secession during last year’s referendum on Scottish independence but sees Catalan nationalism as less progressive than its Scottish counterpart. “Support for independence here is the reverse of what it is in Scotland … A new Catalan state is likely to be formed through right-wing middle-class support. It is difficult to see the working class gaining much in that scenario.”

‘For me, the situation is very sad. Sometimes it is quite uncomfortable to live in Barcelona as someone from Madrid because [Catalan] politicians are always saying that Madrid has stolen their money.’ Maria Justina Moya Barcelona resident