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Over the next days, the role of Catalonia's regional police may prove crucial in determining whether the independence referendum in Spain's proud north-eastern region goes ahead.

The story of that force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, also points to some of the differences between Spanish and British history that explain why nationalism in Catalonia is following a very different path to the independence movements in Wales or even Scotland.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are not just the police in Catalonia. They are a Catalan police force whose history goes back the militia, the Esquadras de Paisanos, who provided security in the region in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Traditionally Catalan-speaking and royalist, the force's longstanding loyalties are being tested by the direction from the state to suppress the referendum organised by Catalonia's regional government on Sunday.

Spain's national police have been sent to Catalonia to close polling stations but how the 17,000-strong Mossos acts will be crucial in determining whether people in Catalonia's 1,000 villages, towns and cities are able to vote.

And how they act, whether they decline to enforce direct orders or stop the self-expression of their own people, may well be coloured by Catalans own recent memories of direct and fierce oppression.

The Catalan language, culture and self-government was suppressed by the dictatorship led by Gen Francisco Franco until his death in 1975.

(Image: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

When Spain became a republic in 1931, Catalonia – which has a distinct identity dating back to the 12th century – gained its own autonomous government.

It stayed loyal to the Republic during the Civil War as militias and local forces battled the fascists – a chapter of history chronicled by George Orwell in Homage to Catalonia.

The thousands who were executed under the dictatorship included former Catalan president, Lluís Companys. The Catalan language was banned in schools and institutions were shut down.

Catalonia’s story in the decades since the return of democracy has been one of political, economic and cultural resurrection and renaissance.

Polls suggest that the population is split on want to continue this journey of nationhood as an independent state.

Over the summer, polls suggested that around 44% supported independence but some believe this will have grown in anger at the way the Spanish state has tried to stop Sunday's vote.

If it goes ahead, the Catalan government has promised to declare independence with 48 hours if there is a Yes vote.

Wales has our own story of fighting for language and culture, and a story of political and national rebirth.

Yet there is nothing like the scale of support for independence here.

And there are reasons for those differences.

Catalonia is wealthy.

(Image: iStockphoto/Getty images)

Catalonia generates around a fifth of Spain’s GDP. There has been grumbling its tax revenues have been used to subsidise poorer regions.

In contrast, a Cardiff University study found Wales ran a deficit of £14.7bn in 2014-15.

According to the Office for National Statistics, Wales had the lowest Gross Value Added (GVA) per head in the UK in 2015 at just £18,002. This compares with the English figure of £26,159.

Catalonia’s prosperity means its people have little difficulty imagining it as a standalone country. In contrast, advocates of Welsh independence have to argue that the nation’s economy could survive outside the UK.

The Catalan language is understood by the vast majority of people.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Language is one of the most powerful forces when it comes to fostering a sense of shared nationhood.

More than one in three people (36.3%) in Catalonia considered Catalan their “usual language” in 2013. Figures from 2011 show that 73.16% could speak Catalan and 96.12% could understand it.

The 2011 census in Britain found just 19% of people in Wales could speak Welsh.

Schoolchildren in Catalonia are immersed in the language and public life is fully bilingual. The Welsh Government has a target of there being one million Welsh-speakers by 2050.

Catalonia has a population more that twice that of Wales.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

There are 7.5 million people living in Catalonia out of a total Spanish population of 46.5 million. It is Spain’s second biggest autonomous region.

If the region became independent overnight it would have a bigger population than the likes of Bulgaria (7.1 million), Paraguay (6.7 million), Denmark (5.7 million) and Norway (5.2 million). Catalonia would be by no means a minnow among independent nation states.

There are many independent countries with smaller populations than Wales (3.1 million) but a vote for Welsh independence would involve a psychological jump – swapping life in the world’s fifth largest economy for the adventures and risks that would await a small country trying to carve out an identity in a turbulent world.

Multiple political parties in Catalonia back the independence referendum.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Plaid Cymru is the only mainstream party in Wales advocating independence. But there are a host of parties in Catalonian politics behind the drive for the referendum.

The 2015 regional elections saw pro-independence parties winning the most seats, although they fell just short of getting an outright majority of votes. Different parties banded together to form the Together for Yes alliance, and they were joined by the Popular Unity Candidacy which also backs independence.

The presence of another pro-independence party in Wales with credible support could change the nation’s political dynamics.

Plaid AM Adam Price asked in July: “Could you imagine a sister party which works with Plaid and tries to appeal in those areas where Plaid is currently not breaking through?”

Spain has a constitution which does not give regions the option of breaking away.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Spain, unlike the UK, has a written constitution – and it appears to rule out regions breaking away.

The 1978 document was an attempt to cement democracy and move on from the Franco years. The authors faced the challenge of binding together people of different languages and regions of greatly varying wealth.

At a time when devolution in the UK was decades away, Spain’s constitution guaranteed the “right to

self-government of the nationalities and regions”. But it also stressed the “indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation” and described Spain as “the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards”.

Opponents of the referendum see the staging of such a vote as an illegal act.

In contrast, the principle is now firmly established in the UK that the people of different nations can vote to leave the union. A referendum on leaving the UK was held in Northern Ireland in 1973, and SNP election success led to the Scottish independence vote of 2014.

Experts suggest the efforts to stop the Catalonian referendum taking place may inflame demand for independence.

Wales has steadily gained more devolution but many Catalonians feel aggrieved.

(Image: Getty Images)

The Assembly has changed since its creation in 1999. It has gained new powers to make laws and levy taxes.

Catalonia’s recent push for independence has its roots in protests which were triggered in 2010 when Spain’s constitutional court struck down parts of an autonomy statute backed by both the Madrid and Catalan parliaments.

There was anger that Catalan could not be the “preferred language” and more than a million people took to the streets.

(Image: South Wales Echo)

Professor Laura McAllister of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre said: “If you wanted to boost support for independence, then this is the way to do it, isn’t it? Corner people and suggest they have no right to hold a referendum.”

Dr Catrin Wyn Edwards, an expert on Catalonian politics at Aberystwyth University, argues that Spain’s response to the referendum effort could “absolutely” deepen desire for independence.

She said: “Back in early September the parliament passed a Bill to hold the referendum on October 1 and what we’ve seen since then has been, I think, quite shocking actually.”

(Image: publicity picture)

Isaac Simeon, originally from Barcelona, now runs a patisserie in Colwyn Bay and argues it is essential that Spain listens to Catalonia.

He said: “I think all this is very bad for Spain and for Catalonia and for [democracy]... Twenty years ago only 10% of people living in Catalonia wanted independence but [now more] people want independence...

“Spain has a big problem with Catalonia.”

Describing the deep sense of identity he feels, he said: “When people ask me, ‘are you from Spain?’ I always say, ‘No, sorry, I’m from Catalonia.’”

Victoria Overton, 32, from Brecon has lived in Spain for 10 years and moved to Barcelona in 2013. She studied Spanish and teaching English as a foreign language at Aberystwyth and now works in a school.

She says that “Catalan identity is as strong if not stronger than Welsh identity”.

Describing just how embedded the Catalan language has become in everyday life, she said: “Catalan public schools teach the majority of subjects in Catalan, even the official exams are in Catalan (you can chose Spanish if needs be), there are more TV channels, radio stations etc, so I do feel that the language is far more prevalent... Catalonia really identifies itself as a separate country and feels somewhat different from the rest of the country.”

When asked if the referendum should take place, she said: “Of course the referendum should go ahead. A country should always listen to the people.

“I cannot understand how stopping a referendum is democratic. The Spanish central Government needs to listen to the Catalan government before making snap decisions, arresting people for organising the referendum and generally scaremongering.

“People having a voice is democratic and this referendum has become more than being about independence, it has become more about democracy and the right to having a voice.”

Ms Overton added: “People are not worried, they are angry that their voices are being ignored and not listened to. They are frustrated and they are fed up, and with good reason.”

When asked if Catalonia is heading towards independence, she said: “I think the longer the central Spanish Government continue to fight and oppose the Catalan voice, the more people will continue to fight (peacefully) and vote for independence. In general, most Catalans do not want independence but they want the right to make their voices heard.”