"What's up with Catalonia?" is a collection of brand-new essays—written in the last few months by experts in Catalan history, economy, language, culture, and politics—that explain why 1.5 million people took to the streets on Catalonia's National Day, September 11, 2012, to demand independence from Spain, and how they are channeling that joyous, peaceful, democratic spirit toward the Declaration of Sovereignty, structures of state, and other steps toward having their own independent country. The objective of this book is to explain the current political situation in Catalonia to the world. Our goal is to offer timely information to political and business leaders, to students and professors, to visitors, to historians, and to anyone else who's interested in going beyond the surface.