The Economy of Catalonia

the Treasury and Financial Policy) – because in this field Catalonia’s
Ministry of the Economy and Knowledge already includes a Direcció
General de Política Financera, Assegurances i Tresor (General Directorate
of Financial Policy, Insurance and the Treasury) which would provide
the basis for the new State structures to cover this need.
Furthermore, Barcelona already has a stock exchange, the Borsa de Barcelona,
with a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. Today, as part of
the BME group (Bolsas y Mercados Españoles – Spanish Stock Exchanges
and Markets), it plays a key role thanks to its electronic trading capability
and real-time access to all world markets. The Borsa de Barcelona
will be a very important asset when it comes to endowing a future Catalan
State with the necessary financial structures because it will guarantee
that Catalonia is present in, and permanently connected to, the totally
globalised security markets.
Conclusions
All is possible in life but not all is feasible. It is perfectly legitimate for a
nation to aspire to full sovereignty over all the aspects of State power
(legislative, executive, judiciary and defence) and, of course, over economic
power as well (economic, fiscal, monetary and financial policy).
In democratic societies, power is vested in institutions which alone possess
the auctoritas to wield this potestas. Thus institutions, which are made
up of people, come to embody sovereignty. But, however strong the
desire for sovereignty, the context must be taken into account, notably
the restrictions affecting the nation in question, in our case Catalonia,
which is affected by restrictions related to Spain, the State from which it
aspires to become independent, if that is the desire of the majority of the
Catalan population.
We designed this chapter with a long preamble explaining that our
working hypothesis is that the State of Catalonia will remain in the European
Union and the Eurozone. For this to be possible, both Catalonia
and Spain must be able to face up to the situation arising from the separation
with assurances of their future viability. So, if a majority of the people
of Catalonia declared themselves in favour of independence, it would
be necessary – in our view – for the two parties to initiate frank, open,
transparent negotiations which, once concluded, would enable them to
The financial system of an independent Catalonia. 113