Before watching the video read the vocabulary:
Pave the way: be the first to do sth (allanar/ abrir el camino, ser
pioneros)
Be better off: be in more favourable circumstances ( estar
mucho mejor)
Run out of: have none left / use up supplies of sth
(quedarse sin, agotar)
Galvanize: stir to action / stimulate into activity
(impulsar, mobilizar)
Forward: send, transmit ( enviar, remitir, reenviar)
To go it alone: to do anything without the assistance of
one's former associates/ If you go it
alone, you do something without any help from other people. ( they are ready to
go it alone: to become independent)
GDP : Gross domestic product. (PIB: product interior bruto). Market value of all recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living
Work out well: turn out well / will be all right (ir bien,
salir bien)
Take into account: consider (tener en cuenta)
Secede: make a formal withdrawal of membership:
(separarse)
Remain: continue to be (permanecer)
Highly: extremely (sumamente, extremadamente)
Indebted: owing money (endeudado)
Watch the video and try to answer the following questions:
- What’s special about Catalonia?
- How do separatists think they would be better?
- What’s happened to the regional government?
- Give an example that indicates that Catalan people think the are ready to be independent.
- Would Catalonia be better in GDP than Spain?
- What could happen if Catalonia became independent? What would the consequences be?
They have their own language, their own flag, and on Sunday, citizens of Catalonia could be paving the way to having their own country. Catalonia is Spain’s wealthiest region. Separatists there say they would be better off cutting ties with Madrid and the rest of Spain and local elections Sunday could put those separatists in power. The BBC reports:
“As Catalonia’s economic crisis has worsened, the regional government has almost run out of money. That has galvanized support for Catalan nationalist parties. The small town of Galifa, near Barcelona , has even decided to send its federal tax money to the regional government instead. It’s purely symbolic since the region will just forward the money on to the federal level but it’s another sign that Catalonians think they are ready to go it alone.
According to financial services group Credit Suisse, Catalonia on its own would be comparable in GDP per capita to the average European Union nation . But Spain, having lost its richest region, would drop to the likes of Greece and Portugal.
Sounds like independence would work out well for Catalonia, but the Washington Post says that doesn’t take all the economic consequences into account. If the region did formally secede, it might have to leave the euro and the EU, at least temporarily… Leaving the euro could cause a lot of economic disruption and Catalonia’s regional government remains highly indebted.
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