Self-determination top topic for Catalans discussing Europe online with 52% of mentions

What do Catalans think about Europe? That was the question posed at an event in Barcelona on Wednesday, which took place within the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE).

Two reports were presented. The first, from Diplocat, which describes itself as "a public-private consortium that projects Catalonia to the world," showed that self-determination was by far the most popular topic in Catalonia when discussing European matters.

Analyzing 4.2 million online mentions between 2014 and 2021, the report found that self-determination accounted for 52% of the conversation, followed by justice with 22% and the economy with 10%.

Digital media, Twitter, blogs and forums in Catalan, Spanish and English were included in the study, with more than half of all mentions (51%) in Catalan, 38% in Spanish and 11% in English.

The report, entitled 'What does Catalonia talk about when it talks about Europe', noted that the predominant tone of conversation was neutral or indefinite in the vast majority of cases (90%).

Trust in Europe "low"

The second report of the evening came from the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) and the Catalan International Institute for Peace (ICIP).

Their analysis concluded that confidence in European institutions is "low" in Catalonia, in line with other countries in southern Europe, and a few points below the Spanish average.

They also highlighted a trend in terms of political orientation. Respondents on the right and center-right identify more with Europe and have more confidence in its institutions. People on the left and who identify more with Catalonia have less faith in the EU.

In a speech to round off the event at Palau Robert, Catalonia's foreign minister, Victòria Alsina, praised European integration. "We feel comfortable with the European project which, from the outset, has stood for values of democracy, freedom, the rule of law, equality and human rights."

But Europe, she warned, "must be based on real democratic legitimacy," as she criticized Spanish democracy as "imperfect, weak or low quality" in the wake of the Catalangate espionage revelations.