Under Franco, Catalan culture and Catalan language were surpressed. You could be punished for speaking Catalan in the street or in school, so there has been for some time a repressed resentment of the Madrid government.

I personally am very wary of this movement towards independence - the argument seems to be that as Catalonia creates a lot of wealth for the Spanish nation, that the Catalans think they ought to keep it for themselves. Fair or not? Is there more stability in unity?

And what does Catalonia consist of? Linguistically it stretches into France (Perpignon) and Andorra, and related dialects are also spoken in Valencia and the Balaeric Islands. Does the UDI move include them?

I blame Brexit for all this mess - be careful what you wish for.