Championing Catalonia abroad

Just a few months before the decisive elections on September 27, the Catalan government has announced a project to expand its international presence with plans to open 50 official delegations around the world. These offices, which the Spanish government calls “embassies” and which it has already announced it will impede, work in the same way as the Spanish delegations opened in international capitals. Their remit is to attract investment, promote domestic products and find opportunities on the international market. It is obvious that the political moment Catalonia is going through makes the opening of 50 new offices abroad a way of reinforcing the process towards independence. The idea of Diplocat, the Generalitat department in charge of foreign affairs, is to reinforce Catalonia's position abroad as an area of economic opportunity, to help dynamise the economy and gain clear competitive advantages. But the interest of the international press in the Catalan situation and the self-determination process offers these delegations a role that goes beyond acting as mere commercial offices. The vast majority of the international media that has focused on Catalonia shows that, indeed, what is going on in the country is both exceptional and extraordinary.