On September 11, 2012, on Catalonia’s National Day, one and a half million people from all over Catalonia marched peacefully and joyfully through the streets of Barcelona, behind a single placard: Catalonia: New State in Europe. Fifteen days later, President Artur Mas called snap elections for the Parliament of Catalo nia, in order to hold a referendum that would let the people of Catalonia decide their own f