Edinburgh: capital of the new nationalism
Separatists from across Europe took over the centre of Edinburgh as Scots went to the polls. The referendum has become a model for pro-independence activists.
The red and yellow of Catalonia and the colourful Basque flag outnumbered the saltire on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile as voting got underway on Thursday.
A group of about 40 Basque nationalists held a rally outside a polling station, performing traditional dances from the region, the music of their accordions clashing with the bagpipes.
Separatists in the area, which straddles the Pyrenees, have been seeking independence from France and Spain for decades.
The armed group ETA announced a ceasefire in 2011 after a conflict that claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Democratic pressure
Young nationalists told Channel 4 News they rejected violence and were impressed at how the Scottish nationalist movement had forced the UK government to hold a referendum through purely democratic pressure.
The Catalan flag has also been much in evidence on the streets of Edinburgh, with some separatists making the 1,300-mile journey on motorbikes and in a tiny, brightly painted vintage Seat 600 car.
On Thursday activists arranged hundreds of candles representing the blue and white of Scotland standing together with the red and yellow of Catalonia.
A group of Catalan students from Barcelona, the prosperous regional capital, told us they wanted their own independence referendum, but did not believe Spain’s right-wing government would let it go ahead.
It was a sentiment echoed by nationalists from across Europe who had travelled to Scotland to fly their flags.
Read more: The other independence groups trying to carve a new Europe
Two men proudly flew flag of an independent Sardinia. A group of middle-aged visitors displayed the colours of the Netherlands province of Friesland, where nationalists want autonomy from Amsterdam. Bavarian nationalists in lederhosen mixed with Scots in kilts.
The SNP is part of a Europe-wide network of like-minded separatist groups. But most of the people we met in Edinburgh were not here as official representatives of political parties.
Most said they had taken a few days off work to come to show their support for Scottish nationalists and to see a vote many aspiring nations can only dream of.
Catalan nationalists in particular hope the UK government’s willingness to hold a referendum will put pressure on Madrid to follow suit.
Last week 1.8 million people flooded the streets of Barcelona to call for their own vote. They say they will hold an independence referendum on 9 November, but the Spanish government says the poll will not go ahead.