A majority in the Scottish and Catalan parliaments supports a referendum on independence. While Scots will vote on 18 September 2004, the Spanish government is against a referendum in Catalonia. This paper seeks to provide an answer to why the British and Spanish governments behave differently in dealing with the possibility of secession of these two nations within their territories. Two sorts of arguments are provided. First, Spain and the UK have experienced two very dissimilar processes of nation- and state-building, as well as coming from two clearly differentiated democratic traditions. Second, there is a clear strategic element. Polls in Scotland suggest that Scots would not vote for independence while in Catalonia around half the population would do so. The combination of both factors explains why the UK government agreed to hold a referendum whereas its Spanish counterpart has blocked all Catalan initiatives to deliver a vote on independence.
