Little rays of sunshine

IT was reported with glee in Madrid that London has threatened to treat Scotland like a foreign country if it becomes one.

This is just what Madrid wanted to hear, although Scotland’s situation is different from Cataluña’s where nationalists are agitating for a right-to-decide referendum. 

Scotland has that right and knows what will happen if it decides to go it alone. Monetary union with the pound sterling would be out of the question and shipyard contracts would go. Like Cataluña it would have to reapply for EU membership. 
Cataluña’s latest little ray of sunshine came from Bank of Spain governor Luis Maria Linde. 

If Cataluña splits from Spain, banks like Sabadell, CaixaBank and Catalunya Banc risk failure without European Central Bank funds, Linde warned.

The canny Catalans have the reputation of being as careful with their money as the Scots.  Calls for national unity won’t change their minds, but bank balances might.