In Spain last Tuesday, on a national holiday known as Constitution Day, the Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia published a cartoon that stretched the boundaries of taste.

It showed the Spanish constitution sealed in a museum’s glass case with the warning notice: “Look but don’t touch.” Also pictured were two threatening figures seemingly trying to get at the case. They wore T-shirts emblazoned with the flags of the Basque country and Catalonia — and both held the straps of sinister-looking rucksacks.

It was a clear reference to the terrorist bomb attacks on Madrid’s railway network in March last year, and demonstrated the depth of feeling in Spain about the debate over new powers for the country’s regions.

Catalonia and Scotland have often looked to each other as kindred spirits — small nations without full nationhood, with an often troublesome relationship with the larger states of which they are part.

A testament to the link is the fact that this year’s Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh are to have a Catalan theme, with street performers from Barcelona at the heart of this most Scottish of occasions.

Now, with the Catalans pushing for more power to be devolved from Madrid to Barcelona, Scots politicians with similar ambitions are looking to see what lessons can be gained from the Catalonian experience.

Last month The Sunday Times launched a campaign, More Powers For Holyrood?, to examine the case for a new phase of Scottish devolution. Influential politicians from all the main Scottish parties are backing new powers, especially to give the Scottish government more control of the economy. So, what can Catalonia teach the Scots? Mass rallies have been held in Madrid attracting 50,000 people in support of the Spanish constitution, forged 27 years ago in the wake of the downfall of General Franco, which tries to balance the needs of regions such as Catalonia with the need for a strong and unified Spain.

The Catalans, however, have other ideas. The Catalan president, Pasqual Maragall, in a statement to mark Constitution Day, said last week: “Spain is different today to what it was a quarter of a century ago and, with democratic normality, I ask for respect for the Catalan proposal for a new statute.”

There is a furore in Madrid surrounding Maragall’s numerous demands, allegedly approved by Spain’s socialist prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, that “the nation” of Catalonia be recognised.

But if the Generalitat, the Catalan parliament, gets its way, Catalonia would become a nation confederated with the rest of Spain. It would regulate every sector of life. It would also discriminate against anybody unable to speak and write Catalan.

The language issue is perhaps the greatest difference between the Catalan and Scottish situations, and it is one of the most contentious aspects of the Catalan bid. Scots campaigners are grateful they do not have to contend with anything so divisive.

Catalonia, in northeast Spain, has a population of nearly seven million of whom 95% understand Catalan, but only half can write it. The Catalan Institute of Statistics admits 2.9m Catalans use Spanish as their first language compared to 2.2m who prefer Catalan.

Since the Catalan coalition of socialists and nationalists was elected two years ago, there has been a 400% increase in fines imposed by the “language police”. They enforce a controversial 1998 law that says all institutions and establishments must first converse with visitors or customers in Catalan and not Spanish.

But politics, not semantics, are the reason why parliament in Madrid has been forced to entertain the bold new nationalist statute — and here the lessons for Scotland are more practical. Both Maragall and prime minister Zapatero lead minority governments and rely on the radical nationalist Catalan Republican Left (ERC) to stay in power.

Any change in Scotland’s constitutional settlement would be decided at Westminster, so future parliamentary arithmetic in the Commons could prove crucial.

If, for example, there were a hung parliament in which the Scottish National Party held the balance of power, this would give them enormous leverage with the UK government to be used in the same way as the Catalan radicals have in Madrid.

Catalonia was the second of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions to be granted autonomy, on December 18, 1979. Its powers include civil law, police, culture, tourism, environment, communications, transportation, commerce and provincial and municipal authorities. Shared with Madrid are education, health and justice. Catalonia operates offices overseas for culture, trade, tourism and foreign investment.

In this it differs substantially from Scotland, which has no power to deal internationally with foreign governments — a serious bone of contention — but has powers over education, health and justice.

The Catalan region, 6% of Spanish territory, is about the same size as Belgium and produces about one fifth of Spain’s GDP. So Catalonia is more crucial to the Spanish economy than Scotland is to the UK’s.

Catalonia wants the transfer to Barcelona of powers to collect taxes and regulate the economy, banks, the small stock market, competition and employment. Opponents argue this would violate the EU treaty on economic policy for free markets.

It is a foregone conclusion that Congress in Madrid will throw out many demands and tone down others before finally presenting a revised draft statute later next year.

Catalan nationalists might seem to have the wind at their backs politically, but there are problems ahead.

While opposition to change in Catalonia comes from the right of the political spectrum, in the UK the opposition is more likely to come from the Labour party. Many Labour MPs — including many from Scotland — are disillusioned with devolution and would oppose any change from the status quo.

The message from Spain to Scotland boils down to a simple one: when devolved regions try to press for more powers, the role their parties play in the larger state’s politics are a crucial lever. And when regions are opposed by forces that support the centre, politics can get extremely dirty. In Spain, the coming year will see who will prevail.

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