I would expect an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail to be informed, historically accurate and offer insight into an issue. This article is grossly inaccurate with regards to the status and history of both Catalonia and Scotland. Nations are born first from blood and bone, later from constitutions and alliances. Scotland is an entirely distinct nation from England, different in language, culture, history and DNA. The Catalan language is the lone remaining language of Occitannia, the cultural region that linked Catalonia, southern France and parts of Italy in a cohesive cultural area. Catalonia's history, trade, culture and commerce has always been directed towards Europe and the remnant zones of Occitania, not towards Madrid and the rest of Spain. This background hardly begins to scratch the surface of the fundamental differences between the regions involved. They are serious issues; we need informed opinions. This article fails the criteria.