It is the nature of geopolitics that the quiet and odd may have more significance in the long run than the events that carry noisy headlines. Catalonia is a region in northeastern Spain. Its capital, Barcelona, is the second-largest city in Spain and the country's industrial and commercial hub. Catalonia is also a region that for decades has had a substantial independence movement seeking to break away from the rest of Spain. George Friedman of Stratfor weighs Catalonia in the context of Europe's past..