AJACCIO: Nationalist gains at the ballot box in Corsica may have earned the French island comparisons with Catalonia, but even its hardcore separatists admit that breaking away is a distant dream.
The ruling alliance of separatists and pro-autonomy candidates took 45 percent of the vote in last weekend鈥檚 first round of regional elections, advances they look set to cement in Sunday鈥檚 final round.
The score represents a 10-point rise in the Pe a Corsica (鈥淔or Corsica鈥�) alliance鈥檚 showing when they came to power at the local level two years ago on the island where Napoleon was born.
Like Spain鈥檚 Catalonia, the stunningly beautiful island wedged between France and Italy has its own language, a proud identity and a history of testy relations with the central government.
But while the Catalan separatists led by Carles Puigdemont went as far as a full-blown independence declaration, Corsican nationalists are sticking to more modest goals.
Energised by last weekend鈥檚 gains to push for more autonomy, they have already revived three demands long rejected by Paris.
They want equal recognition for the Corsican language and an amnesty for convicts they consider to be political prisoners.
And they want the state to recognize a special Corsican residency status 鈥� partly an effort to fight property speculation fueled by foreigners snapping up holiday homes.
These are sensitive issues on an island where a four-decade bombing campaign by the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC) 鈥� mainly targeting state infrastructure 鈥� was called off only in 2014.
The worst nationalist attack saw France鈥檚 top official on the island, Claude Erignac, assassinated in 1998.
Calm returned when the FLNC laid down its weapons 鈥� which, according to political analyst Jerome Fourquet, has helped to 鈥渘ormalize nationalism.鈥�
The nationalists have become 鈥渁 responsible, presentable political force,鈥� Fourquet wrote in a report for the Jean Jaures Foundation.
As part of this more moderate approach, nationalists assure that an immediate independence bid is not on the table.
Even separatist leader Jean-Guy Talamoni 鈥� nicknamed by some 鈥渢he Corsican Puigdemont鈥� 鈥� suggests the island would split from France in 10 or 15 years at the earliest, if a majority supported it.
Yet opinion polls show that most of Corsica鈥檚 330,000 residents, many of whom live off seasonal tourism and rely heavily on state subsidies, want to stay part of France.
Even in the northern village of Belgodere, where nationalists scored 90.22 percent last Sunday, the result was largely a reflection of local problems.
鈥淚鈥檓 not voting out of political allegiance, or for autonomy or independence,鈥� said Jean-Paul Pernet, the village鈥檚 only doctor, who backed the nationalists.
He voted, he said, 鈥淔or people who will bring concrete plans鈥� to rural areas that feel isolated and neglected by authorities. The nationalists鈥� opponents have repeatedly raised the prospect of Corsica being 鈥渢he next Catalonia.鈥�
But Andre Fazi, a politics lecturer at Corsica University, dismissed a Catalonia-style independence bid as a 鈥渇antasy.鈥�
For Thierry Dominici, a Corsica specialist at the University of Bordeaux, the main barrier to independence is the island鈥檚 heavy economic dependence on the mainland.
That is not the case for Catalonia, where chief among many separatists鈥� complaints is that their wealthy region, representing a fifth of Spain鈥檚 economic output, does not get enough back for what it pays into national coffers.
Corsica, by contrast, represents just 0.4 percent of the French economy, suffering from higher unemployment and poverty rates than the mainland.
鈥淎n economically viable Corsica 鈥� I don鈥檛 think we鈥檒l see it in my lifetime,鈥� Dominici said.
鈥淓ven in terms of constitutional law, it鈥檚 a completely different situation,鈥� he added.
While Catalonia already enjoys widespread autonomy in policy areas such as health, education and policing, 鈥淔rance is the most centralized unitary state in Europe,鈥� Dominici said.
Even hard-line Corsican separatists like the small U Rinnovu party have limited themselves to pushing for an independence referendum in 2032.