it's worth noting that spanish over-reactions may be rooted in memories/fears of ETA, which is an entirely different group from an entirely different region also seeking secession.

the concern is the "suppress this at any cost" approach.

the heavy sentences can be seen as provocative (13 years for holding an "illegal" election is indefensible. it's pure authoritarian slapdown, reeks of hubris, and spits in the face of actual violent crime convictions. you can get less for murder in Spain!)

this fuels sympathy for a movement that otherwise smelled a bit like the "Piadina" secessionists: a rich region seeking to "unburden" itself of it's poorer compatriot region

such is the unreformed state of spanish nationalism that Madridenses literally will see nothing wrong with extreme civil rights breaches by G.C. etc.

let's not forget that Spain just sold a large order of bombs to Saudi Arabia, so the epiphet "terrorist" is not to be taken seriously, as in the American Gov't etc.

I'm in no way interested in Catalunyan independence, but this posturing by the Spanish Gov't looks RIDICULOUS and should be ridiculed as such.

This is just a nitpick, but ETA was not the only active terrorist group in Spain. Catalonia also had Terra Lliure (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Lliure)

Please don’t be intellectually dishonest. Murder in Spain is 10 to 15 years but they have been condemned by more than one crime, and that adds up, so you are comparing apples to oranges. One of them is sedition, the other one is akin to embezzlement (they used public funds for pursuing their agenda outside of their public mandate).

Also the sentencing was not the harshest by far: rebellion was dropped, state attorney demanded up to 25 years, and “acusación particular” (VOX) was asking to up to 74 years.

I've never heard of "Piadina" secessionism, could you please shed any light on that? Can't find anything about it

Probably the op is refering to Padania in Italy, lega nord.