Spanish princess will find it hard to avoid ‘heated independence debates’ while studying in Wales

The heir to the Spanish throne will find it hard to avoid “heated debates” around independence while studying in Wales, it has been claimed.

The Spanish newspaper El Diario reported that support for Welsh independence is rising, and that this could have an impact on Princess Leonor de Borbon, 15, who will attend Atlantic College based at St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The princess, who is the eldest daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, will begin her £67,000 two-year course at the boarding school this summer.

According to the paper, Brexit has not only “reopened territorial conflicts” in Scotland and Northern Ireland but has “unearthed the desire for secession” in Wales too.

A recent ITV poll has shown the highest support for independence ever recorded with 39 per cent of Welsh people saying they would now vote ‘yes’ in a referendum.

Excluding don’t know answers, 39 per cent said they would vote ‘Yes’ if a referendum was held tomorrow. This outstrips the previous high of 32 per cent in a YouGov poll in August 2020.

Almost a quarter of Welsh respondents also told ComRes Wales would be more likely to become independent if Scotland did first.

According to El Diario, the rise for support for independence in Wales is starting to “cause concern” for the British Government.

It also suggests that the management of the pandemic in Wales, where First Minister Mark Drakeford has been able to diverge from the UK Government on Covid-19 lockdown restrictions is “another reason behind the growing sympathy” for self-government. It notes that support for independence is stronger among younger people who have grown up with devolution.