Аннотация:The article is devoted to the analysis of the negotiation process between the official Madrid and the Catalan authorities aimed at the settlement of the autonomy selfdetermination issue at present stage. The main aim of this research is to determine the general lines of the conflict sides’ confrontation, as well as to identify features of the dialog, which caused communication failures, and to reveal the profound reasons that prevented from the finding a compromise solution. The central concept of the Catalans’ rhetoric is the realization of Catalonia’s right for the selfdetermination and the independence through the negotiations with the Spanish government and the EU leadership. On the contrary, the central concept of the Spanish government is the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation, based on the Constitution. These opposite positions go from the different political motivation, as the real reason of this intercultural confrontation is deeper and lies in another sphere of social life, not in ethnic and cultural. The analysis of the negotiation process of 2017 reflects the struggle of the elites inside the country. It confirms that the key point of this struggle is not the desire to gain independence, for which Catalonia will hardly ever be ready, but to reach more and more economic preferences and to take a dominant position throughout the country.