Spanish court charges Catalan leaders with rebellion

politico.eu - Spain’s Supreme Court said on Friday it will try 13 Catalan independence leaders on charges of rebellion, including ousted regional President Carles Puigdemont and his top aides and allies.

A judge later ordered that four of them should be jailed without bail.

Judge Pablo Llarena’s decision to bring formal charges means the secessionist leaders face potential jail terms of 25-30 years. It also complicates the Catalan parliament’s attempts to replace Puigdemont, who is in exile in Belgium to avoid being jailed over last year’s attempt to declare independence from Spain.

In total, Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena indicted 25 former officials and pro-independence leaders on charges including misuse of public funds and disobedience. He also ordered the main group to pay back €2.1 million to cover the cost of last year’s referendum, which Madrid declared illegal, and court costs.

In a statement, the court said the indictment concerns activities going back six years designed to “execute a predetermined plan with the aim of declaring Catalonia’s independence, outside of the law.”

The judge later said Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell should be placed in pre-trial detention.

The 13 former officials indicted with the most serious charge — rebellion — include Puigdemont; his jailed former deputy Orio Junqueras; the former speaker of the Catalan parliament Carme Forcadell; and two men proposed by the independence movement to replace Puigdemont: Jordi Sànchez of the grassroots Catalan National Assembly (ANC), whose candidacy was blocked because he is in jail; and Turull, who failed to secure the post at a first attempt in the regional parliament on Thursday. ContinueReading

Related: Protesters mock Catalan independence bid with secession call of their own

Catalan leader fuelling Belgian tensions: Spanish MEP

expatica.com - A Spanish member of the European Parliament said Monday that the sacked Catalan president, who is in Belgium awaiting possible extradition to Spain, was being used to fuel tensions between French- and Flemish-speakers.

In a series of statements and tweets since Sunday, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, a member of Spain's ruling Popular Party, also denounced Belgium's interior minister for accusing Madrid of mismanaging the secessionist crisis.

"There is no conflict between Belgium and Spain but there is an internal conflict between Belgians, between Flanders and Wallonia," he told Spanish television, referring to the Dutch-speaking northern and French-speaking southern regions.

Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont's arrival in Belgium last week has caused problems for the government led by Prime Minister Charles Michel, who rules in a coalition with Flemish separatists sympathetic to the region's independence cause.

On Sunday, Belgium's Interior Minister Jan Jambon, a member of nationalist party New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), questioned why the EU had not denounced Spain's detention of Catalan leaders.

A Spanish judge on Thursday ordered eight members of Catalonia's deposed government put into custody pending an inquiry into their push to break the region away from Spain.

Puigdemont and four sacked ministers will appear in court on November 17 as Belgium considers a Spanish request for their extradition.

"The Flemish are pro-independence and want the Catalan process to succeed," Gonzalez Pons said.

He accused Jambon of belonging to a "party that collaborated with the German occupation in World War II, a xenophobic party that is an unsavoury ally for anyone."

Jambon stirred outrage in 2014 by suggesting that Flemish groups who collaborated with the Nazis "had their reasons".

Puigdemont acknowledged last week that he had gone to Belgium partly to take the Catalan issue to the heart of the European Union, which has backed Madrid during the crisis.

(ontinueReading

Related: Flemish minister hopes Belgium won’t exist in 2025

DRAMA BOMB!: Flemish leader tells Spain’s ruling party to ‘keep its mouth shut’

Failed Spain to impose direct rule over Catalonia after region declares independence

washingtonpost.com - BARCELONA — The Spanish Senate gave the central government in Madrid unprecedented powers over Catalonia on Friday, just minutes after the breakaway region declared independence, sharply escalating a constitutional crisis in the center of western Europe.

The two votes — one for independence, one to restore constitutional rule — came in dueling sessions of parliaments in Barcelona and Madrid.

The central government easily won permission to take over control of Catalonia. Meanwhile, secessionists in Catalonia faced bitter recriminations from Catalan foes who called the move for nationhood a coup and a historical blunder, a month after a referendum that backed a split from Spain.

The widening impasse has left little middle ground in Spain for possible compromises and has spilled over to the European Union, whose leaders fearanother internal crisis after major upheavals such as Britain’s exit from the bloc and the financial meltdown in Greece.

Immediately after the vote for independence, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: “For EU nothing changes. Spain remains our only interlocutor. I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.”

Tusk’s remark mirrors fears in Catalonia that the Spanish government will employ police and harsh tactics to take back control of the region.

After the day’s votes, the State Department made clear where Washington stands: “Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the United States supports the Spanish government’s constitutional measures to keep Spain strong and united.”

What happens now is unclear, though the newly declared republic will struggle to assert itself. Spain’s Constitutional Court will almost certainly declare it illegal, the central government will try to take over the Catalan regional ministries, and few countries in Europe have shown any willingness so far to recognize an independent Catalonia.

The final ballot was 70 to 10 in favor of the declaration of independence in the Catalan Parliament, where 55 deputies declined to vote, showing the deep divisions.

“We have won the freedom to build a new country,” Catalonia’s regional vice president, Oriol Junqueras, tweeted.

Encarna Buitrago was with her friends in a flag-waving crowd in front of the parliament in Barcelona when independence was declared. Many began to weep at the news. (ontinueReading

Beyond Catalonia: pro-independence movements in Europe

Catalans Defiant After Spain Dissolves Parliament, Fires Separatist Government

Spain plans new elections in Catalonia to end independence bid: opposition

MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government has secured opposition support for dissolving Catalonia’s parliament and holding new elections there in January in its bid to check the regional government’s push for independence.

The Socialists, the main opposition, said on Friday they would back special measures to impose central rule on the region to thwart the secessionist-minded Catalan government and end a crisis that has unsettled the euro and hurt confidence in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who wants opposition support to be able to present a united front in the crisis, has called an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday to pave the way for Madrid establishing central control in the region.

The government would not confirm whether January elections formed a part of the package, with Rajoy saying only that the measures would be announced on Saturday.

However a government spokesman saw regional elections as likely. “The logical end to this process would be new elections established within the law,” said government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo at a weekly government press conference.

It will be the first time in Spain’s four decades of democracy that Madrid has invoked the constitution to effectively sack a regional government and call new elections.

Head of state King Felipe used a prizegiving ceremony in the northwestern region of Asturias to indicate support for the government and affirm the unity of Spain, of which he said “Catalonia is and will remain an essential part.”

“Spain needs to face up to an unacceptable secession attempt on its national territory, which it will resolve through its legitimate democratic institutions,” said the monarch, a ceremonial figure who sharply criticized Catalan leaders earlier this month.

Rajoy wants as broad a consensus as possible before taking the step, which has raised the prospect of more large-scale protests in Catalonia, where pro-independence groups have been able to bring more than one million people out onto the streets.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, a former journalist who is spearheading the secession campaign, has refused to renounce independence, citing an overwhelming vote in favor of secession at a referendum on Oct.1.

Regional authorities said around 90 percent voted for independence though only 43 percent of voters participated. Opponents of secession mostly stayed home. (ontinueReading

Further Reading: Spain, Bolivia, Iraq, and the Fallacy of Nation-Sate

Spain gives Catalonia final ultimatum and moves closer to 'nuclear option'

DRAMA BOMB!

cnbc.com - The Spanish government has given Catalonia three days to declare whether it will try to break away from Spain or not, moving ever closer towards imposing direct rule on the northeastern region.

Madrid had given a deadline of 9:00 a.m. London time Monday for an official response from Catalonia, hoping to receive a clearer indication on whether it had declared independence or not.

However, when a letter arrived from Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont just two hours before the deadline, it failed to offer any confirmation either way.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría told a news conference later on Monday that Puigdemont had not made his position clear and the government would give him until Thursday morning to give a formal confirmation.

"It's not a hard question we have asked, it's not a hard question to respond to," she said.

"10:00 a.m. (local time) on Thursday is the deadline," she added. "We are very disappointed he hasn't given a yes or no answer to the question we asked."

"He is prolonging the situation," she said.

Sáenz de Santamaría stated that Prime Minister Rajoy would also be publishing a response to Puigdemont's letter this morning.

Spain's Justice Minister Rafael Catala also added to the discussion on Monday morning, reportedly saying that the response from the Catalan leadership was not valid.

The initial letter from Catalonia early Monday reiterated an offer by Puigdemont to meet Rajoy as soon as possible to discuss the situation, and asked that dialogue take place over the next two months.

Catalonia to move to declare independence from Spain on Monday

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia will move on Monday October 9 to declare independence from Spain, a regional government source said, as the European Union nation nears a rupture that threatens the foundations of its young democracy and has unnerved financial markets.

Pro-independence parties which control the regional parliament have asked for a debate and vote on Monday on declaring independence, the source said. A declaration should follow this vote, although it is unclear when.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont earlier told the BBC that his government would ask the region’s parliament to declare independence after tallying votes from last weekend’s referendum, which Madrid says was illegal.

“This will probably finish once we get all the votes in from abroad at the end of the week and therefore we shall probably act over the weekend or early next week,” he said in remarks published on Wednesday.

The constitutional crisis in Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy, has shaken the common currency and hit Spanish stocks and bonds, sharply raising Madrid’s borrowing costs.

Puigdemont’s comments appeared after Spain’s King Felipe VI accused secessionist leaders on Tuesday of shattering democratic principles and dividing Catalan society, as tens of thousands protested against a violent police crackdown on Sunday’s vote.

The Catalan leader is due to make a statement at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, after an all-party committee of the region’s parliament meets to agree a date -- likely to be Monday -- for a plenary session on independence.

Spain has been rocked by the Catalan vote and the Spanish police response to it, which saw batons and rubber bullets used to prevent people voting. Hundreds were injured, in scenes that brought international condemnation.

Catalans came out onto the streets on Tuesday to condemn the police action, shutting down road traffic, public transport and businesses, and ratcheting up fears of intensifying unrest in a region that makes up one-fifth of the Spanish economy. (ontinueReading

Related:

The Catalan crisis could cause the collapse of Spain

Catalonia independence: "Huge" Spain unity rally in Barcelona

Catalonia on collision course as banned referendum nears

- Barcelona, Spain (CNN) Spanish and Catalan authorities appeared set on a collision course Friday ahead of a disputed independence referendum that has polarized the country.

Catalonia's separatist government is adamant it will go ahead with Sunday's referendum despite the country's highest court barring it as unconstitutional.

Spain's central government insists the referendum is illegal, must not go ahead and that the result will not be recognized. It has drafted in thousands of extra police to try to prevent the vote taking place.
In the run-up to the vote, Catalan officials have accused the Spanish authorities of trying to suppress the people's democratic rights.

Joan Maria Piqué, international communications director for the government of Catalonia, told CNN on Friday that 200,000 ballot papers had been confiscated this week -- on top of almost 10 million the Spanish government said it had seized on September 20, along with voter lists and other paperwork.
According to Piqué, 14 Catalan government officials have been arrested over the referendum and 150 websites suspended. Mobile phones have also been seized.

The Spanish Data Protection Agency said in a statement Friday that people working in the polling stations could be fined up to 300,000 euros ($354,000) for doing so.

Despite the government's warnings, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters Friday that there would be 2,315 polling stations where people can vote, mostly inside schools. More than 5.3 million voters are on the electoral roll, according to the Catalan government.

Public support for the referendum within Catalonia, a wealthy region in Spain's northeast, has become increasingly vocal as the vote has neared. (ontinueReading

Spain's Catalonia region sets independence vote for Oct. 1 2017 despite protest from Madrid

via foxnews.com - Spain’s prosperous Catalonia region has set the date for a vote for independence – despite anger coming out of the country’s capital city.

The region’s pro-independence ruling government managed to get enough votes to pass the referendum law amid a testy parliament session that lasted 11 hours and saw 52 opposition members walk out of the chamber in protest.

The support of 72 pro-independence lawmakers was enough to pass the measure, after the opposition members walked out before the voting started. Eleven lawmakers abstained from voting.

The vote for independence on Oct. 1, however, will face a tough test from the Spanish government by appealing to the country’s constitutional court, which has previously ruled that a referendum can only be called with the approval of central authorities.

Catalonia regional President Carles Puigdemont signed a decree officially calling for a “self-determination referendum of Catalonia." His entire cabinet, which includes politicians from various pro-independence parties, also approved the document to dilute responsibility is case of prosecution.

The referendum clashes with the Spanish Constitution, which only gives national authorities the right to call such a vote. But Catalonia's pro-independence lawmakers approved a bill earlier Wednesday that is meant to provide a legal justification for the independence vote.

“The concert of state and patriotic unities that go beyond the rights of citizens don’t have a place in today’s Europe,” Puigdemont said. "Catalonia belongs to this world that looks forward, and that's why it will decide its own future on the 1st of October."

Catalonia's renewed push for secession has opened one of Spain's deepest political and institutional crises of recent years. Although much of the blame has been put on the pro-independence bloc in the regional parliament, Rajoy's conservative government has been criticized for letting the situation get this far.

Puigdemont's government claims it has a democratic mandate to seek a binding independence referendum based on the universal right to self-determination. However, approval for the referendum law came after more than 11 hours of heated debate.

The parliamentary debate in Barcelona saw tensions flare when the regional body's top speaker, Carme Forcadell, announced that a vote on the bill would proceed before the legislation had undergone the customary legal vetting. The vote had not appeared on the day's agenda until the very last minute.

The Spanish government is trying to strike a delicate balance between offsetting the secessionist defiance and staying away from more dramatic measures that would further inflame anti-Spanish sentiments, such as suspending Catalonia's autonomous powers or declaring a state of emergency that would bring the army into the mix.

The Catalonia region centered on Barcelona generates a fifth of Spain's gross domestic product. It self-governs in several important areas, such as police, health and education. But key areas such as taxes, foreign affairs and most infrastructures are in the hands of the Spanish government.

Both Catalan and Spanish are spoken in the region of 7.5 million people, and many Catalans feel strongly about their cultural heritage and traditions.

The pro-independence bloc has argued that full control would benefit Catalonia, an idea that gained support in times of high unemployment and harsh austerity measures as a result of Spain's 2008-2013 financial crisis. (ontinueReading

Barcelona: Van hits crowds in Ramblas tourist area

BBC - A van has ploughed into crowds in Barcelona's Las Ramblas tourist area.

Spanish police say several people have been injured in a "massive crash", while emergency services are urging people to stay away from the area around Plaça de Catalunya.

Reports from the scene say people are taking cover in nearby shops and cafes.

Reuters news agency reports that emergency services have requested the closure of local metro and train stations.

El Pais newspaper said the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot after mowing down dozens of people.

Steven Turner, who works in the area, told the BBC: "People in my office saw a van ramming into people on Las Ramblas.

"I saw about three or four people lying on the ground."

"There are lots of ambulances and armed police with assault rifles around now."

Details of this incident are still unclear, but vehicles have been used to ram into crowds in a series of attacks across Europe since July last year.

Aamer Anwar said he was walking down Las Ramblas, which was "jam-packed" with tourists.

"All of a sudden, I just sort of heard a crashing noise and the whole street just started to run, screaming. I saw a woman right next to me screaming for her kids," he told Sky News.

"Police were very, very quickly there, police officers with guns, batons, everywhere. Then the whole street started getting pushed back.

"Police officers who got there just started screaming at people to move back, move back." (ontinueReading

Catalonia to Vote on Independence, With or Without Spain's Consent

(voiceofamerica) - Catalonia will hold a referendum on independence from Spain next year whether or not the central government in Madrid agrees to one, the region's head said Wednesday.

Carles Puigdemont told the Catalan parliament that he was willing to discuss the terms of a referendum with Madrid, which has steadfastly opposed any such vote in the northeastern region, but that otherwise he would hold one next September.

Spain's Constitutional Court in August annulled a resolution by Catalonia's assembly to press ahead with independence, sharpening the standoff between the separatists and the central government of the conservative People's Party (PP).

"There is an enormous consensus that the ideal formula is a referendum agreed with the Spanish state," Puigdemont told parliament.

He said he would discuss the wording of the question in a vote and its date.

"But if by July there has been no positive response [from the central government], we will be prepared to climb the last step and call a referendum for the second fortnight of September next year," he said.

Catalans rally in support of independence from Spain

- Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Catalonia on Sunday to support a break from Spain which local leaders want to deliver for next year in spite of legal blocks by the central government.

Catalans gathered in five cities across the northeastern region, including Barcelona, and waved yellow banners in time to music, symbolizing the rhythm of a beating heart uniting an independent republic.

Police said that in Barcelona alone about 540,000 people took part. The mass rally on Catalonia's national day, La Diada, comes as the pro-independence local assembly vows to press ahead with plans to form an new state in 2017, raising pressure on leaders in Madrid to respond at a time of disarray in national politics.

Two inconclusive general elections have left Spain without a new national administration for more than eight months, in part due to squabbling among parties over how best to counter or defuse Catalonia's separatist challenge.

Spain's conservative caretaker government has firmly opposed any move towards secession and resorted to challenges via the constitutional court, though this has escalated the stand-off in recent months under acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

"We don't really care anymore about who will govern in Madrid," said Montse Pedra, 39, a speech therapist at the rally in Barcelona, where campaigners waved the starred blue, red and yellow pro-independence flags.

She said she was no longer hopeful Catalonia would be granted a referendum on independence like Scotland's in 2014 - where people voted to remain in Britain - but was looking beyond that.

"Here that's not going to happen one way or another, so we're going to just declare independence, and that's it," Pedra added.

Whether regional leaders will manage to produce the break they have promised is unclear.

Pro-separatist parties won a majority of seats in the regional assembly last year and have starting laying the ground for laws and institutions for an independent state, though such moves have been deemed illegal in court.

"The whole process is going a little slowly," said another participant, 64-year-old maths teacher Rafael Subirats, adding he thought independence was unlikely to happen by 2017.

Secessionists fell short of winning an overall majority of the vote last September, which according to anti-independence campaigners weakens the mandate for a split. (FullText)

Catalonia on a secessionist trajectory

(neurope.eu) - The Prime Minister of Catalonia, Arthur Mas, has pronounced the September 27 regional elections in Catalonia a de facto plebiscite on independence. He is warning that he will declare unilateral independence in the event of his reelection within six months of his elections. The longstanding Prime Minister is leading a secessionist bloc with the Catalan Republican Left (ERC).

In a poll published on Monday, the pro-independence camp in Catalonia is leading the polls, with 39% favoring a union and 47% preferring independence. This is a comfortable lead for secession.

54% of Catalans could live with a Federal Spain in the framework of greater devolution, an idea that is supported across Spain by merely 34%.

Across the country, a standoff between Barcelona and Madrid is thought to be inevitable by 60% of respondents whilst 73% agree that Catalan secession would be bad for Spain.

The standoff has already begun. Last November, the Catalan government held an unofficial referendum that yielded a pro-independence result. This set the region on a pro-independence trajectory ruining a 37 year governing coalition between the Prime Minister’s CiU (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia) and the Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC). The new found ally for Mas, the ERC, has paradoxically been the longstanding left opposition to Mas.

UDC does not support outright independence, but merely greater Spanish devolution. The new emerging political force originating from Catalonia, Ciudadanos, are also largely pro-union. Whilst this is thought to be a minority position, it is gaining ground.

Being anti-independence is historically a taboo issue since unitary positions have for long been associated with the Franco regime. But, the pro-independence movement correlates with policies of severe austerity, thought to be imposed by Madrid, adding a “neoliberal” layer upon the Franco unitary legacy. Ironically, the champion of independence, the Prime Minister Arthur Mas, was the one who introduced most of the pro-austerity legislation and even had to be flown with a helicopter into the Catalan parliament to circumvent angry demonstrators in 2011.

The Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, has made clear that on his watch Catalonia is not going to leave Spain. King Felipe VI also called upon the Prime Minister of Catalonia to respect rule of law.
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Related: TheLocalEspana: King Felipe VI warns Catalonia over independence drive

Catalonia: Spanish prosecutors file referendum suit against Catalan leader Mas

Artur Mas, his deputy in Catalonia, and his education minister face prosecution in Spain for staging a non-binding referendum on Catalan independence. Charges, including abuse of power, were filed on Friday

- State prosecutors on Friday filed charges against the regional leader in Catalonia, Artur Mas, the latest chapter in the fallout from last month's symbolic independence referendum, which was conducted despite a court injunction.

Mas, his deputy Joana Ortega and the Catalan government's education minister, Irene Rigau, will face charges of civil disobedience, abuse of power, usurpation of duties, and embezzlement of public funds, the public prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Prosecutors in Madrid had confirmed on Wednesday that they would seek charges, without specifying which, after Catalan prosecutors rejected launching a suit on the issue. On Thursday, Mas said at a news conference that he found the decision "very disappointing."

"It is sad to see that when the Catalan people want to express their opinion … the reaction of the state comes from the courts and prosecutors," he said. Full Story

Catalonia government to decide by October 15 whether to hold referendum

(Reuters) - The government of the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia will decide by October 15 whether to push ahead with a contested referendum on separation from the rest of Spain, a spokesman said on Monday.

Catalonia, with a population of 7.5 million people, its own language and accounting for a fifth of Spain's economy, has long sought independence and was buoyed by the close result of last month's referendum in Scotland.

But Spain's central government says the referendum called for November 9 is illegal and the country's Constitutional Court has suspended it while it deliberates on its legality, a process that could take months or years.

"We can't decide on this... on November 7 or 8," said Francesc Homs, spokesman for the Catalan government, in a radio interview.

Artur Mas, the leader of Catalonia, is under pressure from more radical pro-independence supporters to defy Madrid and the Constitutional Court and push ahead with the referendum.

Although his administration initially temporarily suspended campaigning for the referendum after the court ruling, it later changed its tone and said it would push on.

In a television advertisement on Saturday it said it had agreed "to take the legal, political and institutional initiative to guarantee the right to decide the political future of Catalonia".

Spanish court suspends Catalan self-rule vote

(TheLocalSpain) - Spain's Constitutional Court on Monday (9/30) suspended an independence referendum called by Catalonia for November 9th, although leaders of the rich north-eastern region vowed to press ahead anyway with preparations for the vote.

The unanimous and expected decision by the court's 12 judges came just hours after Spain's central government asked it to declare the non-binding independence referendum illegal on the grounds that it breaches the country's constitution.

The court said in a statement that it had accepted the appeal and had suspended the referendum while it considers the central government's arguments. The court had up to five months to give its ruling although it can request an extension.

The head of the regional government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, signed a decree on Saturday calling for the referendum.

Since then a luminous clock on Barcelona's historic Sant Jaume square has been ticking down the seconds to November 9th and television and radio stations in the region have aired ads informing the public of the vote.

Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he "deeply" regretted Mas's move, saying it "divides Catalans, alienates them from Europe and the rest of Spain and seriously harms their welfare".

In a televised address to the nation following an emergency cabinet meeting, Rajoy said the right to decide a region's status belonged to "all the Spanish people" under the country's 1978 constitution -- the keystone of Spain's democracy after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco.

"There is nothing and no one, no power nor institution, that can break this principle of sole sovereignty," he added. Full Story

Catalonia challenges Spain with independence vote

DEMOCRACY!

(USAToday) - The president of Spain's Catalonia region mounted a serious challenge to the Spanish state early Saturday when he signed a decree calling for a referendum on independence.

Catalan President Artur Mas wants to hold the vote on Nov. 9 and the move comes just a week after Scotland voted against breaking away from the United Kingdom.

"Like all the nations of the world, Catalonia has the right to decide its political future," said Mas. "We want to vote and we want to decide and now we have to means to do so."

However, unlike the recent independence vote in Scotland, which was backed by the U.K.'s central government in London, Catalonia's vote would not be legally binding and it does not have the support of the Spanish government in Madrid.

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Chechnya also comes to mind with its never ending struggle for independence from Russia. Let's hope Catalonia makes the right choice.

Catalonia defies Madrid with push for independence vote

(Reuters) - Local lawmakers in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia voted to seek a referendum on breaking away from Spain on Thursday, setting themselves up for a battle with an implacably opposed central government in Madrid.

The Catalan Parliament in Barcelona voted 87 to 43, with 3 abstentions, to send a petition to the national parliament seeking the power to call a popular vote on the region's future.

The independence movement in Catalonia, which has its own language and represents a fifth of Spain's national economy, is a direct challenge to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has pledged to block a referendum on constitutional grounds.

Independence for the region, which already has significant self-governing powers, is thus considered a remote possibility, but Catalan President Artur Mas is buoyed by a groundswell of public support to defy Madrid with plans for a referendum.

Polls show roughly half of Catalans want independence, but as many as 80 percent want the right to vote on the matter.

Full Story

Catalans form human chain to press for independence from Spain

(Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Catalans held hands in a 400-km (250-mile) human chain across their region on Wednesday to press the Spanish government to let them vote on breaking away and forming their own country.

Demonstrators in yellow T-shirts and draped in blue, red and yellow separatist banners raised their joined hands through cities and along rural roads, jumping and shouting in celebration when the chain was completed.

"We want a referendum to see whether there's majority support for independence. The problem is Spain won't listen. Our only hope ... is that Europe and the rest of the world put pressure on the Spanish government," said Ester Sarramona, a 39-year-old civil servant.

Full Story