Catalonia Protesters Demand De Facto Independence Vote
Pro-Independence catalans gather in Catalunya square during a Pro-Independence rally on... Read More
Catalonia’s pro-independence
protesters urged regional president Artur Mas to call elections
as soon as possible and to use the results as a de facto
referendum on breaking away from Spain.
“President, call elections,” Carme Forcadell, chairman of the National Catalan Assembly, told thousands of demonstrators who gathered in Barcelona’s Catalonia Square today. “President, we should start spring with a new parliament.”
Mas, the head of Spain’s largest regional economy, decided Oct. 14 to call off a non-binding referendum scheduled for Nov. 9 and instead organized a more informal consultation for the same day. While the decision was welcomed by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and ended a legal stalemate, it triggered tensions between Mas’s CiU party and its strongest ally, the Esquerra Republicana party.
Forcadell said she would support the Nov. 9 vote if Mas turns it into the first round of voting for new regional elections and, by extension, into a referendum on independence.
“No more delays,” she told the crowd today.
Catalonia, an area of 7.4 million people in the northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula, boasts a 193 billion-euro ($246 billion) economy, the largest among Spain’s regions. The Catalonian economy is about the same size as Scotland’s, where voters last month opted to remain part of the U.K.
Output per head in Catalonia is 17 percent above the European Union average, whereas Spain as a whole is 5 percent below the average across the 28-nation region.
To contact the reporter on this story: Esteban Duarte in Madrid at eduarterubia@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net Kevin Costelloe, Bruce Stanley
“President, call elections,” Carme Forcadell, chairman of the National Catalan Assembly, told thousands of demonstrators who gathered in Barcelona’s Catalonia Square today. “President, we should start spring with a new parliament.”
Mas, the head of Spain’s largest regional economy, decided Oct. 14 to call off a non-binding referendum scheduled for Nov. 9 and instead organized a more informal consultation for the same day. While the decision was welcomed by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and ended a legal stalemate, it triggered tensions between Mas’s CiU party and its strongest ally, the Esquerra Republicana party.
Forcadell said she would support the Nov. 9 vote if Mas turns it into the first round of voting for new regional elections and, by extension, into a referendum on independence.
“No more delays,” she told the crowd today.
Catalonia, an area of 7.4 million people in the northeast corner of the Iberian peninsula, boasts a 193 billion-euro ($246 billion) economy, the largest among Spain’s regions. The Catalonian economy is about the same size as Scotland’s, where voters last month opted to remain part of the U.K.
Output per head in Catalonia is 17 percent above the European Union average, whereas Spain as a whole is 5 percent below the average across the 28-nation region.
To contact the reporter on this story: Esteban Duarte in Madrid at eduarterubia@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net Kevin Costelloe, Bruce Stanley
Cap comentari:
Publica un comentari a l'entrada