Catalans protest 'return to Franco' as schools are told to teach more Spanish. Parlamento da Catalunha aprova declaração de soberania - Globo. O texto, que define a Catalunha como um "sujeito político e jurídico soberano" dá luz verde ao arranque de um processo que torne efetivo o "direito a decidir" sobre a autodeterminação catalão, através de uma consulta popular. Como se antecipava, o texto foi aprovado com os votos favoráveis da Convergência e União (CiU), Esquerda Republicana da Catalunha (ERC), Iniciativa pela Catalunha Verdes (ICV) e Candidatura de Unidade Popular (CUP) e teve a oposição do Partido Socialista da Catalunha (PSC), do Partido Popular (PP) e do Ciutadans.
O texto hoje aprovado abrange, além da questão da soberania, um reforço do papel do Parlamento Regional e não inclui a palavra "Estado". Em vez desse termo, a CiU e a ERC acordaram na frase: "O povo da Catalunha tem, por razões de legitimidade democrática, cariz de sujeito político e jurídico soberano". Barcelona braces for million-strong march for Catalan independence | World news. Polls show support for Catalan independence is running at 51%, twice as high as in 2008 when the financial crisis began. Photograph: Gustau Nacarino/Reuters Up to a million people are expected to converge on Barcelona to join a rally demanding independence for Catalonia in Spain's north-east.
At least one train and more than 1,000 coaches have been chartered to bring supporters to Tuesday evening's march, which is likely to mark a watershed in the hitherto marginal independence movement and a rupture with Spain's federal government. Long-standing resentments about what Catalans see as their unfairly high contribution to central government have been inflamed by Spain's economic woes. Map of Catalonia Carles Brugueras, a documentary film-maker, said he was not a nationalist but favoured independence from an economic perspective. Laura Nuñez, a law student, is also a new convert to independence, believing it would boost the Catalan economy. L'indépendance en marche à... grandes enjambées.
Catalan independence 'impossible to stop' BARCELONA // In a small office in central Barcelona, surrounded by boxes overflowing with the red-and-yellow Catalan flag, a young political activist can smell victory. "Catalonia has to become an independent state, and it is almost impossible to stop now," said Ignazi Termes, a member of La Assemblea Nacional Catalana, an umbrella organisation of pro-independence outfits. The Spanish government is already struggling to cope with 25 per cent unemployment, violent protests against spending cuts, and the prospect that it will have to seek a bailout from euro-zone partners. It can scarcely afford to deal with rebellious provinces, yet this is the moment when Catalonia, its wealthy northeastern state, has decided to strike off on the road to independence. But that began to change in September 2009 when the local council in a small town called Arenys de Munt tried to hold a referendum on independence that was blocked by the Spanish authorities. foreign.desk@thenational.ae One-page article.
News Catalonia: Farewell Spain, Al Jazeera's The Stream discusses Catalonia. On Monday, September 19, Al Jazeera's The Stream, social media and news program, broadcast an episode titled "Farewell, Spain? " in which they interviewed Alfred Bosch, Carla Ponsatí, and Carles Muntaner, as well as shared tweets and videos from the internet. I decided to transcribe the show to make it more accessible (and those subtitles now form part of the official video), and Jaume Soler translated the transcript into Catalan (and those subtitles should be incorporated soon). To see the subtitles right with the video, click the little "cc" icon in the video and choose the language you want.
(Per veure els subtítols en el vídeo, fes clic en la icona de "cc" i tria l'idioma desitjat.) English Transcript: Lisa Fletcher (LF): Hi I'm Lisa Fletcher and you're in The Stream. Today, is Europe about to welcome a new state? LF: And to Malika's right, is Clara Ponsatí, she is a visiting professor of Economics at Georgetown University. Clara Ponsatí (CP): Thank you for inviting me. MB: Go ahead. Catalan parliament paves way for referendum on independence | World news. The parliament of Spain's powerful north-eastern region of Catalonia has approved a largely symbolic declaration stating the region is a sovereign entity, paving the way for a referendum on independence from Spain. The proposal was carried Wednesday by 85 votes in favour, with 41 against and two abstentions.
Though symbolic, the declaration sets up a potential showdown with the central government in Madrid, which has said it will block any move toward Catalan independence in the courts. The declaration was backed by the region's governing Convergence and Union group and the Republican Left. It was opposed by the Catalan Socialist party and the Popular party that governs Spain. Polls show Catalans are evenly divided over independence, but a majority opposes it if it means exiting the EU. In Catalonia, Needed Talk About Taxes Loses Out to Fantasies About Independence. Manu Fernandez/Associated PressAn electoral poster featuring Artur Mas, the leader of Spain’s center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition. MADRID — The results of last week’s regional elections in Catalonia aren’t what they seem. The victory of the region’s conservative president, Artur Mas, was pyrrhic. His party did retain a majority in the Catalan Parliament, but it lost 12 seats in the process, leaving it without the absolute majority Mas envisioned in September when he called for early elections.
Yet if Mas himself got burned, the cause he peddled on the campaign trail surged: the case for Catalonia’s independence was the election’s clear winner. Of the 135 legislators in the Catalan Generalitat, 107 included in their political platforms the “right to decide,” a euphemism for calling a referendum on whether the region should eventually secede from Spain. The country’s 17 autonomous regions do not have equal responsibilities. Spanish PM rejects Catalan calls for greater tax powers | World news. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, roundly rejected attempts by the Catalan government to win greater tax-raising powers on Thursday‚ potentially pushing the wealthy north-eastern region towards demanding independence. Afterwards the Catalan regional leader, Artur Mas, said: "A historic opportunity has been lost. " Mas was expected to return to Catalonia and decide within weeks on a date for fresh regional elections which are likely to see his nationalist Convergence and Union coalition run on a more openly separatist programme, as polls show support for independence climbing above 50%.
A separatist majority in the Catalan parliament would provoke a constitutional crisis as Spain tries to cope with double-dip recession, 25% unemployment and, potentially, a bailout by fellow eurozone countries. Mas wanted a change in the tax system as a step towards increasing tax flows into Catalonia. Spain's 1978 constitution does not provide for the independence of Catalonia or any other region.
Catalonia: Europe’s next independent state? Spain protests 2012: Police brutality in anti-austerity riots (Cargas en el Congreso) "Ninguna ley dice que Cataluña deba salir de la UE si se independiza" La agenda de la número dos de Jose Manuel Durao Barroso es arrolladora: Viviane Reding, luxemburguesa de 61 años, departe con José Antonio Griñán, posa en los pasillos del Parlamento andaluz, saluda a una periodista alemana que ha venido a marcar sus pasos y distribuye asientos en la sala que la Cámara le ha cedido para la entrevista.
"Come on, I'm ready [venga, estoy lista]", anuncia con la vista puesta en Cádiz, donde inaugurará horas después una cumbre europea de alcaldes y presidentes regionales. Y entonces aparece Juan Ignacio Zoido, líder del PP-A, dispuesto a robarle unos minutos de charla vía intérprete. Tras la interrupción, al fin, las preguntas. -Hungría y Rumanía se han desmarcado últimamente del acervo comunitario. ¿Se arrepiente Bruselas de haber ampliado la UE sin valorar la tradición más o menos democrática de sus socios? -¿Han corregido estos países sus vicios recientes? -Por supuesto. -Me preocupa mucho esa clase de nacionalismo. Class and vote in Catalonia | institutions matter. ESADE sociologist José Luis Álvarez recently published this opinion piece in the Spanish newspaper El País, in which he makes some statements about class and vote in the Catalan party system.
His main remarks [in Spanish, emphasize is mine] on this are: Si el catalanismo se permite este crescendo reivindicativo es porque ha dejado atrás su gran peligro histórico: que las clases trabajadoras, de cultura mayoritariamente no catalana, se opusiesen a su proyecto. Esta amenaza era acuciante porque CiU ha sido incapaz de ampliar su espacio electoral más allá de la clase alta y clases medias de origen catalán, nunca ha superado el porcentaje demográfico de éstas, poco más del 30% de la población. El catalanismo es la plataforma de hegemonía de la burguesía de origen catalán, y CiU es su partido. [...]Pero si hay un partido que ha facilitado el avance del catalanismo ha sido el partido socialista de Cataluña. However, Álvarez’s words could be interpreted in different way. Like this: Spanish MEP calls for intervention of Catalonia to stop self-determination referendum (ENGLISH sub)