CATALONIA -- Catalonia’s Leader Plays Down Talk of Secession Crisis - NYTimes.com
BARCELONA, Spain — The Catalan leader, Artur Mas, says Catalonia remains on track for its scheduled Nov. 9 vote on whether to break from Spain, but he suggested in an interview on Tuesday that he would not push the country to a constitutional crisis by holding the vote if it were deemed illegal.
The remarks provided the first glimmer of willingness by Mr. Mas, a late but staunch convert to secessionism, to ensure that Catalonia would not be responsible for provoking a crisis in Spain. Catalonia, Spain’s economic powerhouse, is trying to go ahead with a secession vote that the central government in Madrid has vowed to block.
Mr. Mas nevertheless indicated that if he could not hold a legal vote on separation, he would pursue a longer-term strategy to achieve an independent Catalonia by calling for new elections for the regional Parliament “as a plebiscite.”
