Catalonia's quarrel with Spain
Calls for Spain's richest region,
Catalonia, to go its own way find little sympathy in Madrid but
nationalists are set on a historic push for independence.
An Catalonia, to go its own way find little sympathy in Madrid but
nationalists are set on a historic push for independence.
unofficial vote backing independence in November 2014 was all but
ignored by Spain's conservative government, and parties on the left are
hardly less opposed to a split with Spain.
However, buoyed by the
outcome of the November vote and aggrieved by Madrid's refusal to
countenance an official referendum, the nationalists have joined forces
to fight an early regional election on 27 September on a single,
pro-independence platform.
Grant them a majority, the promise goes, and they will declare unilateral independence within 18 months.
With Spain facing a general election by the end of the year, the Catalan issue is only adding to political uncertainty.
Could Catalonia really break away?
"Ara es l'hora" ("It's time") runs the Catalan slogan of the independence campaign.
On course for independence? A giant yellow cursor at the Catalan national day celebrations in Barcelona on 11 September
