Clemente Polo | Living in Catalonia is becoming increasingly oppressive. Even for those of us who decided one day to pack our bags and move to an Autonomous Community that stood out from the rest for its social and cultural dynamism and its cosmopolitan vocation. When I was offered a place at the Autonomous University of Barcelona after giving a seminar in June 1984, nobody thought to ask me where…
Clemente Polo | Living in Catalonia is becoming increasingly oppressive. Even for those of us who decided one day to pack our bags and move to an Autonomous Community that stood out from the rest for its social and cultural dynamism and its cosmopolitan vocation. When I was offered a place at the Autonomous University of Barcelona after giving a seminar in June 1984, nobody thought to ask me where…
Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Catalonia’s leading pro-independence parties have reached an agreement to install Pere Aragonès as regional president. Aragonés has been acting president since September, when Quim Torra of the center-right Together for Catalonia (Junts) was forced to step down. Aragonès’ Republican Left won the election in February. The agreement comes after three months of negotiations during which the Republicans raised the possibility of forming a minority government…
Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | The PSOE-Podemos Coalition Government has not failed to confront its two main challenges: economic policy and Catalonia. However, now comes the most important issue: to approve the national budget for 2020 for which it needs a vote in favour of ERC. This time the abstention of ERC is not enough, as in the case of the investiture, which was achieved in exchange for the establishment of a dialogue between the governments of Madrid and Barcelona.
Alvise Lennkh (Scope Ratings) | The imprisonment of the Catalan separatist leaders has exacerbated regional tensions, with potentially profound political consequences, although the short term economic impact of the latest separatist protests will be limited.
Fernando G. Urbaneja | The electoral campaign from which will emerge the new Parliament and, perhaps, a government remains wrapped in this week´s “Catalunya in flames” with unforeseeable consequences, above all among the 20% of undecided voters.
Ana Fuentes | A tense autumn was expected between Madrid and Catalonia, but perhaps it will not be so bad. With the Supreme Court´s sentence on the Catalan separatist leaders only weeks away, and the anniversary of the illegal referendum on 1 October, Thursday´s demonstration in Barcelona was seen as a key measure of the temperature of Catalan separatism. Finally the figures show that the tension has (apparently) reduced: according to the local police, 600,000 people took to the streets. It was a massive, peaceful and colourful demonstration, but with the lowest turnout in 7 years, when the strongest drive for independence began.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the increases in FDI result from Spain´s continued above Eurozone average economic growth. At the same time, the figures for Catalonia continued to decline (-12% in the same period).
Is Germany pro-independence? No, no it isn’t, despite the fact that the separtist propaganda operates intelligently in Germany – with Puigdemont top of the list, in his role as the victim of an oppressive and anti-democratic Spain.