Ever since the nationalists in Catalonia flared a low key rebellion against Madrid, the region seems close to the world depicted by Aldous Huxley. They are attempting to create a brand new life, erasing all Spanish vestiges from early childhood onwards.
Ciudadanos (37 seats) was the party which won the most votes in Catalonia but will not be able to form a government. The independent block still has control of the Parlament with 70 seats versus the 57 won by the constitutionalists and the 68 needed for an absolute majority. Ciudadanos’ victory is significant, a difficult milestone to achieve given the current electoral law. But the secessionists were able to hold on to their absolute majority in the regional parliament.
On the day when Catalonia votes for a new government, the region’s citizens are very confused about the reasons and where the blame lies for the situation they find themselves in.
For the time being, Spain’s economy is maintaining its cruising speed and GDP will grow 3.1% this year, according to estimates. But Catalonia’s progress is visibly slowing, with figures continually being downgraded.
Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel | This is a guide to the Catalan electoral system, the parties, their leaders and possible coalitions.
The outcome of the Catalonia elections on December 21 will not easily bring a quick solution to the problem in the region. But both in the case of the independence movement losing the majority of seats (it no longer had the majority of votes and it’s almost impossible for it to obtain) or there being a division over the future, the path towards normalisation will have started.
Ainslie Noble via Atlantic Sentinel | Catalonia’s independence referendum has aroused separatist sentiment north of the border, where a Catalan-speaking minority has long been content to live under French rule.
Morgan Stanley said this week that the uncertainty over Catalonia which has weighed on Spain’s performance has meant that the MSCI Spain has underperformed the EMU by 8% since August. And Spanish SMEs have underperformed by 13%. That said, there is a reason for betting on the Spanish market: it has had the fourth best EPS growth examples.
From October 2 to November 24, 2.773 companies have transferred their headquarters (HQ) from Catalonia to other regions in Spain, according to figures from the College of Mercantile Registers in Spain.
A simple article about the internal balances of payments in the US written by Cullen Roche helps us understand why the Catalan separatists’ famous slogan “Spain is robbing us” is a fallacy. That said, the only thing Catalan secession supporters want is to save on the transfer which they should make as a wealthier region.