What’s going on around the Terres de l’Ebre – in English
Today, 21 December, Catalans vote for a new government in the Catalan elections. This follows the Catalan declaration of independence on 27 October which was quickly quashed by Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy. He sacked the Catalan government, using a section of the Spanish constitution called Article 155, and called fresh elections. Several of Catalunya’s…
A general strike is planned for Wednesday 8 November in Catalunya following the imprisonment of several ex-ministers of the Catalan government and two leaders of pro-independence organisations. The Assemblea Nacional Catalana, whose chairman Jordi Sanchez is currently in prison, is calling for a national ’stoppage’ (‘aturada’) on Wednesday 8 November. Catalunya’s fifth-largest union, Intersindical-CSC, is…
The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, proclaimed independence for Catalunya yesterday, but immediately suspended it, calling for dialogue with Madrid first. Puigdemont gave a statement to the Catalan parliament on the evening of Tuesday 11 October. An independence referendum was held on 1 October at which 2.2m Catalans voted and the result was 90 per cent…
Town halls will be shut and health centres will operate minimum services on Tuesday 3 October as Catalunya’s people hold a general strike following the referendum yesterday. The strike has been called by La Taula per la Democracia, a coalition of unions, co-operatives, pro-independence organisations and other civil society bodies. It is in protest against…
The leaders of Catalunya and Spain are at loggerheads after the Catalan parliament passed a law to hold an independence referendum earlier this week. After a long, tense day in the Catalan parliament, the separatist parties eventually pushed through the bill at 11.30pm on Wednesday 6 September. As the vote was called, the members of the…
Catalunya will hold a referendum on independence from Spain on Sunday 1 October. After months of discussions, Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, announced the independence referendum date today. He added that the question voters will be asked will be: “Do you want Catalunya to be an independent country in the form of a republic?” “It is…
Political leaders in Spain and Catalunya are reacting to Donald Trump’s election as president of the USA, which was confirmed this morning. Spain’s president, Mariano Rajoy, congratulates Trump and says he will work to strengthen the relationship with USA, an indispensible partner. Mi enhorabuena a Donald Trump por su victoria. Seguiremos trabajando para reforzar la relación…
Mariano Rajoy, leader of Spain’s right wing Popular Party, was sworn in as president of Spain on Monday 31 October, breaking 10 months of political deadlock. The main left wing party, PSOE, let Rajoy take power after abstaining from an investiture vote in Congress on Saturday. This followed a huge rift in PSOE which saw its secretary general, Pedro…
