Spain Archives - Page 3 of 5

21Jan

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Spain

On the Events in Catalonia

NOVANEWS Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) The Rajoy Government has more than fulfilled its threats, setting in motion all its repressive machinery as soon as the Generalitat de Catalunya formalized its call for a referendum for October 1st. As has been announced, there has not been a formal suspension of Catalan autonomy nor the military intervention contemplated by the Monarchical Constitution. But there is no doubt that the Government has stretched, at its convenience, what the Popular Party (PP) understands by “legality”, imposing a de facto state of emergency and converting the rights formally recognized on paper: This is the Francoist “force of the rule of law,” which is often cited when a political conflict arises. Threatened officials, closed websites, seized publicatio...

22Dec

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Spain

Catalonia’s Puigdemont to Spain: ‘Now is the Time to Talk’

NOVANEWS People react to results in Catalonia's regional elections at a gathering of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) in Barcelona, Spain Dec. 21, 2017. | Photo: Reuters Pro-independence parties have won 70 seats to reach an absolute majority, gaining a significant amount of votes compared to the 2015 regional elections. Catalonia Vote Infogram Catalonia's ousted separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, has called for fresh talks with Spain following the success of pro-independence parties in Thursday's regional elections. "Catalonia wants to be an independent state; this is the wish of the Catalan people," he said, speaking in Belgium. "I think the plan of [Spanish Prime Minister] Mariano Rajoy is not working, so we have to find new ways to tackle this cr...

4Nov

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Spain

Spanish court issues European Arrest Warrant for deposed Catalan President Puigdemont

NOVANEWS Carles Puigdemont now joins Julian Assange as a political victim of the European Arrest Warrant. by: ADAM GARRIE A court in Madrid has issued a European Arrest Warrant for deposed Catalan President Carles Puigdemont. In total, 9 deposed officials from the Catalan leadership have been placed under arrest on charges of rebellion, sedition and perhaps most peculiarly, embezzlement. All but Puigdemont have now been remanded into custody by Spanish police. Puigdemont is the most prominent figure wanted on charges which could carry a prison sentence of 30 years and he is the only one who is still living as a free man.The deposed Catalan President is currently in Belgium where he is likely to formally seek asylum. Puigdemont now faces legal limbo, as the European Arrest Warrant...

1Nov

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Europe, Spain

Catalan Premier Appeals to EU as Opposition Mounts to Madrid’s Crackdown

NOVANEWS By Alex Lantier World Socialist Web Site Featured image: Carles Puigdemont From Brussels, where he fled to escape prosecution by Spanish authorities, deposed Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemontappealed yesterday for the European Union to intervene in the secession crisis. Last week, Madrid invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to impose an unelected regime in Catalonia in response to the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. Now Puigdemont is asking the EU to broker a deal between the Popular Party government in Madrid and the ousted Catalan authorities. Workers in Catalonia and across Spain face an attempt by the Spanish ruling elite to seize the Catalan regional state apparatus, purge the public service and crush all opposition to the EU’s agen...

30Oct

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Spain

Half a Million March in Massive Uprising Against Spanish Plan to Overtake Catalonia

NOVANEWS By Julie Conley Catalonians march in opposition to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's announcement that he will move to take control of the nation through invoking Article 155 of the Spanish constitution in Barcelona, Spain, on October 21, 2017. (Photo: Fotomovimiento) Catalans did not take the news that Spanish Prime Minister will move to impose direct rule on their region quietly on Saturday. Nearly half a million people marched in Barcelona soon after the prime minister's press conference. Carles Puigdemont, president of Catalonia, joined the demonstration before a planned speech responding to Mariano Rajoy's statement that pending the approval of the senate, which his party controls, he would remove the Catalan government from power and call for a special election ...

25Oct

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Spain

Spanish government’s crackdown on Catalan referendum

NOVANEWS Spanish government’s crackdown on Catalan referendum: Socialism, self-determination and class unity By Party for Socialism and Liberation The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands in solidarity with the victims of the massive violence carried out by the police forces of the Spanish state against residents of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia who were attempting to exercise their right to vote in a referendum on independence. This wave of repression left over 800 people injured. Nevertheless, 42 percent of the Catalan electorate — nearly 2.3 million people — managed to vote, and over 90 percent of those participating voted “Yes.” While there is no consensus among the people of Catalonia on the issue of independence itself, the extreme and brutal response of the cen...

23Oct

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Spain

Madrid Imposes Direct Rule Over Catalonia

NOVANEWS By Stephen Lendman As expected, Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy suspended Catalan self-governance after a Saturday morning cabinet meeting. A regime statement said “(a)t an emergency meeting on Saturday, the cabinet will approve measures to be put before the senate to protect the general interest of Spaniards, including the citizens of Catalonia, and to restore constitutional order in the autonomous community.” It criticized Catalan officials for “deliberately and systematically seeking institutional confrontation, despite the serious damage it is causing to coexistence and Catalonia’s economy.” Ahead of Saturday’s action, a regime spokesman lied, claiming Catalan autonomy won’t be suspended. Its officials will be replaced by Madrid “administrators,” its powers str...

23Oct

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Europe, Spain

EU Summit Endorses Spain’s Threat of Police-Military Occupation of Catalonia

NOVANEWS By Alex Lantier World Socialist Web Site The two-day European Union (EU) summit of heads of state that ended yesterday in Brussels unambiguously endorsed Madrid’s plans to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, imposing a new Catalan regional government backed by Spanish police and army units. The Catalan crisis was not formally on the summit agenda. Nonetheless, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was allowed to give an address to justify invoking Article 155, the so-called “nuclear option,” after the vicious police crackdown on the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. Rajoy’s brief for the occupation of Catalonia, based on a systematic falsification of the crisis in Spain, received the enthusiastic support of the EU’s major powers. “Article 155 will...

12Oct

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Spain

Forget Catalonia, Flanders Is the Real Test Case of EU Separatism!

NOVANEWS By Andrew Korybko Oriental Review Catalonia’s separatist campaign has dominated European headlines for the past couple of weeks, but it’s really the northern Belgian region of Flanders which will serve as a barometer over whether large chunks of the EU will fall apart into a collection of identity-centric statelets prior to the bloc’s reconstitution into a “federation of regions”. What’s going on in Catalonia is of paramount importance to the geopolitical future of Europe, since it could very well serve as the catalyst for fracturing the EU if copycat movements elsewhere are emboldened by the Spanish region’s possible separatist success. This was explained in detail in the author’s recent analysis about “The Catalan Chain Reaction”, which readers should familiarize t...

12Oct

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Spain

Catalan Premier Affirms Right to Independence From Spain, but Delays Formal Declaration

NOVANEWS By Alex Lantier Global Research Featured image: Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont (Source: Government of Catalonia) Speaking Tuesday evening before the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, regional premier Carles Puigdemont announced that Catalonia would secede from Spain, in line with the result of the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. However, he put off a formal declaration of independence for now and requested negotiations with the central government in Madrid. The Popular Party (PP) government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has declared the referendum illegal and treasonous and ruled out talks with Puigdemont. The contradictory announcement, coming after Puigdemont reportedly took calls from politicians from across Europe, left the European political situa...