Tag: Catalan

Mass march for unity after Catalan independence move

by Marie Giffard with Mariette Le Roux in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards rallied in Catalonia’s capital Barcelona Sunday, waving national and European flags and chanting “Viva Espana!” to denounce regional lawmakers’ vote to sever the region from Spain. Crowds of protesters swarmed, singing and clapping, through Barcelona’s streets in a sea of red-and-yellow Spanish flags, brandishing placards reading “De Todos” (It belongs to all of us). […]

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Axed Catalan leader urges resistance to Madrid rule

  by Jordi Zamora Barcelo with Marianne Barriaux in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia’s secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont stood defiant Saturday against Madrid’s moves to depose him, urging “democratic resistance” to direct rule imposed in a bid to stop the region breaking away from Spain. In a televised statement, Puigdemont accused the central government of trampling on the will of independence-seeking Catalans who rejoiced at Friday’s vote by regional lawmakers to […]

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Catalan leader to make statement at 1130 GMT: regional govt

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will make a statement at 1130 GMT on Thursday, the regional government said, amid speculation he could declare independence from Spain or call new elections. The Catalan government said he would make an announcement, without giving further details. Puigdemont is under intense pressure from members of his party to call early elections to ease the separatist crisis, according to a source close to the Catalan leader, who […]

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Business exodus deepens Catalan economy fears

by Patrick Galey and Adrien Vicente Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain –Catalonia’s independence drive has sent dozens of firms fleeing as doubts grow over the economy of a region that, while one of Spain’s richest, is also deeply indebted and dependent on trade with the EU and the rest of Spain. The semi-autonomous region accounts for one fifth of national GDP and is Spain’s largest exporter, but as the country’s worst political crisis in a generation drags on […]

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Catalan leaders sign independence declaration but put it on hold

by Daniel Bosque with Patrick Galey in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalan leaders signed a declaration of independence from Spain on Tuesday but immediately put it on hold and called for talks with Madrid on the country’s worst political crisis in decades. As Spain headed into the unknown, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was to chair an emergency cabinet meeting early Wednesday to discuss the central government’s response. In a speech to […]

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Catalan leaders under pressure over independence threat

by Daniel Silva and Diego Urdaneta Agence France-Presse BARCELONE, Spain – Catalan leaders came under intense domestic and international pressure Monday to halt plans to break away from Spain after the region’s president repeated his threat to declare independence and the government warned it would act to block it. The sides dug in as the clock ticked down to a Tuesday evening session in the regional parliament where separatists have called for an independence declaration, a plan that […]

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Pressure mounts on Catalan separatists after unity rallies

  by Daniel Silva and Diego Urdaneta Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Pressure mounted on Monday against Catalan plans to declare independence after hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied to defend Spanish unity. The protests followed days of soaring tensions after police cracked down on voters during a banned October 1 Catalan independence referendum, prompting separatist leaders to warn they would unilaterally break away from Spain in days. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who has yet to […]

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Flags fly as Catalan crisis fans Spanish patriotism

by Alfons LUNA Agence France Pressse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — In Spain the sight of countless red and yellow national flags was usually only seen at football stadiums — until Catalonia’s independence drive fanned the fires of patriotism this week. Despairing at what they see as dangerous Catalan nationalism, Spaniards opposed to secession wrapped themselves in the flag and demonstrated this weekend, chanting, “I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish”. Catalan separatist leaders have threatened to declare […]

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Spanish stocks rebound as Wall Street hits fresh records

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The Madrid stock market rebounded Thursday as the Spanish government moved to block a move by Catalonia to declare independence, while Wall Street stocks surged once again to fresh records ahead of key US jobs data. The Spanish capital’s benchmark IBEX 35 shares index jumped 2.5 percent, largely offsetting the previous day’s 3.0-percent slump. Trade was more muted elsewhere in Europe, with Frankfurt dipping, while Paris and London posted […]

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Catalan leaders defy king over independence

by Marianne Barriaux with Roland Lloyd Parry in Madrid Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Tension mounted in Spain on Wednesday after Catalonia’s leader vowed that the region would declare independence within days, defying a stern warning from the country’s king that national stability was in peril. The courts meanwhile placed Catalan police officials and pro-independence civil leaders under investigation for alleged “sedition” as Spain sank deeper into its worst political crisis in decades. […]

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In photos: 700,000 protest in Barcelona against police violence

  Barcelona, Spain (AFP)  —  Some 700,000 people took to Barcelona’s streets Tuesday, city police said, to protest against police violence during a banned weekend independence referendum in Catalonia, demanding to be heard. As the entire region went on general strike, Catalans protested throughout the day in various rallies, calling on the EU to intervene in an escalating face-off between Catalan separatist leaders and Madrid.

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