Tag: Catalonia

Pro-separatist Catalan parties back ex-leader for top job

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — The two largest pro-independence parties in Catalonia said Tuesday they had agreed to nominate sacked regional leader Carles Puigdemont for president, despite his self-imposed exile in Belgium and Madrid’s insistence he cannot rule remotely. The separatist ERC and Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia party reached an accord to support him “as a candidate for president of the Catalonia region,” a joint statement said. The central government in Madrid has warned it would maintain direct […]

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Madrid to keep Catalonia reins if Puigdemont seeks remote rule

MADRID, Spain (AFP) –Spain warned Monday that Madrid would maintain its unpopular direct control over Catalonia if ousted regional leader Carles Puigdemont tries to govern again from exile in Belgium. Speaking to party members in Madrid, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Puigdemont had “to be physically present” in Catalonia to take office. And if that did not happen, he warned, the central government would maintain the direct rule imposed after Catalan leaders declared independence in October. Puigdemont is […]

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Ex-Catalan leader demands regional govt be reinstated

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on Saturday demanded Madrid reinstate his regional government, which was deposed after an independence referendum that Spanish courts judged illegal, as part of a political settlement. “As president, I demand the Spanish government and those who support it… restore all they have expropriated from the Catalans without their say-so,” Puigdemont said from Brussels as he called on Madrid to “negotiate politically.” Puigdemont’s administration followed up the October 1 […]

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Rajoy better armed against Catalan separatists despite poll rout

by Patrick Rahir Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Despite taking fire for losing a snap election in Catalonia, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces the new year better equipped to block a separatist drive in the wealthy region, analysts said. His detractors have called the results of the December 21 election, which saw separatist parties hold on to their majority in the Catalan parliament, a “fiasco” and a “rout” for Rajoy, in power since 2011. Pro-independence parties failed […]

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Catalan separatists set to reclaim absolute majority: partial results

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalan separatist parties looked set to win back their absolute majority in a crucial vote Thursday, though anti-independence Ciudadanos had scored the best individual result, a partial count showed. Together, the pro-independence Together for Catalonia, leftist ERC and radical left CUP parties were on course to take 70 seats — an absolute majority in a 135-seat parliament. Those results at 2120 GMT were based on a count of just over 65 percent of […]

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Independence or not? Catalans vote in decisive election

by Marianne Barriaux Agence France Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalans take their independence struggle to the polls Thursday in a hotly-contested election that could mark a turning point for their region just two months after a secession bid ended in failure. The vote pits leaders of the wealthy northeastern region’s separatist movement against parties that want to remain in Spain, and opinion polls suggest both sides’ leading candidates are neck-and-neck. Will voters again hand […]

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Catalan election campaign heats up in final stretch

by Alfons Luna with Daniel Silva in Madrid Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Campaigning hit fever pitch on Monday in Catalonia, just three days before a pivotal election aiming to break the deadlock in Spain’s worst crisis in decades. The regional vote on Thursday pits leaders of the wealthy northern region’s separatist movement against candidates who want to stay part of a unified Spain, with neither side showing a willingness to back down. Some of the […]

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Sacked Catalan parliament speaker is freed on bail

by Patrick Galey © Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The sacked speaker of Catalonia’s parliament left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours after supporters posted her bail of 150 000 euros ($175,000), ending her brief detention over the region’s controversial independence drive. A judge at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday had ordered Carme Forcadell to be held on charges of “rebellion” — which carries a maximum jail term of 30 years — as […]

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Axed Catalan leader slams EU for ‘helping’ Spanish PM

by Toni Cerda with Daniel Bosque in Barcelona Agence France-Presse BRUXELLES, Belgium (AFP) — Catalonia’s sacked leader on Tuesday slammed the European Union for backing Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in his bid to quash secession, after calling on pro-independence parties to unite for next month’s regional election. “Will you accept the result of the Catalan referendum or will you continue to help Mr Rajoy in his coup d’etat?” Carles Puigdemont, who was dismissed by Madrid last […]

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Spain’s most wanted: Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont

by Daniel Bosque © Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia’s deposed leader Carles Puigdemont, who has fled to Belgium and is facing an EU arrest warrant, has been a convinced secessionist since his youth, long before the issue moved to the centre of Catalan politics. Spanish prosecutors want to charge Puigdemont, with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds over his role in the region’s tumultuous independence drive. The 54-year-old has ignored a summons to appear […]

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Spain detains Catalonia’s ex-ministers

by Simon Sturdee with Alfons Luna in Barcelona © Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — A large chunk of Catalonia’s deposed government was behind bars Thursday after a Spanish judge ordered their detention pending probes into their role in the region’s independence drive, prompting fresh street protests. Carles Puigdemont, dismissed last week as Catalan president by the Spanish government and who has since been holed up in Belgium, meanwhile was facing a possible EU arrest warrant after […]

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Axed Catalan leader spurns Spanish legal summons

by Simon Sturdee with Laurence Boutreux in Barcelona Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Axed Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont’s lawyer confirmed Wednesday his client will spurn a Spanish legal summons to be grilled about alleged rebellion and sedition in his quest for independence. “He will not go to Madrid and I have suggested that he be questioned here in Belgium,” Paul Bekaert told Spanish television channel TV3. Puigdemont, currently in Brussels, and 13 other members of his […]

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