Catalunya – Some elections are important…

There’s a huge election in Catalunya on Sunday: Jon Henley’s there for the Guardian. Here’s his succinct summary: Catalonia is preparing to vote in an election that could determine not just its future, but the shape of Spain and, perhaps, even the European Union. The Generalitat, or autonomous government, polls – which have been called early after the Spanish prime minister refused even to discuss Catalonia’s demands to collect its taxes – will in effect be a plebiscite on whether …

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Catalunya surely on the road to Independence

The Economist reports on last week’s Catalan elections. Barca v Madrid. There is now a clear majority of “sovereignists” and separatists in the Catalan parliament. A ruling by Spain’s constitutional court in the summer to water down a new autonomy statute—the results of a PP legal challenge—has raised the temperature. Polls at the time showed support for independence briefly rising to 50%, before slipping back in the autumn (one in ten voters backed openly separatist parties yesterday). In the end, …

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