All posts tagged: Catalonia

Relief for Pedro Sánchez as Spanish government’s Catalan amnesty bill clears major hurdle in parliament – POLITICO

Relief for Pedro Sánchez as Spanish government’s Catalan amnesty bill clears major hurdle in parliament – POLITICO

Several dozen police officers who have been investigated for allegations of using violence on voters during a 2017 referendum could also benefit from the clemency measure. Oriol Junqueras, leader of the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (ERC), said approval of the amnesty marked “an important day for democracy.” The parliament’s lower house rejected the bill in January, when Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya party voted against it, on the grounds that it left him and others vulnerable to prosecution for terrorism, a charge he is being investigated for due to his alleged involvement in protests in Barcelona in 2019. Junts and the government negotiated a revised version of the law in an effort to address those concerns. This time, Junts voted in favor of the bill, along with the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, his coalition partners Sumar, the ERC, and Basque nationalists. Although the opposition Popular Party (PP) has a majority in the Senate, it cannot block the legislation, which the PP says is unconstitutional and gives Catalan nationalists preferential treatment. It …

Spanish lawmakers pass controversial amnesty bill for Catalan separatists

Spanish lawmakers pass controversial amnesty bill for Catalan separatists

Spain’s Parliament approved on Thursday a controversial amnesty bill aimed at forgiving crimes — both proven and alleged — committed by Catalan separatists during a chaotic attempt to hold an independence referendum in the region six years ago. Issued on: 14/03/2024 – 14:51 3 min Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has promoted the amnesty as a way to move past the 2017 secession attempt by the then-leaders of Catalonia, a northeastern region centered around Barcelona where many speak the local Catalan language as well as Spanish. However, the bill has also met opposition from millions of Spaniards who believe that the people who provoked one of Spain’s biggest political crises should face charges including embezzlement and promoting public disorder. Sánchez has already pardoned nine jailed Catalan independence leaders, a move that helped heal wounds at little political cost. But the amnesty is proving to be much more divisive. ‘A series of polls show a majority of Spaniards are against this amnesty law’ 02:51 The bill was passed by 178-172 votes in favor in the 350-seat …

Council of Europe adviser backs Spanish amnesty law – POLITICO

Council of Europe adviser backs Spanish amnesty law – POLITICO

Spanish lawmakers are struggling to find common ground on the text. Last November, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was able to form a government thanks to the support of former Catalonia president and separatist chief Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont’s Junts party agreed to back the socialist leader in exchange for the amnesty legislation, which is being discussed at the Spanish parliament. At a crucial vote last month, members of Puigdemont’s party blocked the bill, arguing the legislation didn’t fully protect separatists from prosecution for alleged terrorism-related crimes. Earlier this week, Spain’s Supreme Court opened a terrorism investigation into Puigdemont over protests linked to the region’s failed 2017 independence referendum. The Venice Commission provides legal advice to its 61 member countries on whether their legal and institutional structures are in line “with European standards and international experience in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.” The Council of Europe, which is not an EU institution, works to promote democracy and human rights. Source link

church reemerges from reservoir as Spain faces droughts

church reemerges from reservoir as Spain faces droughts

The church of Sant Romà de Sau, the village that was flooded to build a dam in the 1950s.Photograph: Ajit Niranjan/The Guardian Magdalena Coromina tapped the hard ground with her walking stick and looked up at a church that was meant to be underwater. Six decades ago, when engineers had built the reservoir in which she stood, they had flooded the town of Sant Romà de Sau and drowned its buildings. The rains that slaked the region’s thirst had kept the ruins covered. But that world no longer exists. Struck by a drought that has dried the reservoir to 1% of its capacity, the remains of the village have come back into view. Crumbling stone structures now sit on cracked soil among ashen plants. The church, whose spire used to poke above the surface during dry spells, today stands high above the waterline. “It makes me so sad,” said Coromina, an 85-year-old from the nearby city of Ripoll who came to see the ruins on an unusually warm February afternoon. She remembered rain and snow …

Catalan leader chides separatists after Pedro Sanchez’s amnesty bill is blocked – POLITICO

Catalan leader chides separatists after Pedro Sanchez’s amnesty bill is blocked – POLITICO

“The latest developments are unfortunate and I call on all actors to work responsibly to make sure this law is approved,” Aragonès said in an interview with POLITICO in Brussels. “But I am confident that this will ultimately end well.” Junts members withdrew their support for the bill shortly before the vote, arguing it didn’t fully protect them — including their de facto leader, former Catalan president and separatist chief Carles Puigdemont — from prosecution for alleged terrorism-related crimes. The bill’s rejection represents a significant blow for Sánchez, who obtained Junts’ crucial support to form a government last November in exchange for moving forward with the amnesty legislation. In the past few weeks, Sánchez accepted modifications to the draft bill to satisfy demands by the separatist lawmakers that their protection from prosecution be ironclad. The text will now return for debate in a parliamentary commission before being voted on again by Spanish lawmakers in a few weeks. Junts is likely to use that time to pressure Sánchez’s minority government, which requires the party’s support to …

Catalonia’s independence referendum

Catalonia’s independence referendum

An old refrain often used about Spain is that in the country “everything is politicised”. This became apparent following the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in mid-August 2017. As the nation sought an explanation for the attacks, the debate rapidly became wrapped up in the ongoing dispute between Madrid and the regional Catalan government in Barcelona. The blame game became framed in Catalan or Spanish terms. For some, the Catalan police became national heroes, while for others they had, through negligence, apparently failed to prevent the attacks. The disagreement is only partially about the aftermath of the attacks. It’s also part of the push for independence in Catalonia, which has become a permanent feature of the political landscape in Spain. The Catalan parliament passed a measure in September officially announcing its plan to hold a referendum on October 1. If Yes won on the day, the parliament said, it would declare independence from Spain within 48 hours. The Madrid government responded by declaring the vote illegal. The Spanish government is now attempeting to prevent …

New government in Spain and what it means for Catalan’s

New government in Spain and what it means for Catalan’s

Spain’s new prime minister Pedro Sanchez rose to office against a backdrop of unprecedented drama. But now he could capitalise on the circumstances that landed him the top job to resolve the conflict with Catalonia. Sanchez successfully ousted his predecessor Mariano Rajoy by passing a motion of no confidence against the Partido Popular government. Seizing on the unique opportunity offered by the sentencing of several prominent PP officials in a long-running corruption trial, the opposition leader moved quickly. Sanchez needed at least 176 votes but his Socialist party (PSOE) only had 84 seats and Ciudadanos, a centrist-liberal formation with a strong Spanish nationalist rhetoric, wouldn’t endorse a new left-wing government. So, Sanchez needed to muster the support of all other parties in the Spanish parliament. This included the left-wing party Podemos, and several nationalist parties from the Basque country and Catalonia, such as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC). Sanchez takes office after his bold move in parliament. EP/Emilio Naranjo At the same time, in Barcelona, Quim Torra – a Catalan nationalist hand-picked by the exiled …

Centuries of Catalonia’s cultural struggle against Madrid

Centuries of Catalonia’s cultural struggle against Madrid

Like all constitutions, the 1978 Spanish constitution is a product of a very specific historical moment. General Francisco Franco had died in 1975 and his political heirs understood the need for change: Francoism without Franco in a rapidly modernising country was not sustainable. The democratic parties, including the Catalan nationalists, recognised they were too weak to impose a clean break and bring Franco’s henchmen to justice. The constitution was a pact between the most forward-looking Francoists and a heterogeneous opposition prepared to turn a blind eye to atrocities committed by Franco’s so-called nationalists during the Civil War and nearly four decades of dictatorship. It is from this uneasy compromise that all recent political upheaval in Catalonia stems – including the latest instalment, the region’s election on December 21. To understand the conflict, however, you have to go back much further than 1978. Neither can you confine yourself to politics; everything is underpinned by the rise of Catalan culture and its battle to express itself. Renaissance years Today’s Catalan nationalism has its origins in the 19th-century …

Resurgence of Catalan

Resurgence of Catalan

Barcelona is one of the best-known cities in the world, yet visitors expecting to practice their Spanish can often be surprised when they hear Catalan spoken in the streets. The language has had a troubled history, but is a key marker of identity in Catalonia, a region where many hope for independence from Spain. The outcome of regional elections on September 27 means the current Catalan president Artur Mas may now seek to declare independence. Attempts to suppress the Catalan language and culture have deep historical roots but were intensified during the era of Francisco Franco. The dictator banned the Catalan language from public spaces and made Spanish the sole language of public life. For 40 years under the dictatorship, Spain tried to present itself as an ethnically and politically homogeneous state. The execution of Franco’s opponents continued after the end of the Spanish Civil War. One prominent victim was the former Catalan president, Lluís Companys who was deported from Nazi-occupied France in 1940 and then executed in Barcelona. Cultural repression After the Spanish Civil …