Socialists deal blow to separatists in Catalan elections but face uphill task to form government
Spainโs ruling Socialist party scored a crucial victory in regional elections in the powerful northeastern region of Catalonia, garnering the most seats and dealing a blow to the regionโs two main separatist parties that have governed for decades.
Catalan separatists reject amnesty bill, highlighting the fragility of Spain's minority government
Catalan separatist lawmakers have dealt Spainโs government a blow by voting against a hugely divisive amnesty law that was aimed at helping hundreds of their supporters involved in Cataloniaโs unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.
Catalans protest against mandate for more Spanish in schools
Thousands of Catalans has taken to the streets of Barcelona to protest against a court decision that mandates that 25% of all school subjects be taught in Spanish and reduces the still predominant use of the local Catalan language in classrooms.
Dialogue with Spain deepens division between Catalan parties
The leader of Catalonia in northeastern Spain has announced that itโs excluding a separatist party in his ruling regional coalition from talks with the central government aimed at solving the tensions over the growing pro-independence sentiment.
Catalan separatists eye freedom after Spain's Cabinet pardon
Nine Catalan separatist leaders jailed for sedition are eyeing freedom, after Spainโs Cabinet pardoned them in the hope of starting what Prime Minister Pedro Sรกnchez called a much-needed reconciliation in the countryโs restive northeast.
Catalan separatist returns from Belgium to face Spanish law
Former Catalan government member Meritxell Serret handed herself into Spain's Supreme Court on Thursday March 11, 2021, three years after she fled to Belgium. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)BARCELONA โ Former Catalan government member Meritxell Serret handed herself into Spainโs Supreme Court on Thursday, three years after she fled to Belgium along with other associates who led Cataloniaโs failed secession attempt. When Puigdemont fled Spain in October 2017 he was accompanied by Serret and six other members of the Catalan regional government, which was disbanded by Spainโs central authorities when their independence bid collapsed. She said that she intended to take the seat in the Catalan regional legislature she won in an election earlier this year. Puigdemont refused to return to Spain on claims that he could not get a fair trial.
EU lawmakers lift the immunity of 3 Catalan separatists
Member of European Parliament Carles Puigdemont prepares for an interview at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. In the decision on Puigdemont, 400 legislators voted for the waiver of immunity, 248 were against and 45 abstained. The measures to lift the immunity of his associates โ former Catalan Health Minister Toni Comรญn and former regional Education Minister Clara Ponsatรญ โ were by largely similar margins. AdโWe have lost our immunity, but the European Parliament has lost more than that. In 2019, Puigdemont and his two associates won seats in the European Parliament and were afforded protection as members of the EU assembly.
Angry youths rattle Spain in support of jailed rap artist
A man throws a bouquet of flowers against a national police station during a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasel in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)BARCELONA โ The imprisonment of a rap artist for his music and tweets praising terrorist violence and insulting the Spanish monarchy has set off a powder keg of pent-up rage this week in the southern European country. The arrest of Pablo Hasรฉl has brought thousands to the streets for different reasons. Under the banner of freedom of expression, many Spaniards strongly object to putting an artist behind bars for his lyrics and social media remarks. AdAs well as shouting its support for Hasรฉl, a crowd that gathered in Madrid on Saturday chanted โWhere is the change?
Spain: Peaceful protests for jailed rapper see more clashes
A demonstrator smashes a shop window during a protest condemning the arrest of rap singer Pablo Hasl in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. A fifth night of peaceful protests to denounce the imprisonment of a Spanish rap artist once more devolved into clashes between police and fringe group members who set up street barricades and smashed storefront windows in Barcelona. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)BARCELONA โ A fifth night of peaceful protests to denounce the imprisonment of a Spanish rap artist once more devolved into clashes between police and the members of fringe groups who set up street barricades and smashed storefront windows Saturday night in downtown Barcelona. AdCataloniaโs regional police force said there also was defiance in the city of Tarragona, where groups threw glass bottles at police lines and smashed store windows. Most were peaceful, but Pamplona in the central north saw clashes between police and people throwing bottles.
Separatists grow majority in Catalonia despite Socialist win
In 2017, those same parties won 70 seats of the 135-seat chamber, just two above the majority. The Socialist party led by former health minister Salvador Illa was poised to take 33 seats with over 625,000 votes. The pro-secession Republican Left of Catalonia was also set to claim 33 seats, but with 580,000 votes. The results shifted the power within the pro-secession camp to the leftist Republican Left of Catalonia party, whose 33 seats edged out the center-right Together for Catalonia, set to win 32 seats. Adriร Hoguet, a 29-year-old who works in banking, switched his vote from Together for Catalonia to the Republican Left of Catalonia.
Police on curfew patrol as Spain fights nightlife infections
People are detained and inspected by Mossos D'Esquadra, the regional police of Catalonia, after curfew in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020. Despite a large adherence to the recently re-imposed curfews in Spain, police patrolling Barcelona are still finding young people breaking the rules. Associated Press journalists accompanied officers from the Mossos dโEsquadra, the police force for Spainโs Catalonia region, on curfew patrol. In Spain, most of the enforcement effort has involving nudging stragglers indoors after curfew. Even with the curfew in place, police broke up over 100 such gatherings in apartments and 22 โbotellonesโ on Friday night alone.
Spain: judge probes Catalan separatism links with Russia
A man holding an "estelada" or independence flag waits for a protest to condemn a police raid on Catalan separatists in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Spanish officials say that police have arrested 21 individuals with links to the Catalan separatist movement on suspicion of corruption and promoting public disorder. The Catalan separatist movement has always proclaimed non-violent beliefs, even though last year there were violent clashes with police after several top leaders were sentenced to prison for their roles in the 2017 breakaway bid. The Spanish government had accused Russia in 2017 of meddling in the Catalan conflict, a charge that Russian officials denied then. Another detainee, Oriol Soler, is a publisher who is considered one of the top strategists of the separatist movement.
Spain court acquits Catalan police for role in secession bid
MADRID โ A Madrid court on Wednesday acquitted the heads of Cataloniaโs regional police of charges of sedition and disobedience for what state prosecutors had argued was their alleged role in the northeast regionโs 2017 secession attempt. Spainโs National Court ruled in a 2-1 decision that police chief Josep Lluis Trapero, officer Teresa Laplana, and political heads Pere Soler and Cรฉsar Puig hadn't supported the illegal secession referendum organized against court orders by Cataloniaโs government prior to its unsuccessful declaration of independence. Prosecutors had asked for prison sentences of 10 years for Trapero, Soler and Puig, and four years for Laplana. Prosecutors accused Trapero and his civilian bosses of having intentionally allowed voting to occur despite court orders to impede the referendum, leaving fellow national police forces to bear the brunt of the operation to stop the vote. Last year, Spainโs Supreme Court condemned 12 separatist politicians and activist leaders on charges of sedition and the misuse of public funds for leading the secession bid.