• Separatists win regional elections in Catalonia

    Lluis Gene / AFP - Getty Images

    Current President of Catalonia and leader of the CiU (Catalan Convergence and Unity) party Artur Mas casts his ballot for regional elections in Barcelona on Sunday.

    By Reuters

    UPDATED at 7:50 p.m. ET: BARCELONA, Spain -- Separatists in Spain's Catalonia won regional elections on Sunday but failed to get the resounding mandate they need to push convincingly for a referendum on independence. 

    Catalan President Artur Mas, who has implemented unpopular spending cuts in an economic crisis, had called an early election to test support for his new drive for independence for Catalonia, a wealthy region in northeastern Spain.

    Voters handed almost two thirds of the 135-seat local parliament to four different Catalan separatist parties that all want to hold a referendum on secession from Spain.

    But they punished the main separatist group, Mas's Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, cutting back its seats to 50 from 62. That will make it difficult for Mas to lead a united drive to hold a referendum in defiance of the constitution and the central government in Madrid.

    "Mas clearly made a mistake. He promoted a separatist agenda and the people have told him they want other people to carry out his agenda," said Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations' Madrid office.

    The result will come as a relief for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is battling a deep recession and 25 percent unemployment while he struggles to cut high borrowing costs by convincing investors of Spain's fiscal and political stability.

    Mas, surrounded by supporters chanting "independence, independence", said he would still try to carry out the referendum but added that, "it is more complex, but there is no need to give up on the process."

    Resurgent Catalan separatism had become a major headache for Rajoy, threatening to provoke a constitutional crisis over the legality of a referendum just as he is trying to concentrate on a possible international bailout for troubled Spain.

    Frustration over the Spanish tax system, under which Catalonia shares some of its tax revenue with the rest of the country, has revived a long-dormant secessionist spirit in Catalonia. Catalans believe if they could invest more of their taxes at home their economy would prosper.

    Mas had tried to ride the separatist wave after hundreds of thousands demonstrated in the streets in September, demanding independence for their region, which has its own language and sees itself as distinct from the rest of Spain.

    In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, Mas recognised that he had lost ground and though CiU is still the largest group in Catalan's parliament, he said would need the support of another party to govern and to continue pushing through tough economic measures.

    "We've fallen well short of the majority we had. We've been ruling for two years under very tough circumstances," he said.

    Traditional separatists the Republican Left, or ERC, won the second biggest presence in the Catalan parliament, with 21 seats. The Socialists took 20 seats. And Rajoy's centre-right People's Party won 19.

    Three other parties, including two that want a referendum on independence, split the remaining 25 seats. ECFR's Torreblanca said the Catalan elections were similar to those around Europe in that economic woes have benefited marginal political groups, while larger, traditional parties have lost ground.

    Mas's bet on separatism may have helped out the big winner of Sunday's election, the Republican Left, which more than doubled its seats in the Catalan parliament to 21 from 10, 

    Emilio Morenatti / AP

    Supporters of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) leader, Artur Mas, wave their pro-independence "estelada" flags during the last day of campaigning in a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, Friday.

    "He talked about it so much that he ended up helping the only party that has always been for independence, which is the Republican Left," said political analyst Ismael Crespo at the Ortega y Gasset research institute.

    A legal referendum would require a change to the constitution, and Spain's main parties in the national parliament, the Socialists and Rajoy's People's Party, have shown no appetite for that.

    Mas's CiU had traditionally been a pro-business moderate nationalist party that fought for more autonomy and self-governance for Catalonia without breaking away from Spain.

    Mas broke with that tradition in September when he made a big bet on a referendum.

    Catalonia, with 7.5 million people, is more populous than Denmark. Its economy is almost as big as Portugal's and it generates one fifth of Spanish gross domestic product.

    After a decade of overspending during Spain's real estate boom, Catalonia and most of the country's other regions are struggling to pay state workers and meet debt payments. Unemployment has soared and spending on hospitals and schools has been cut.

    Mas was one of the first Spanish leaders to embark on harsh austerity measures after Catalonia's public deficit soared and the regional government was shunned by debt markets.

    Josep Freixas, 37 and unemployed, voted for CiU but recognised the party had lost seats "because people have been really affected by the spending cuts and by the crisis."

    At CiU headquarters on Sunday night Freixas carried a rolled up pro-independence flag - a single star against yellow and red stripes - that has become a symbol of the separatist movement.

    Turnout was very high in the election, 68 percent, 10 percentage points higher than in the previous vote two years ago.

    Many Catalans are angry that Rajoy has refused to negotiate a new tax deal with their largely self-governing region. Annually, an estimated 16 billion euros ($21 billion) in taxes paid in Catalonia, about 8 percent of its economic output, is not returned to the region.

    Home to car factories and banks and birthplace of surrealist painter Salvador Dali and architect Antoni Gaudi, the region also has one of the world's most successful football clubs, FC Barcelona.

    Wary that separatism could spread to the Basque Country and beyond, Rajoy said this week that the Catalan election was more important than general elections. 

     

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  • Catalonia faces key test over bid to split from Spain

    Emilio Morenatti / AP

    Supporters of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition leader Artur Mas wave pro-independence "estelada" flags during a campaign meeting in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday.

    By The Associated Press

    GIRONA, Spain -- As in towns across this wealthy northeastern region, the maze-like cobblestone streets of Girona's medieval quarter are fluttering with flags in favor of Catalonia's independence.


    But while the separatist dream of millions has never felt so close to becoming a reality, independence fervor is now coming up against the cold, hard facts of what breaking free could mean.

    For this Spanish region famed for its trading prowess might be shut out of the European Union for years, a huge hurdle to doing business with its most important trading partners.

    EU officials say an independent Catalonia would face the same membership conditions of any other candidate nation. 

    Catalonia holds elections on Sunday that will be seen as a test of the regional government's plans to hold a referendum on independence, and one of the key issues emerging is the theoretical place of a free Catalonia in Europe. 

    A survey published by El Pais newspaper this month showed that while nearly half of Catalans support independence, the number drops to 37 percent if it means being out of the EU. 

    PhotoBlog: Catalans eye independence from Spain ahead of elections

    Tough membership conditions aren't the only thing possibly standing in the way. The European Union's treaty states that each of the 27 member states can veto a candidate nation's accession, so a vengeful Spain could block Catalonia's entry. 

    "Now we want to be a state inside Europe," said Josep Matamala, who helped create a banner combining a pro-EU slogan with the red-and-yellow stripes, blue triangle and white star of the "estelada" flag that symbolizes Catalonia's independence drive. 

    'We trust Europe'
    Catalonia's regional president Artur Mas, who is leading the independence charge, has voiced optimism — perhaps wishful thinking — that an independent Catalonia would be swiftly embraced into the EU fold.

    In a recent speech in Brussels, he declared: "Catalonia has never in its history let Europe down, now we trust Europe will not let us down." 

    Some pro-independence voters simply can't fathom being cast out of the EU. "I imagine that if faced with a majority of Catalans who vote yes for independence in a referendum, (the EU) wouldn't be able to turn its back on us," said 35-year-old Girona music teacher Merce Escarra. 

    In 2010, Escarra was featured in the local press when she was asked by the owner of the building where she lives to remove the "estelada" flag from her balcony. "I said I had a legitimate right to protest and left it up, and it has been there ever since," she said. 

    Two years later it is difficult to find a building in Girona that isn't bedecked with the red-and-yellow Catalan flag or the pro-independence "estelada." 

    "Now there has been a boom in the pro-independence movement," Escarra said.

    Money, neglect and language
    Her reasons for wanting independence are representative of millions of Catalans: The region pays more than it receives back in taxes; its infrastructure has been neglected by the central government; and independence would ensure the survival of the Catalan language. 

    While most of Catalonia's business community is taking a wait-and-see attitude, Jose Manuel Lara, the president of media giant Planeta, said he would move his company from Barcelona to Spain if Catalonia went independent, in order to remain based in the EU. 

    Ramon Tremosa, a European parliament member from Mas' pro-independence party, said that Catalonia's fate would hinge on pressure being applied on Spain by other European powers and the multinational companies established in Catalonia, which would be anxious for a quick return to business as usual. 

    "I can't imagine the 4,000 multinationals (in Catalonia) allowing themselves to be expelled from the EU, from the euro and the free movement of goods and capital, it's not realistic," Tremosa told The Associated Press. "Spain would not be able to stop it because it is heading toward a bailout." 

    European law experts were uncertain about how quickly an independent Catalonia could join the EU.

    Nicolas Zambrana, professor of international law at the University of Navarra, was pessimistic. "Spain would be in a good position to prevent Catalonia from returning to the EU," he said. 

    And the idea of a fledgling Catalan state left out in the European cold is giving some independence supporters second thoughts. 

    "It worries me," said Monica Casares, a 41-year-old mother of two who lives just north of Barcelona. "Taking into account that we would face a Spanish boycott on Catalan products for sure, and that we would also have to pay more on exports, we would have a big problem." 

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  • Catalans eye independence from Spain ahead of elections

    David Ramos / Getty Images

    Men chat underneath a Catalonia Pro-Independence banner on Nov. 20 in Vic, Spain. Over 5 million Catalans will be voting in Parliamentary elections on Nov. 25.

    Reuters -- Spain's wealthy but financially troubled region of Catalonia chooses a new government on Sunday in an election that could trigger a constitutional crisis over a resurgent Catalan breakaway movement.

    Opinion polls show most Catalans will vote for pro-independence parties, either from the left or right, handing their leader a mandate to hold a referendum on succession, despite strong resistance from the Spanish government.

    The secessionist threat is a major problem for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who is trying to show stability and fiscal responsibility in his fight to keep Spain in the euro currency zone and avoid an international bailout, despite a savage recession. Read the full story.

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