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Spanish Constitutional Court suspends law for expanding Catalonia’s Tax Agency

ACN / Shobha Prabhu-Naik

Catalan government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, stated that the suspension will be appealed and described the decision as “another example of asphyxia and re-centralisation”. The Catalan reform stipulated that all those civil servants who wanted to apply for a position in the entity, would need to have permanent positions in Catalonia. The Constitutional Court (TC) considered the new law to have violated the right of all Spanish citizens to access the entity under the same conditions. 

September 14, 2015 06:13 PM

Mas urges the Spanish government to “stop threatening” Catalans as if they were “criminals”

ACN

The Catalan President asked Madrid to “pay attention to” the massive demonstration held in Barcelona and to stop being “politically short-sighted”. “Leave behind your imperial vanity, stop threatening us with the law as if we were criminals. We are normal, peaceful people”, he said to the Spanish government, in a short speech after 1.4 million people took to the streets of Barcelona in another big rally in favour of independence. Mas urged the central government to modify the law to allow a referendum because “that would not mean the end of the world”. “We have the right to be listened to, and not only that. We have the right to be helped in order to implement our democratic mandate”, he added. Addressing the Catalans that took part in the rally, he said that while they can be “influential” by taking to the streets, it’s really when they vote at the ballot box that they “decide”. Catalans are going to the polls on the 27th of September in a vote that many consider a de facto referendum on independence.

September 11, 2015 09:54 PM

1.4 million people take to the streets calling for independence

ACN

Catalonia has once again organised one of the largest demonstrations in Europe on its National Day. 1.4 million people formed a 5.2 km line in Barcelona to show their support for the creation of an independent state for Catalonia, according to local police. The organisers from the grass-roots Catalan National Assembly (ANC) put the figure at 2 million. Its president, Jordi Sánchez, urged politicians to go ahead with independence if Yes parties win a majority in the 27th of September election. “They should not let us down. They need to know that they’ve got hundreds of thousands of people behind them. Today we are on the street, tomorrow we will be in the polling station”, he said. According to Sánchez, this year's demonstration has been a “success”.

September 11, 2015 07:51 PM

Massive turnout at Catalan independence demonstration

ACN

Yes supporters in Catalonia hit the streets Friday in a new historic rally organised two weeks before a crucial election that is being framed as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (Gateway to the Catalan Republic) covered a 5.2-kilometre stretch of one of Barcelona’s main avenues, the Meridiana. People poured into the city waving the independence flag, known in Catalan as ‘estelada’. Today’s rally is the fourth huge demonstration in support of independence that Catalans have organised on 11 September, their National Day. In previous years, up to 1.5 million people demonstrated in the streets.

September 11, 2015 05:09 PM

Flower offering to 1714 patriot Rafael Casanova on Catalonia’s National Day

ACN

At 9 o’clock this morning, all the political parties represented in the Catalan Parliament and in Barcelona’s City Hall, with the exception of the conservative People’s Party (PP), anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) and alternative left and radical independence party CUP, paid the traditional homage to the statue of Rafael Casanova, Barcelona’s Chief Councillor when the city was defeated on the 11th of September 1714. The first to arrive were Catalan President Artur Mas and Catalan Parliament spokeswoman Núria de Gispert. Civil society organisations such as FC Barcelona, RCD Espanyol, and Òmnium Cultural (the main organisation promoting Catalan culture and language) also participated in the event. The flower offering was the first of many events being held to commemorate Catalonia’s National Day, the 11th of September. The date not only commemorates Catalonia’s defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession, but it also recalls its consequent loss of sovereignty, self-government institutions and Constitution. 

September 11, 2015 12:50 PM

Electoral campaign for the 27-S kicks off on Catalonia’s National Day

ACN / Sara Prim

This year the electoral campaign for the upcoming 27th of September elections starts on the 11th of September, Catalonia’s National Day. In total 40 lists of candidates are running for the Catalan elections, 39 less than in the last elections in 2012, with many of the candidates being newcomers. This reduction in the number of candidacies is due to the creation of unitary lists made up by coalitions between different parties and even civil society organisations in order to have a wider representation in an election that is set to be a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence. 

September 11, 2015 12:10 PM

The main public schedule for Catalonia’s National Day

ACN

The 11th September is Catalonia’s National Day, which commemorates those who were defeated by Bourbon troops on the same date in 1714, after defending Barcelona during a military siege that lasted 14 months. From that moment onwards, Catalonia lost its self-government institutions, its own laws and freedoms, and the Catalan language was banned and persecuted. The day has numerous ceremonies and celebrations throughout Catalonia. However, this year the commemoration of the National Day is marked by the proximity of the upcoming Catalan elections on the 27th September and the electoral campaign. 

September 10, 2015 06:25 PM

Members of US Congress support Catalonia’s right to vote

ACN / Sara Prim

Republican Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Europe stated that he sees “no reason why people in Catalonia cannot have their own choice of whether they want to be part of Spain”. He made this statement during a meeting with the Catalan Government’s Secretary for Foreign and European Union Affairs, Roger Albinyana, and Head of the Foreign Action Committee of the Catalan Parliament, Jordi Solé. Rohrabacher emphasised that “it’s better to let people decide and for them to choose to remain in the country, instead of making them feel they are being forced to stay”. Earlier in the week, 31 MEPs from 14 different member states sent a letter to the Spanish Defence Minister in which they urged him to “rectify” his position on Catalonia. Regarding the Minister’s declarations, the MEPs asked him to make it clear that Spain’s army won’t interfere in a situation which they described as “pacific and democratic”.

September 10, 2015 06:11 PM

Catalonia’s written legacy the focus of National Day institutional ceremony

ACN / Sara Prim

Catalonia’s National Day, on the 11th of September, commemorates the day on which Catalonia was finally defeated and lost its sovereignty to the absolute king Felip V, more than 300 years ago. This year the institutional ceremony focused on two pillars: the 100th anniversary of the Catalonia’s Library Network and the 750th birthday of Ramon Muntaner, one of the first and most iconic chroniclers in Catalonia’s history. The institutional events are normally held on the night before the 11th of September but this year the celebration was brought forward to avoid its coincidence with the electoral campaign, which kicks off on the 10th of September at midnight. The Catalan Parliament’s President, Núria de Gispert, stated that lately Catalonia’s National Day commemorations haven’t a “feeling of defeat but one of hope for the future”. 

September 10, 2015 12:49 PM

‘Via Lliure’: A mass rally on Catalonia’s National Day “to start building a new country”

ACN / Sara Prim

A gigantic demonstration is being prepared by the two civil society associations supporting the independence process, the Catalan National Assembly and Òmnium Cultural, for Catalonia’s National Day. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (‘Gateway to the Catalan Republic’) arrives after three years in a row of historic pro-independence rallies that have gathered more than 1.5 million people each. This time the demonstration will take place along Meridiana Avenue in Barcelona and there are already 360,000 people registered to participate. The rally will make its way along a 5.2-kilometre-stretch, from the ‘Parc de la Ciutadella’ – where the Catalan Parliament is located – to the outskirts of the Catalan capital, symbolically linking the institution that represents Catalonia's sovereignty with the streets of Barcelona and the rest of the country. 

September 9, 2015 10:17 AM

Spain’s army won’t intervene in Catalonia “if everybody fulfils their duty”

ACN / Shobha Prabhu-Naik

The Spanish Defence Minister, Pedro Morenés, warned that the army won’t intervene in Catalonia during the 27-S upcoming elections as long as “everybody fulfils their duty”. Morenés said this referring to a possible unilateral declaration of independence, in the event that pro-independence forces win the Catalan elections. In an interview on Spanish National Radio (RNE) he underlined that the army “is an absolutely and perfectly democratic” institution and its members “will strictly obey the law”. The Minister also spoke in support of the application of Article 115 of the Spanish Constitution, which allows the central government to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy if the “rules aren’t adhered to”.

September 8, 2015 07:13 PM

Around 2,000 refugees to be hosted in Catalonia “for a long time”

ACN

Around 2,000 war refugees will arrive in Catalonia in three months’ time and stay “for a long time”, Catalan Government spokeswoman Neus Munté announced at a meeting this morning. The main goal is to integrate the refugees as much as possible and to guarantee their access to health and education services. During the meeting, Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and Neus Munté, urged the Spanish government to “accelerate the asylum process” and announce the resources that the EU will allocate for this matter. Colau declared that 2,000 families registered on the list of volunteers even before the authorities agreed on a coordinated answer. This shows “the solidarity of Catalan society and that of Barcelona city” Colau said “and it has been crucial in forcing the government to act”, she added. 

September 7, 2015 07:44 PM

Norwegian Minister of European Affairs says Spain “has the democratic procedures” to deal with Catalonia’s push for independence

ACN

Vidar Helgesen declared to CNA that the process of independence Catalonia is facing is a “demanding situation” but assured that international organisations have the “procedures to handle it”. Although he said that Norway doesn’t want to interfere in Catalonia’s process he admitted that they are “certainly observing” the situation and they will “play along with international rules” in the event of a hypothetic independence. Regarding the future of Catalonia in the EU he recalled former President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso’s words on the Scottish matter and stated that “it wouldn’t be an automatic process”. 

September 7, 2015 06:29 PM

Catalans in London “say yes” to independence via street parade

ACN / Sara Prim

Nearly 300 Catalans living in London have come out in support for the independence process and defended a “yes” vote in the forthcoming 27-S elections, set to be a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence. Carrying Catalan and pro-independence flags, they marched along the streets of the British capital passing by icons of the city such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Parliament and the London Eye. The rally was linked to the ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (‘Gateway to the Catalan Republic’), the mass demonstration that the civil society organisations Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural are organising for this coming Catalan National Day, on the 11th of September. Once the demonstrators arrived at Kennington Park, they displayed the same mosaic that will be created in Barcelona on the 11th of September. Catalan traditional human towers, ‘Castellers’, and ‘Sardanes’, Catalonia’s traditional dance, were also on display in the most festive part of the London rally.  

September 7, 2015 04:25 PM

‘Junts Pel Sí’ roadmap guarantees “no leaps into the void”

ACN

The pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ gave details about its roadmap towards independence, which was first presented last week after a massive rally in Barcelona. The cross-party coalition brings together members of Catalan civil society and politicians from both right and left that favour independence, including Catalan President Artur Mas, who is fourth on the coalition’s candidate list. The Commissioner for National Transition, solicitor Carles Viver Pi-Sunyer, assured this Friday during the presentation that there won’t be any “leap into the void” as everything is planned “rigorously”. He also detailed the steps to follow after the 27th of September elections and, if the results show clear support for Catalan independence, the last stage would be the composition of a Catalan Constitution.

September 4, 2015 07:38 PM

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