municipalities

938 of the 947 existing municipalities in Catalonia will host polling stations for the alternative consultation vote on independence scheduled for the 9^th of November, which replaces the original non-binding referendum. According to the Catalan Government, this represents 99.9% of Catalans being able to vote in their own neighbourhood, town or village, without having to go to a nearby municipality. The Catalan Government will be using its own venues to host the polling stations (mainly high-schools), but it lacks them in small towns. For this reason it requested that town halls cooperate and make municipal venues available for voting. 4 additional municipalities could be added to the final list. In addition, civil societies and parties will be able to campaign in 305 Catalan Government's venues between the 30^th of October and the 8^th of November.

The Catalan Government is disclosing further organisation details of the alternative participatory process that will take place on the 9^th of November, which is replacing the original consultation vote that was banned by Spanish authorities. The Catalan Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, announced that 26,372 volunteers had already signed up on Monday afternoon to help in the organisation of the 9^th of November's vote. 20,000 were initially required, but Homs announced that registration would remain open because "the greater amount of resources we have, the better". In addition, high-schools will be the 700 Catalan Government's venues that will host the 6,000 voting booths. In the small rural towns and villages without high-schools, the Catalan Government is talking with municipalities to find alternatives.

The Constitutional Court has accepted the Spanish Government's two appeals filed on Monday against the 9^th of November's self-determination vote decree and the Catalan Parliament's law on which it is based. This decision automatically means the temporary suspension of the law and the decree, a suspension which could be extended after 5 months should the Court not have yet reached a definitive verdict. In addition, it also suspends "the rest of actions" deriving from the law or the decree's implementation, including those taken "by third parties". The decision has been made in an urgent and non-scheduled plenary meeting, which was organised just 5 hours after the Spanish Government had filed the appeals. The Constitutional Court's plenary never meets on Mondays and its next meeting was scheduled for the 7^th of October. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has criticised "the supersonic speed" by which the Court has met. Mas asked this body to act as "the referee of all and not only of a part".

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has formally called a consultation vote on the 9th of November in order “to find out the [citizen] opinion” about “Catalonia’s political future” to launch “the legal, political and institutional initiative” to negotiate the necessary changes at the Spanish level. The Spanish Government has immediately replied that such a vote “will not take place” and that it will take it to the Constitutional Court, as it had already announced. Mas insisted that the democratic mandate from the last Catalan elections allowed him to organise a self-determination vote. Furthermore, “as all the other nations in the world, Catalonia has the right to decide its own future”, he stressed. The decree was signed on Saturday morning, in a ceremony attended by  all the Catalan Ministers and most of the political leaders supporting November’s vote. In addition, 92% of Catalonia’s municipalities have approved motions backing November’s vote and the law on which the decree is based was approved with 80% parliamentary support.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, will finally sign the decree calling the 9^th of November's self-determination vote on Saturday, a week after the Catalan Parliament approved the Law on Consultation Votes with 80% support. Mas will sign the decree surrounded by most of the leaders from the parties supporting November's vote and after having received the explicit support from 92% of Catalonia's municipalities. Besides, the Spanish Government will hold an exceptional Cabinet meeting on Monday (instead of waiting until Friday) to approve the two appeals against the new Catalan law and decree. The appeals will be filed to the Constitutional Court, whose plenary has then to decide whether it accepts them or not. If the Court accepts the appeals, the law and the decree will be temporarily suspended. The next Court's plenary is on the 7^th of October, but an extraordinary session could be organised this week.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, is using his legal prerogatives to control the political tempo regarding the call of the 9^th of November's self-determination consultation vote and therefore the Spanish Government's immediate appeal against it. As if it were a chess play, Mas' tactic seems to follow a strategy based on gathering as much institutional support as possible throughout Catalonia and on disturbing the Spanish Government's already-prepared veto actions. After an 80% of the Catalan Parliament approved on Friday the Law on Consultation Votes (the legal tool to call the independence vote), everybody anticipated that Mas would enter it into force early this week and that he would immediately call the aforementioned vote. However, the Catalan President is using the legal procedures to make the calendar suit his best interests.

The City Council of Barcelona as well as 300 other town halls throughout Catalonia approved on Monday a motion supporting the self-determination consultation vote, scheduled for the 9^th of November. Some 400 other municipalities have confirmed they will do the same in the current week and more could join in the coming days. With this action, Catalan municipalities want to back the parliamentary agreement to carry out such a vote, which is being unilaterally blocked by the Spanish Government.  The motions will be sent to the Catalan Government, the Spanish Authorities, the European Union institutions and the United Nations. Town Halls throughout Catalonia are approving the same motion, which has been proposed by the Association of pro-Independence Municipalities (AMI) and the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM).

The Catalan National Assembly, a grass-roots organisation, and Òmnium Cultural, a non-profit association promoting Catalan culture, are behind the massive independence demonstrations of 2012, 2013 and 2014, and in July they presented their new campaign 'Now it's time, united for a new country'. They aimed to mobilize the Catalan people for the self-determination vote scheduled on November the 9^th. There will be events throughout Catalonia and abroad during the 2 months before Catalonia’s National Day (September the 11^th). On that day, a massive demonstration in the shape of a giant V, for 'Votar' (To Vote) and 'Victòria' (Victory), will take place in Barcelona, which is expected to become the largest rally in the Catalonia's history. In addition, more than 30 ANC groups abroad are organising a worldwide campaign #votecatalonia. The political marketing firm Blue State Digital, which managed Obama's digital campaigns, is involved in the initiative.

Barcelona’s City Council has achieved a cumulative budget surplus of €23.5 million for the last few years, after posting a budget surplus of €139.3 million in 2013. In a press conference on Wednesday, the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Business and Employment, Sònia Recasens also announced that the city had eventually executed 97.55%, (€2.25 billion) of its planned expenditure. Such a figure is higher than the average execution ratio for 2009-2013. The execution ratio for investments amounts to 94% (€356 million) and is also significantly higher than in 2009-2013. In addition, debt levels represent 46.7% of the annual ordinary revenue. Furthermore, the City Council paid its providers in 29.2 days on average. Thanks to these figures, the City Council will make available 1,000 new social housing units in Barcelona.

The Catalan Government announced it will take to the Constitutional Court four bills drafted by the Spanish Executive because they neglect Catalonia’s self-government capacities and exclusive powers. The 4 affected bills are the Education Reform, the Market Unity Law, the Local Governments Law and the Environment Evaluation Law. The Spokesperson for the Catalan Government and Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, said that those reforms go against the Constitution and aim to reform it “through the back door”. “It is a reform without the needed transparency, without holding an open debate”, he said. “They are stripping away our political capacity to decide”, Homs emphasised. The Spanish Government justified the recentralisation of powers as a way to improve efficiency in times of economic crisis and austerity. However, several experts have already warned that it is not proven that efficiency will improve if powers are centralised.

Trade unions and the two associations of municipalities in Catalonia have issued a joint manifesto to protest against the Spanish Government’s Local Administration Reform. This reform recentralises powers and services, reducing the municipalities’ capacities and transferring resources to the Provincial Councils, political bodies associated to Spanish centralism and whose members are not directly-elected. The manifesto criticises the Spanish Government “for not having faced any significant reform of its heavy structure”, despite managing 53% of Spain’s public expenditure. The Spanish Government is also forcing the Autonomous Communities to reduce their services and structures.

The Catalan Government has reminded it has the exclusive powers to rule local governments in Catalonia, an authority which stems from the Catalan Statute of Autonomy approved by the Spanish Parliament and a binding referendum. Therefore, it does not recognise the Spanish Government’s law proposal on local governments, approved last week in Madrid, and will reject any imposition. The new Catalan law foresees the volunteer merging of municipalities and elimination of 1,034 remunerated positions in the County Councils. It also reshapes the body managing services within the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Furthermore, it strengthens the control on the creation of new local bodies and the public services offered by municipalities.

The Catalan Government and most of the political parties have criticised the Spanish Government’s project to reduce local powers. Furthermore, the Catalan Vice-President, Joana Ortega, emphasised the “unfair vision” of local governments given by the Spanish Finance Minister. Ortega underlined that in Catalonia, most of the town halls ended 2012 with a budget deficit of 0%, which is “not in line with the mismanagement image given” by the Spanish Government. Furthermore, while the Spanish Government is aiming to reduce the number of councillors earning a salary to only 18%, Ortega reminded them that in Catalonia only 10% are now earning a salary. Political parties in Catalonia criticised the Spanish Government for taking away power from the government level closest to the citizens.