100 posts
The historic hurdles to Catalonia's independence | Enric Juliana
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Spain stands in the way of an independence referendum. But Sunday's regional elections may offer another routeThe Catalan question is ancient. It dates back to the 17th century, when tensions first developed between Spain's centre and its periphery.
Euro-separatism III: Catalonia’s bid for independence
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With unemployment hitting 25% of the active population and austerity for the foreseeable future, more and more people are leaving Spain. Now, an entire region wants to leave the country. After Belgium and Scotland, this third post on Euro-separatism...
Mas Power for Catalonia
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Artur Mas, the president of Catalonia, tells Brussels of his plans for the Spanish region to become its own state within the EU.
LIVE @13h00: Debate with the President of the Government of Catalonia
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Today at 13h00 Brussels time (GMT +1), Debating Europe will be liveblogging Friends of Europe’s Policy Spotlight discussion with Artur Mas, President of the Government of Catalonia. Mas, who assumed office in 2010, is the leader of Democratic...
Spain: Catalan Unionist Party Launches Controversial Viral Video
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One of Catalonia's minority unionist parties, Ciutadans, made a splash on the Web with a viral video citing a controversial essay written by former nationalist president Jordi Pujol, containing derogatory statements against Andalusians.
Some more (draft) bad news for the Spanish government
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The European Commission is due to unveil its autumn economic forecasts on Friday, but El País has already seen a draft of what the Spanish government is going to be told - and, unsurprisingly, there seems to be no good news coming from Brussels.Firs...
Spain’s Borrowing Conundrum
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On Thursday, Spain will attempt something that it has not done in the debt market for about a year and a half: sell a government bond with a maturity of more than 10 years. But while the calm tone in financial markets has ensured steady demand for Sp...
Number of the day:4.8 million are now without a job in Spain
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The number of people looking for a job in Spain rose by 2.7% in October, according to new monthly numbers released by the Spanish labour ministry, writes the BBC. This is the third month in … Continue reading →...
"Changing the Political Clocks in Spain" by Hadleigh Roberts
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If you can’t move elections to suit events, you have to move events to suit elections. Such has been the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy’s, approach to the regional elections in Galicia and the Basque country. It was no surprise that Rajoy
Changing the political clocks in Spain
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If you can’t move elections to suit events, you have to move events to suit elections. Such...
Basque Story in Bilbao an Inspiration to Native Americans
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Fall 2012 American Marshall Memorial Fellow Ernest House writes that the Basque peoples' struggle for recognition of their cultural autonomy is an inspiration to his own Ute Native American nation.
Better Spanish Budget Data Fails to Convince
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Spain's central government appears on track to meet its budget deficit goal but the big unanswered question remains over those pesky regions, writes William Kemble-Diaz.
Transcript of Catalan Journalists' Video Against Their Libel Fine
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Discover the transcript of some parts of the video that the editors of the Catalan magazine Cafè amb Llet uploaded to YouTube to comment on their recent libel sentence and fine.
Spain: Journalists Fined After Revealing Corruption in Catalonia
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Marta Sibina and Albano Dante, editors of the citizen media magazine Cafè amb Llet, have been fined 10,000 euro for libel. They uploaded to YouTube a video strongly criticizing the lack of transparency in public healthcare financing in Catalonia, im...
Spain Retail Sales Fall at Record Pace
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Spanish retail sales plunged at a record pace in September as consumers cut spending following a sharp increase in the country’s value-added tax rate.
Spain: The Minister of Education's Many Gaffes
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The Minister of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain, José Ignacio Wert, has sparked controversy after controversy since taking up his position less than a year ago. Netizens have not turned a blind eye.
Madrid’s Pulled Bond Might Not Matter
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The region of Madrid's pulled bond sale Tuesday looks bad -- very bad -- but in the end it probably doesn't matter, writes Art Patnaude.
Spain’s socialists get a drubbing but Rajoy shouldn’t be smug
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More than a confirmation of Mariano Rajoy’s mad austerity policies, this weekend’s local elections in Galicia and the Basque country confirmed the Spaniards’ enduring distrust of the socialists. The party that ruled Spain for almost...
Taking A Man At His Word
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Legendary hedge fund supremo Ray Dalio is in ebullient mood. Following a series of moves by Mario Draghi to underpin European government financing Dalio told Bloomberg that, in his opinion, the euro will now “likely” stay together because existin...
Spanish regions: We hate to say 'We told you so', but...
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In July, we published a briefing looking at the potential impact of regional debt problems on the Spanish economy. In particular, we noted that Spanish regions were expected to make swingeing cuts to meet the overly ambitious regional deficit targe...
UBS Has Gloomy View on Spain
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Spain is the golden boy of Europe's government bond markets at the moment, with its debt trading at the strongest levels in six months. But Swiss bank UBS AG reckons this may all end in tears.
How much humiliation can Spain cope with?
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The FT’s Gillian Tett reports today on a conference presentation given by historical sociologist Dennis Smith, who’s been working on the question of how humiliation operates at the cultural / collective psychological level – and wha...
Spanish Bondholders Benefit to Germans’ Cost
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Two diametrically opposite bits of news came out of Spain this morning, writes Alen Mattich.
Spain’s super-rich are having a good crisis
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While the majority get poorer, Spain’s super-rich get richer. Fresh evidence of a widening gap between the one percent and the rest. Read my piece on Liberal Conspiracy blog...
The Catalonian problem
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By Maria Dolores Amoros The problem with Catalonia is not its desire for independence, but that the Catalan public has fallen into the trap of Convergence and Union, or Convergència i Unió (CiU), headed by Artur Mas, the Senyoret. Mr. Mas has shown...
Spain Considers EU Credit Line
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Spain is considering a request for a line of credit from the European Union's new bailout mechanism, a senior Spanish Finance Ministry official said Monday, giving the first details of the country's plans for seeking help to avoid its debt problems s...
A virtual Spanish bailout?
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In case you’re wondering, we not talking about a bailout on Facebook or the like.No, we’re referring to the quite strange comments by a Spanish finance ministry official reported in the press this morning. The official reportedly stated that Spai...
Daily Digest: Spaniards are fleeing away from the economic crisis
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Nearly half a million Spanish people have left the country since January. Around 60,000 of them are Spanish citizens. The number is worth noting, because it shows gains in the number of Spanish people … Continue reading →...
Spain: Anti-austerity referendum campaign kicks off
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A coalition of 150 Spanish civil society organisations and unions have begun collecting signatures for a referendum on the brutal austerity programme of the Popular Party government of Mariano Rajoy. The complete mismatch between the right wing Gover...
EUR Bulls Still Waiting for Spain to Ask
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The European Central Bank's latest big bailout idea hasn't been pressed into service yet, but, nevertheless, euro bulls obviously still approve.
Time does not cure everything
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By Pedro Angosto After the Allied victory in World War II, Europeans, especially Germans, French and Italian collaborators had to undergo a thorough process of introspection that led them to be aware of the horrors they had caused. The new democratic...
Spain Downgraded. So What?
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The latest ratings agency downgrade of Spanish debt doesn't matter in any practical, market sense. But it matters in terms of confirming the gloom.
Spain downgraded to near 'junk' status as death spiral continues
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Spain's long list of problems includes an economy in chaos, a political system threatening to turn in on itself and higher borrowing costs resulting from a lack of eurozone support - warns ratings agency...
Why Spain’s students and their families are turning up the heat on Rajoy
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Rising student fees, regressive education reforms, a €4 billion cut to state education and the firing of thousands of teachers are set to be contested by students and their families as they step up protests in the coming week. Until now, it has bee...
"Catalonia and the Trilemma" by David Lizoain
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According to Dani Rodrik’s political trilemma, “We cannot have globalization, democracy, and national sovereignty simultaneously. We must choose two among the three.” A massive demonstration was held a few weeks ago in Barcelona in unwitting de...
Calls for independence in Catalonia are part of an evolution of Spain’s democracy that the country’s constitution may have to come to accommodate.
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Elections are due to be held in Catalonia in November, with President Artur Mas also promising to hold a referendum on Catalan self-determination. Montserrat Guibernau assesses the prospects for the referendum, noting that the Spanish constitution cu...
Should Catalonia be independent?
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Back in May, we asked you whether Scotland should be independent, and put some of your comments to Scottish National Party MEP Alyn Smith for his reaction (we also picked up on this topic more recently, when we looked at how …...
Nationalism and individual sovereignty in the case of Catalonia
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"Catalonia is not Spain". Picture credit: Wikipedia The heated discussions on the possible secession of Catalonia from the Spanish state (officially the Kingdom of Spain) provide an ideal opportunity to elaborate on some of the cardinal themes of po...
Spain: We must mobilise! It affects us all, says union
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By Cándido Méndez On October 7, we have to speak out to tell the government that enough is enough! Of an economic policy that comprises only cuts to social and labour rights and involves more recession and unemployment. An erroneous and unfair poli...
Spain: “Carne Cruda” Cancellation Stirs Debate on Censorship
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Fears of state censorship and declining freedom of expression rise as the influential, political satire programme "Carne Cruda" found itself unexpectedly cancelled from national radio.
Cut and Bleeding: Austerity-bitten Spain stands up in fury (RT Video)
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Protests against biting spending cuts continue throughout Europe, as people vent their anger over bailout sponsored austerity. Mass demonstrations in Madrid turned to violence earlier this week, as police were forced to fire rubber bullets to calm th...
Spexit
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By Vincente Navarro Given the enormous financial and economic crisis prevailing in Spain, there are three alternatives. One is to continue the austerity policies of the Popular Party government, following the instructions of the European Council (dom...
Behind Spain's turmoil lies a cronyism that stifles the young and ambitious | John Carlin
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The country needs more than a bailout. It needs a revolutionary change in its hidebound social structuresHere's the news from Spain last week, in case anybody missed it: huge cuts in government spending; higher taxes; biting austerity; unemployment h...
Will Catalonia Become Independent Soon?
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My answer to the question is no. Eventually I think it will, but not soon. Here’s why: Catalonia, Portugal and Spain: Selective Historiography Independentist claims from Catalonia are centuries old, although with differing levels of int...
Spanish bank stress test results
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The full results (and the full report and bank-by-bank breakdown) from the latest Spanish bank stress test exercise are out and as expected it makes for some interesting (ok, for those of us). Below we provide the key points and our initial thoughts...
Those Spanish stress test results
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Seven (many already nationalised) lenders, comprising 37 per cent of Spanish banks’ loan portfolios, failed and need more capital. Seven lenders passed.It’s almost €60bn,...
