CATALONIA DEFIES SPAIN BY CALLING SECESSION VOTE

CATALONIA DEFIES SPAIN BY CALLING SECESSION VOTE

The president of Spain’s powerful northeastern region of Catalonia on Saturday formally called an independence referendum, the latest secession push in Europe and one of the most serious challenges to the Spanish state in recent years. Pro-independence sentiment in the economically strong region, where the Catalan language is spoken side-by-side with Spanish, has surged in recent years, fueled by

a sense that the region deserves better fiscal and political treatment from Madrid. Catalan leader Artur Mas signed the decree to call the referendum in a solemn ceremony in the regional government headquarters in Barcelona, flanked by most of the region’s political leaders who support the vote.

• In the referendum, Mas wants to ask Catalans two questions; first, if they think Catalonia should be a state, and, if so, should it be independent.
• If the referendum is not held, Mas could call early regional elections that would essentially serve as a Yes or No vote on independence.
• Unlike the Scotland vote, a pro-secession result in a referendum in Catalonia wouldn’t result directly in secession but Mas says it would give him a political mandate to negotiate independence.

-Briefly Today