600,000 seen turning out for Catalonia secession rally in Barcelona
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards who support the secession of Catalonia gathered in Barcelona on the region's main holiday Wednesday, just weeks before a highly anticipated verdict in a case against 12 leaders of the separatist movement. Supporters of Catalan secession came from all parts ...
The secession crisis festering in Spain's northeastern corner of Catalonia has spread to the political heart of the European Union nation. Twice in less than a year, separatist lawmakers from Catalonia have played the role of king slayer, with their votes in the national Parliament ...
Thousands protest in Madrid against government's Catalonia policy
Thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid on Sunday against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's proposed talks to ease political tensions in Catalonia, in a protest organized by center-right and far-right opposition parties. Demonstrators waving Spanish flags filled the Plaza de Colon in the city center ...
Human tower builders in Catalonia kick off with pro-independence protest
Protesters calling for Catalan independence kicked off Spain's bi-annual human towers building competition on Sunday that is being held for the first time since Catalonia's failed 2017 independence referendum. Though the competition is not an official pro-independence event, human towers building is a deep-rooted tradition ...
Catalan separatists face reality check after leader Carles Puigdemont's detention in Germany
Carles Puigdemont's removal from Catalonia's political scene to a German jail forces the separatist movement to make a decision: keep bickering on the way ahead, or set aside differences and form a regional government. The former Catalan president's detention in Germany on Sunday was hailed ...
Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont remains defiantly in self-imposed exile and has condemned Spanish authorities for staging a witch hunt against him and his cohorts. The entire Catalan leadership is due in Madrid to face allegations of sedition after its doomed declaration of independence on ...
Catalonia's independence movement unravels as Rajoy prevails; Puigdemont flees to Belgium
As Spain seized control of Catalonia's government, the independence movement was left leaderless and struggling for a way forward, with grass-roots supporters enraged by the betrayal of their cause. Carles Puigdemont, ousted by the government in Madrid after the region declared independence, abandoned Catalonia for ...
With an eye on the future, pro-independence Catalans stress regional differences
It's a time for celebration in Girona, a city that maps and world governments say is in Spain, but many residents consider part of an independent republic of Catalonia. Amid the party atmosphere of a festival weekend, many in this secessionist stronghold are cheering the ...
As weekend routines of normalcy prevailed in Catalonia, the first test of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's decision to take over the breakaway region approached, with many having to choose between compliance and defiance. When schools and government offices open Monday, teachers and civil servants ...
Catalan police call on officers to maintain neutrality as Spain exerts control
Catalonia's police force told its officers to remain neutral in the struggle over the region's fight for independence from Spain, a step toward averting possible conflict as the Madrid government starts to impose control on Saturday. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the Catalan government, ...
Spain on a knife's edge as Madrid seizes control of rebel Catalonia
A moment of triumph — the declaration of Europe's newest independent state — has quickly become the cold reality of what Catalonia's separatists were always likely to face in their historic collision with Spain. Within hours of the parliament in Barcelona voting to break away ...
Catalonia warns of civil disobedience as Madrid readies direct rule
Catalonia said Monday it was confident all officials including police would defy attempts by Madrid to enforce direct rule on the region, in an escalating dispute that has raised fears of unrest among Spain's European allies. The Spanish government has invoked special constitutional powers to ...
