Tag Archives: Spain

Catalonia nears possible independence proclamation despite Madrid warnings

Catalonia nears possible independence proclamation despite Madrid warnings

By Angus Berwick

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalan police tightened their guard on the region’s parliament on Tuesday where secessionists have threatened to adopt a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain despite warnings from Madrid of swift counter-measures.

Regional leader Carles Puigdemont held a meeting of his cabinet to decide how to press an independence drive that has stirred powerful emotions across Spain and raised concern in European Union partner states.

Catalan police armed with automatic rifles stood guard at Barcelona’s Parc de la Ciutadella which houses the elegant 18th century building. Spanish national police, decried by separatists over their use of force to hinder an Oct. 1 referendum, were not to be seen.

A declaration of independence would deepen Spain’s biggest political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981 and would almost certainly draw tough counter-measures from Madrid, possibly including suspension of the regional government.

The parliament and other buildings, such as the regional high court building, could become a focus of contention between Spanish and Catalan authorities.

Thousands of national police reinforcements sent by Madrid for the referendum remain in the area, many of them in two cruise ships docked in Barcelona harbor.

Pro-independence demonstrators were due to gather before the parliament building under the slogan “Hello Republic” to mark Puigdemont’s speech at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT).

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Barcelona against independence at the weekend, waving red-yellow Spanish flags through the city center. That rally fell a week after some 900 people were injured when police fired rubber bullets and stormed crowds with truncheons to disrupt a referendum ruled illegal in Madrid.

Puigdemont has said he is determined to apply a law passed by the Catalan assembly which called for a declaration of independence within days if Catalans voted ‘yes’ in the Oct. 1 referendum.

The government of Spain’s wealthiest region says 90 percent of those who voted backed independence, but turnout was only 43 percent as many opponents of independence stayed at home.

The Madrid government has said it will respond immediately to any unilateral declaration.

Puigdemont could ask the parliament to vote on a motion of independence, which lawmakers say would start a period of up to six months during which Catalonia would write a new constitution and negotiate a divorce with Spain; or he could make a statement of intent on a future independence declaration.

Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull refused to disclose what Puigdemont would say but told a news conference after the cabinet meeting he would be “clear and explicit” and Tuesday would be an historic day.

Ruling party lawmakers say Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is considering taking the unprecedented step of dissolving the Catalan parliament and triggering new regional elections, the so-called nuclear option.

The European Commission repeated its call for dialogue in Spain to end the crisis in Catalonia. Puigdemont has also called for talks and international mediation, but Rajoy has said he will not negotiate with the Catalan leaders unless they abandon plans to declare independence.

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Markets have been rattled by the Catalan crisis, raising Spain’s borrowing costs and pushing down shares.

Spain’s benchmark 10-year bond yields were a touch lower on Tuesday, but above lows hit the previous session as investors awaited Puigdemont’s speech. Spain’s benchmark Ibex share index was down nearly one percent.

The tension is taking its toll on the business climate. On Monday, three more Catalonia-based companies joined a business drift from the region that has gathered steam since the Oct. 1 referendum.

Property group Inmobiliaria Colonial and infrastructure firm Abertis both decided to relocate their head offices to Madrid and telecoms firm Cellnex said it would do the same for as long as political uncertainty in Catalonia continued.

Publishing house Grupo Planeta said it would move its registered office from Barcelona to Madrid if the Catalan parliament unilaterally declared independence.

Spain’s finance minister said it was the Catalan government’s fault the companies were leaving.

The issue has deeply divided the northeastern region as well as the Spanish nation. Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence.

Losing Catalonia, which has its own language and culture, would deprive Spain of a fifth of its economic output and more than a quarter of exports.

The crisis has reopened old divisions in a nation where the right-wing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, who died in 1975, is a living memory easily revived by strong displays of nationalism.

(Additional reporting by Rodrigo de Miguel, Paul Day, Blanca Rodriguez, Emma Pinedo, Jesus Aguado, Carlos Ruano and Alba Asenjo; Writing by Adrian Croft; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Spaniards take to streets as Catalonia independence tensions rise

People take part in a pro-union demonstration in Madrid, Spain, October 7, 2017. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

By Raquel Castillo and Sam Edwards

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people gathered in Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday as Catalonia prepared to declare independence, many dressed in white and calling for talks to defuse Spain’s worst political crisis for decades.

The wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia, with its own language and culture, has long claimed to be distinct from the rest of the country and on Sunday held a referendum on leaving Spain, a vote the constitutional court had banned.

The Catalan authorities say that a majority of those who voted supported a split from Spain, something Madrid says is illegal under the country’s 1978 constitution.

The political stand-off has divided the country, pushed banks and companies to move their headquarters outside Catalonia and shaken market confidence in the Spanish economy, prompting calls from the European Commission for Catalan and Spanish leaders to find a political solution.

In protests called across 50 Spanish cities, thousands gathered dressed in white and carrying banners calling for peace and dialogue between leaders.

Meanwhile in Barcelona, protesters chanted “let’s talk” in Catalan, while many carried signs criticizing political leaders for not finding a diplomatic solution to the impasse.

“This is producing a social rupture in Catalonia and this has to be resolved through dialogue, never via unilateralism,” Jose Manuel Garcia, 61, an economist who attended the protest dressed in white said.

“I’m very worried. This will end badly and everyone will lose (without dialogue).”

While Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said he is open to mediation, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists he gives up the independence campaign, which grew in strength during a near-six year economic crisis, before he will discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, parallel to the “Let’s talk” march, thousands gathered beneath the enormous Spanish flag in Colon Plaza waving their own flags, singing and chanting “Viva España” and “Viva Cataonia”.

“I’ve come because I feel very Spanish and makes me very sad what’s happened,” Rosa Borras, 47, an unemployed secretary who had joined a noisy gathering in central Madrid, said.

Borras, wearing a “Catalonia, we love you” sticker and surrounded by thousands waving Spanish flags, added: “I wanted to be here for unity, because I also feel very Catalan. My family lives in Catalonia.”

EU CONCERN

Rajoy’s government mobilized thousands of national police to stop Sunday’s vote, leading to clashes with would-be voters as they tried to close polling stations in schools and remove ballot boxes.

The police violence drew widespread condemnation and forced the government to issue an apology on Friday, although tensions continued to rise after reports that plans for a unilateral declaration of independence will be handed to the Catalan parliament on Tuesday.

The crisis has also caused disquiet among Spain’s European Union partners and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has discussed it with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, an EU official told Reuters. [L8N1MI08F]

Concern is growing in EU capitals about the impact of the crisis on the Spanish economy, the fourth largest in the euro zone, and on possible spillovers to other economies.

European finance ministers, gathering in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday for a regular meeting, could discuss the issue, although it is not formally on the agenda, EU officials said.

The support given in public statements by EU leaders to Rajoy is combined with concern expressed in private about how the Spanish government’s use of police to prevent Catalans from voting last week in an independence referendum could backfire.

Some EU states are worried that talk of Catalan independence could fuel secessionist feelings in other parts of Europe.

(Reporting by Raquel Castillo; Writing by Paul Day; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Spain apologizes, tone softens in Catalonia independence crisis

Tiles with the Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) are displayed on a table covered with a Catalan flag at an arts and craft market four days after the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

By Sam Edwards and Raquel Castillo

BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain apologized on Friday for a violent police crackdown on Catalonia’s independence referendum, in a conciliatory gesture as both sides looked for a way out of the nation’s worst political crisis since it became a democracy four decades ago.

Spain’s representative in northeast Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the national economy, made the apology just as Catalonia’s secessionist leader appeared to inch away from a plan to declare independence as early as Monday.

“When I see these images, and more so when I know people have been hit, pushed and even one person who was hospitalized, I can’t help but regret it and apologize on behalf of the officers that intervened,” Enric Millo said in a television interview.

Spanish police used batons and rubber bullets to stop people voting in Sunday’s referendum, which Madrid had banned as unconstitutional. The scenes brought worldwide condemnation and fanned separatist feeling but failed to prevent what the Catalan government described as an overwhelming yes vote.

Moments earlier, a Catalan parliament spokeswoman said the regional government’s leader, Carles Puigdemont, had asked to address lawmakers on Tuesday, in timing that appeared at odds with earlier plans to move an independence motion on Monday.

Puigdemont wanted to speak on the “political situation”.

The softer tone contrasted with remarks earlier on Friday from Catalonia’s head of foreign affairs who told BBC radio it would go ahead with an independence debate in the regional parliament.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered all-party political talks to find a solution, opening the door to a deal giving Catalonia more autonomy. But he has ruled out independence and rejected a Catalan proposal for international mediation.

The stakes are high for the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy. Catalonia is the source of a huge chunk of its tax revenue and hosts multinationals from carmaker Volkswagen to drugs firm AstraZeneca <AZN.L>.

Secession could also fuel separatist-nationalist divisions across the rest of Spain, which only this year saw ETA guerrillas in the northern Basque region lay down their arms after a campaign lasting almost half a century.

Spanish ruling-party lawmakers say Rajoy is considering invoking the constitution to dissolve the regional parliament and force fresh Catalan elections if the region’s government goes ahead with an independence declaration.

The spokeswoman for Catalan parliament said Puigdemont would speak in the assembly next Tuesday, with parliamentary leaders to meet on Friday at 1330 GMT to decide on the exact timing.

STOCKS, BONDS SINK

The Catalan government’s head of foreign affairs, Raul Romeva, told the BBC that the crisis could only be resolved with politics, not via judicial means.

“Every threat, every menace, using the police, using … the Constitutional Court has been useless in trying to (get) people from step back away from their legitimate rights,” he said.

His remarks hit Spanish stocks and bonds, including shares in the region’s two largest banks, Caixabank <CABK.MC> and Sabadell <SABE.MC>. Sabadell decided on Thursday to move its legal base to Alicante. Caixabank <CABK.MC>, Spain’s third-largest lender, will consider on Friday whether to also transfer its legal base away from Catalonia, a source said.

The court’s suspension order further aggravated one of the biggest crises to hit Spain since the establishment of democracy on the 1975 death of General Francisco Franco.

Secessionist Catalan politicians have pledged to unilaterally declare independence at Monday’s session after staging an independence referendum last Sunday. Madrid had banned the vote and sought to thwart it by sending in riot police.

In a separate development that could raise tensions, Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero appeared in Spain’s High Court on Friday to answer accusations he committed sedition by failing to enforce a court ban on holding the referendum.

Unlike national police, Catalonia’s force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, did not use force to prevent people voting. Trapero has emerged as a hero for the pro-independence movement.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Reuters in an interview on Thursday the turmoil was damaging Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse which accounts for a fifth of the national economy.

In addition, the central government on Friday passed a law to make it easier for companies to move their operations around the country just as some businesses consider leaving Catalonia, potentially dealing a blow to the region’s finances.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggest a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia back independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

Catalan officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away.

But turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.

(Reporting by Elisabeth O’Leary, Paul Day, Andres Gonzalez and Rodrigo de Miguel; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Hugh Lawson)

Spanish court suspends Catalan parliament session, throwing independence call in doubt

A woman reacts as National Police officers leave their hotel in Reus, south of Barcelona, Spain October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Vincent West

By Angus Berwick and Carlos Ruano

BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ordered the suspension of Monday’s session of the regional Catalan parliament, throwing its plans to declare unilateral independence from Spain into doubt.

There was no immediate reaction from Catalan leaders who held an independence referendum on Sunday that was banned by Madrid and marked by violent scenes at electoral stations where Spanish police sought to hinder voting.

The suspension order further aggravated one of the biggest political crises to hit Spain since the establishment of democracy following the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975. But it helped Spanish markets hit in recent days by the uncertainty.

The court said it had agreed to consider a legal challenge filed by the anti-secessionist Catalan Socialist Party.

Spanish shares and bonds, which have been hit by the political turmoil in Catalonia, strengthened after the news of the Constitutional Court’s decision.

The main IBEX stock index rose 2.3 percent, on track for its biggest daily gain in a month, and Spain’s 10-year bond yield was set for its biggest daily fall since April.

Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Reuters in an interview the turmoil was damaging Catalonia.

“This is generating uncertainty that is paralyzing all investment projects in Catalonia. I’m convinced that, right now, not one international or national investor will take part in a new investment project until this is cleared up,” he said.

Spain’s fifth-largest bank, Sabadell, will consider on Thursday whether to shift its headquarters away from Catalonia in the first major sign that the wealthy region’s push for independence from Spain could scare away big business.

Caixabank, Spain’s third largest lender by market capitalization, is also considering moving its legal base outside Catalonia, a source with knowledge of the situation said. A spokesman for the bank said no decision had been taken on a move.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

“GREATER EVILS”

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called on Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Thursday to abandon plans to unilaterally declare independence from Spain or risk “greater evils”.

In an interview with Spanish news agency EFE, Rajoy said the solution to the Catalan crisis was a prompt return to legality and “a statement as soon as possible that there will not be a unilateral declaration of independence, because that will also avoid greater evils,” Rajoy said.

He did not elaborate but ruling party lawmakers say that Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line on Catalan independence, is considering the unprecedented step of dissolving the Catalan parliament and triggering regional elections.

Catalan officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away. But turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot and many polling stations were closed.

Puigdemont said he was not afraid of being arrested for organizing Sunday’s banned referendum.

“Personally, I am not afraid of that,” Puigdemont said in an interview in the German daily Bild, published on Thursday, when asked about his possible arrest.

“And I’m not surprised any more about what the Spanish government is doing. My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”

Neither the Spanish government nor the judiciary has threatened to arrest Puigdemont, though Madrid accuses him of breaking the law by ignoring a Constitutional Court ruling forbidding the referendum from going ahead.

On Wednesday, in a televised address, Puigdemont renewed his call for international mediation but said the results of the referendum would have to be applied.

Puigdemont has not explained the scope of his proposal for international mediation, whether it would envisage a compromise short of independence or deal only with divorce arrangements.

Rajoy has ruled out international mediation as a format for resolving the future of Catalonia, offering instead all-party Spanish political talks to find a solution, on the condition independence is taken off the table.

Sunday’s crackdown by Spanish police, Rajoy’s hardline stance and an uncharacteristically strong intervention this week by Spain’s King Felipe VI seems to have deepened Catalonia’s resolve to continue with the project.

“We will go as far as people want it. But without the use of force. We were always a peaceful movement. And I am sure that Spain will not be able to ignore the will of so many people,” Puigdemont told Bild.

(Additional reporting by Paul Day, Andres Gonzalez, Rodrigo de Miguel; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Julien Toyer and Ralph Boulton)

Catalan leader says not afraid of arrest over independence: report

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is seen on a TV screen at a bar during a televised statement in Barcelona, Spain, October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

MADRID (Reuters) – The leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said he was not afraid of being arrested for organizing a banned referendum on the region’s independence from Spain, which went ahead on Sunday despite Madrid using force to try to stop people voting.

Spanish riot police used truncheons and rubber bullets on voters, drawing worldwide criticism and tipping Spain into its biggest constitutional crisis in decades.

Puigdemont’s government is to ask the regional parliament on Monday to declare independence, after his officials released preliminary referendum results showing 90 percent support in favor of breaking away.

Turnout was only about 43 percent as Catalans who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the ballot.

“Personally, I am not afraid of that,” Puigdemont said in an interview in the German daily Bild, published on Thursday, when asked about his possible arrest.

“And I’m not surprised anymore about what the Spanish government is doing. My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”

Neither the Spanish government nor the judiciary has threatened to arrest Puigdemont, though Madrid accuses him of breaking the law by ignoring a Constitutional Court ruling forbidding the referendum from going ahead.

Puigdemont has said the referendum proved the will of the people was to leave Spain and has vowed to continue with secession, despite Madrid’s insistence it won’t happen.

On Wednesday, in a televised address, Puigdemont renewed his call for international mediation but said the results of the referendum would have to be applied. [nL8N1MF20E]

The confrontation has raised fears among investors of unrest in Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the Spanish economy. A former principality, the region has its own language and culture and has long complained that it pays more to Madrid in taxes than it receives each year from central funding.

The crisis in the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy has hurt Spanish bond and stock markets. The nation’s borrowing costs hit a seven-month high on Thursday ahead of a government bond auction that will test investor confidence. [nL8N1MG0IB]

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered to open multi-party talks that could cut a better tax and constitutional deal for Catalonia in return for the region giving up on independence.

But his government has said the region must “return to the path of law” before negotiations can go ahead. [nL4N1MF2K8]

Sunday’s crackdown by Spanish police, Rajoy’s hardline stance and an uncharacteristically strong intervention this week by Spain’s King Felipe VI seems to have deepened Catalonia’s resolve to continue with the project.

“We will go as far as people want it. But without the use of force. We were always a peaceful movement. And I am sure that Spain will not be able to ignore the will of so many people,” Puigdemont told Bild.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in Catalonia backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

(Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Catalonia to move to declare independence from Spain on Monday

People stand during a demonstration two days after the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain, October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera

By Sonya Dowsett

MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalonia will move on Monday to declare independence from Spain, a regional government source said, as the European Union nation nears a rupture that threatens the foundations of its young democracy and has unnerved financial markets.

Pro-independence parties which control the regional parliament have asked for a debate and vote on Monday on declaring independence, the source said. A declaration should follow this vote, although it is unclear when.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont earlier told the BBC that his government would ask the region’s parliament to declare independence after tallying votes from last weekend’s referendum, which Madrid says was illegal.

“This will probably finish once we get all the votes in from abroad at the end of the week and therefore we shall probably act over the weekend or early next week,” he said in remarks published on Wednesday.

The constitutional crisis in Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy, has shaken the common currency and hit Spanish stocks and bonds, sharply raising Madrid’s borrowing costs.

On Wednesday, the Ibex stock index <.IBEX>, fell below 10,000 points for the first time since March 2015 as bank stocks tumbled. In a sign of the nervous public mood, Catalonia’s biggest bank, Caixabank <CABK.MC>, and Spain’s economy minister had earlier sought to assure bank customers that their deposits were safe.

EVENING STATEMENT

Puigdemont’s comments appeared after Spain’s King Felipe VI accused secessionist leaders on Tuesday of shattering democratic principles and dividing Catalan society, as tens of thousands protested against a violent police crackdown on Sunday’s vote.

The Catalan leader is due to make a statement at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, after an all-party committee of the region’s parliament meets to agree a date — likely to be Monday — for a plenary session on independence.

Spain has been rocked by the Catalan vote and the Spanish police response to it, which saw batons and rubber bullets used to prevent people voting. Hundreds were injured, in scenes that brought international condemnation.

Catalans came out onto the streets on Tuesday to condemn the police action, shutting down road traffic, public transport and businesses, and ratcheting up fears of intensifying unrest in a region that makes up one-fifth of the Spanish economy.

Road closures related to the protests briefly halted production at Volkswagen’s <VOWG_p.DE> Catalonia plant.

As shares in Spain’s big lenders fell on Wednesday, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos tried to reassure investors and customers. “Catalan banks are Spanish banks and European banks are solid and their clients have nothing to fear,” he said on the sidelines of a conference in Madrid.

Caixabank <CABK.MC>, Catalonia’s largest lender, said in a memo to employees late on Tuesday that its only objective was to “protect clients’, shareholders’ and employees’ interests”.

“IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR”

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line on the issue, faces a huge challenge to see off Catalan independence without further unrest.

European Council President Donald Tusk has backed his constitutional argument but some fellow members of the bloc have criticized his tactics. Tusk has appealed to Rajoy to seek ways to avoid escalation in Catalonia and the use of force.

Brussels has in the past given little or no encouragement to separatist movements inside the European Union, whether those of the Catalans, Scots, Flemings or others.

Pro-independence parties who control the regional government staged the referendum in defiance of a Constitutional Court ruling that the vote violated Spain’s 1978 constitution, which states the country is indivisible.

Catalonia has its own language and culture and a political movement for secession that has strengthened in recent years.

Participants in Sunday’s ballot — only about 43 percent of eligible voters — opted overwhelmingly for independence, a result that was expected since residents who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the referendum.

Outside Catalonia, Spaniards mostly hold strong views against its independence drive. In his televised address, the king said the “irresponsible behavior” of the Catalan leaders had undermined social harmony in the region.

“Today Catalan society is fractured and in conflict,” he said. “They (the Catalan leaders) have infringed the system of legally approved rules with their decisions, showing an unacceptable disloyalty toward the powers of the state.”

The king said the crown was strongly committed to the Spanish constitution and to democracy, and underlined his commitment to the unity and permanence of Spain. He had earlier met Rajoy to discuss the situation in Catalonia.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested a minority of around 40 percent of residents in the region backed independence. But a majority wanted a referendum to be held, and the violent police crackdown angered Catalans across the divide.

(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft and Julien Toyer in Madrid; Writing by Mark Bendeich and Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Tens of thousands of Catalans take to streets to protest police action

Tens of thousands of Catalans take to streets to protest police action

By Sam Edwards

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Catalonia on Tuesday to protest against Sunday’s violent crackdown by Spanish police on an outlawed independence referendum for the region.

Metro stations shut down in Barcelona, pickets blocked dozens of roads and state workers walked out in response to a call for a general strike by pro-independence groups and trade unions. Many small businesses also shut down for the day.

Catalonia, Spain’s richest region, has its own language and culture and a political movement for secession that has strengthened in recent years.

Pro-independence parties who control the regional government staged Sunday’s referendum in defiance of Spanish courts that had ruled it illegal. Some 900 people were injured on polling day when police fired rubber bullets and charged at crowds with truncheons to disrupt the vote.

Those who participated voted overwhelmingly for independence, a result that was expected since residents who favor remaining part of Spain mainly boycotted the vote.

Opinion polls conducted before the vote suggested only a minority of around 40 percent of residents in the region back independence although a majority want a referendum to be held.

Protesters said the violent police crackdown against the ballot had energized the secessionist camp.

“What happened on Oct. 1 has fired up independence feeling that will never die,” said 18-year-old student Monica Ventinc, who attended a protest on Tuesday.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said the referendum is valid and its result must be implemented. Spain’s Constitutional Court prohibited the ballot, siding with Madrid which argued that it contravened the country’s 1978 constitution which bars breaking up the country.

The referendum has plunged Spain into its worst constitutional crisis in decades, and is a political test for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a conservative who has taken a hard line stance on the issue. Outside of Catalonia, Spaniards mostly hold strong views against its independence drive.

Several demonstrations unfolded throughout Catalonia on Tuesday. To the north of Barcelona, a line of tractors moved down a road blocked to traffic, accompanied by protesters chanting “Independence!” and “The streets will always be ours!”

Crowds gathered outside the local headquarters of Spain’s ruling People’s Party (PP) and the Spanish national police headquarters in Barcelona, whistling and waving the red-and-yellow regional flag.

“In no way can we accept that they come here with this kind of repression,” taxi driver Alejandro Torralbo, standing outside the PP headquarters, said of Sunday’s police action.

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Puigdemont and his regional government had lost respect for the democratic process and were showing a flagrant disregard for the law.

“I’ve seen how President Puigdemont has flooded the streets with his followers to stop people obeying the law and to make them disrespect justice,” she said. “We are here to defend the rights and liberties of all Spaniards that have been trampled upon by the regional government.”

(Additional reporting by Angus Berwick in Vic, Robert Hetz and Sonya Dowsett in Madrid; Writing by Paul Day and Adrian Croft; Editing by Julien Toyer, Janet Lawrence and Peter Graff)

Blasphemy laws on the books in one-third of nations: study

Protesters hold placards condemning the killing of university student Mashal Khan, after he was accused of blasphemy, during a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan April 18, 2017

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – Laws prohibiting blasphemy are “astonishingly widespread” worldwide, with many laying down disproportionate punishments ranging from prison sentences to lashings or the death penalty, the lead author of a report on blasphemy said.

Iran, Pakistan, and Yemen score worst, topping a list of 71 countries with laws criminalizing views deemed blasphemous, found in all regions, according to a comprehensive report issued this month by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The bipartisan U.S. federal commission called for repeal of blasphemy statutes, saying they invited abuse and failed to protect freedoms of religion and expression.

“We found key patterns. All deviate from freedom of speech principles in some way, all have a vague formulation, with different interpretations,” Joelle Fiss, the Swiss-based lead author of the report told Reuters.

The ranking is based on how a state’s ban on blasphemy or criminalizing of it contravenes international law principles.

Ireland and Spain had the “best scores”, as their laws order a fine, according to the report which said many European states have blasphemy laws that are rarely invoked.

Some 86 percent of states with blasphemy laws prescribe imprisonment for convicted offenders, it said.

Proportionality of punishment was a key criteria for the researchers.

“That is why Iran and Pakistan are the two highest countries because they explicitly have the death penalty in their law,” Fiss said, referring to their laws which enforce the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Mohammad.

Blasphemy laws can be misused by authorities to repress minorities, the report said, citing Pakistan and Egypt, and can serve as a pretext for religious extremists to foment hate.

Recent high-profile blasphemy cases include Jakarta’s former Christian governor being sentenced to two years in jail in May for insulting Islam, a ruling which activists and U.N. experts condemned as unfair and politicized. Critics fear the ruling will embolden hardline Islamist forces to challenge secularism in Indonesia.

A Pakistani court sentenced a man to death last month who allegedly committed blasphemy on Facebook, the first time the penalty was given for that crime on social media in Muslim-majority Pakistan.

“Each of the top five countries with the highest scoring laws has an official state religion,” the report said, referring to Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Somali and Qatar. All have Islam as their state religion.

Saudi Arabia, where flogging and amputations have been reported for alleged blasphemy, is not among the top “highest-risk countries”, but only 12th, as punishment is not defined in the blasphemy law itself.

“They don’t have a written penal law, but rely on judges’ interpretation of the Sharia. The score was disproportionately low,” Fiss said. “If a law is very vague, it means prosecutors and judges have a lot of discretion to interpret.”

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Toby Chopra)

 

Spain to review police response to Barcelona attack amid questions

Spain to review police response to Barcelona attack amid questions

By Angus Berwick and Julien Toyer

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Regional police in Spain may have missed an opportunity to uncover a militant plot ahead of last week’s deadly Barcelona attack due to procedural errors and a lack of communication among investigators, two police sources and two individuals close to the investigation said.

The errors and miscommunication centered around a major blast on Aug 16, the eve of the attack, at a house where suspected Islamist militants were making explosives, the sources said.

For several hours, Catalan police did not link the explosion to militancy and so no public alarm was raised, before an accomplice drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people in Spain’s deadliest attack in more than a decade.

Catalan police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, also took 10 hours to send bomb experts to the scene of the explosion in a town about 200 km (125 miles) southwest of Barcelona, the region’s capital, delaying the discovery of the militant cell, the sources added.

The sources declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue or because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

A judicial source said that, as part of the investigation into the attacks, police would look at whether a lack of coordination or information-sharing had contributed to the delay in discovering links between militancy and the explosion.

The source said police needed to complete the investigation before reaching any conclusions about possible errors.

Mossos chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters on Monday that it was unfair to criticize his force with the benefit of hindsight.

“Now, with all the information that we have, yes, it is easier to make the link, but that’s playing dirty and it deceives people,” Trapero told a news conference.

In response to Reuters questions about the agency’s handling of the attack, a spokesman for the Mossos declined to comment and referred to Trapero’s comments at the press briefing.

INITIAL CONFUSION

According to the Mossos, another suspected member of the bomb-makers’ militant cell, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub, had begun to mow down pedestrians in the central walkway of Barcelona’s most famous avenue, Las Ramblas, at around the time bomb experts determined the real cause of the blast.

A bomb squad should be called immediately to the scene of such an incident given the possibility it could be linked to terrorism, a judicial source said.

The Mossos also did not promptly pass information on the blast to the national police and to Madrid’s Civil Guard, viewed as Spain’s most experienced anti-terrorism force, said sources from both police forces.

Despite the criticism, Spanish and Catalan authorities have publicly praised the Mossos for its response to the attacks.

All of the known suspects are now arrested or dead, with police on Monday killing the van’s driver, Abouyaaqoub, after four days on the run.

“Great job Mossos!” Spain’s national police said on its Twitter account.

The head of Catalonia’s regional government also praised the service.

“I want to thank the Mossos d’Esquadra for their efficiency. They’ve shown great professionalism, in close coordination with the rest of Catalonia and the state’s security forces,” Carles Puigdemont said after Abouyaaqoub was killed.

A Civil Guard spokesman declined to comment on coordination with the Mossos and the investigation. The Civil Guard’s main union said in a statement on Tuesday that they had been excluded from the investigation. The spokesman declined to comment on this.

LOCAL PRIDE IN THE MOSSOS

The sources said the Mossos normally coordinated efficiently with the national police, barring occasional minor problems, and could not explain why these procedures had not been followed.

The Mossos has said it first suspected a gas leak or narcotics laboratory was to blame for the blast, which tore through the house near midnight. Police had noticed butane gas cylinders and acetone, a compound used in laboratories to produce drugs.

Some terrorism experts have speculated that if the Mossos had discovered the presence of militants at the house in Alcanar more quickly, it might have had time to raise the alarm and perhaps even foil the van attack in Barcelona.

Salvador Burguet, chief executive of Spanish intelligence firm AICS, which works with anti-terrorism authorities in several countries, said police “could have linked the explosion with an Islamist terrorist cell.

“But that didn’t happen, and they lost a lot of time,” said Madrid-based Burguet, adding that his remarks were based on information he gathered from his own police sources.

Had police immediately sent the bomb squad to the Alcanar house, Burguet said, they would have quickly detected signs of Islamic State’s signature explosive, TATP, and the coffee filters used to strain the solution.

The Mossos says it now believes explosives accidentally ignited, killing two of the three militants inside the house.

They belonged to what police have said was a 12-member cell which decided after the explosion on a less elaborate attack than the one they were apparently planning: drive a rented van into the Las Ramblas crowds and stage a similar attack in the coastal resort of Cambrils, south of Barcelona.

On Tuesday, a Spanish judge ruled that one of the four arrested suspects be released on certain conditions, while another remain in police custody pending further investigation. The judge jailed the other two.

In Cambrils, a car rammed passers-by and its occupants got out and tried to stab people. The five assailants, who were wearing what turned out to be fake explosive belts, were shot dead by police. A Spanish woman was killed in that attack.

Islamic State, the militant group under siege in Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for both attacks, although its direct involvement has yet to be established.

Catalonia’s government, which plans to hold a referendum on independence in October, says the Mossos are capable of acting effectively without the central government’s help.

In the past, Catalonia’s government and police have bristled at the fact that the Mossos has been excluded from international meetings on terrorism because they are not a national force.

Since the attack, the Catalan and national governments have sought to put aside the issue of independence to present a united front, although a day after the attack, national and Catalan authorities held separate crisis meetings.

Barcelona residents have expressed pride in the Mossos, sometimes applauding uniformed officers spontaneously in the street. The Mossos officers will lead an anti-terrorism demonstration on Saturday in place of Catalan politicians.

(Editing by Mark Bendeich and Mike Collett-White)

Barcelona cell planned big bomb attack, suspect tells court

Catalan Mossos D'Esquadra officers leave the scene where Younes Abouyaaqoub, the man suspected of driving the van that killed 13 people in Barcelona last week, was killed by police in Subirats, Spain, August 21, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea

By Adrian Croft

MADRID (Reuters) – An alleged member of an Islamist cell suspected of carrying out last week’s deadly Barcelona van attack told a Spanish court on Tuesday that the group had been planning a much bigger strike using explosives, a judicial source said.

The testimony to a closed hearing at Spain’s High Court came from Mohamed Houli Chemlal, one of four detained suspects brought to Madrid to testify for the first time in court about the plot.

Two of the suspects told the court that Abdelbaki Es Satty, the imam in the small town in northeastern Spain where many of the group came from, was the instigator, the source said, adding that the public prosecutor had asked the judge to send all four to jail while investigations continued.

El Mundo newspaper said Chemlal told the court that the group planned to attack architect Antoni Gaudi’s landmark Sagrada Familia church and other Barcelona monuments but this could not be immediately confirmed.

Chemlal was arrested after being hurt in a blast at a house in Alcanar, southwest of Barcelona, a day before Thursday’s van attack on the crowded Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona, which left a trail of 13 dead and 120 injured people from 34 countries.

The 21-year-old arrived at court wearing hospital-issue pyjamas, with a bandaged hand and cuts to his face and bare ankles.

Police found 120 butane gas canisters and traces of a home-made explosive in the rubble of the house at Alcanar, where they say two of the plotters were killed. They believe that the accidental explosion led the group to abandon plans for a bomb attack and to stage a vehicle assault instead.

Tuesday’s court hearing was the first in a long legal process, and it could be months or even years before the case is brought to a full trial.

The four are the only alleged members of the group still alive after the driver of the van that plowed through the crowd in Barcelona, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub, was shot and killed by police on Monday.

RESORT ATTACK

In little more than a year, Islamist militants have used vehicles as weapons to kill nearly 130 people in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and now Spain.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the latest attack and a separate deadly assault, hours later, in the coastal resort of Cambrils, south of Barcelona.

In Cambrils, a car rammed passers-by and its occupants got out and tried to stab people. The five assailants, who were wearing what turned out to be fake explosive belts, were shot dead by police, while a Spanish woman died in the attack.

Most of the 12 suspects lived in the town of Ripoll, set in forested hills beneath the Pyrenees north of Barcelona, and most were young men of Moroccan descent.

The four suspects in court on Tuesday were questioned one-by-one by the investigating judge, Fernando Andreu.

Driss Oukabir, 28, whose passport was found in the abandoned van after the Barcelona attack, has maintained his innocence. He told the court that he rented vans used in the attack but believed they were for a house move, according to Europa Press news agency.

Also in court were Mohammed Aalla, 27, owner of the Audi car used in the Cambrils attack, and Salah el Karib, 34, who ran an internet cafe in Ripoll that, according to La Vanguardia newspaper, was used to send money to Morocco.

No charges against the men have yet been specified.

Es Satty, the Ripoll imam who police suspect radicalized the young men, is believed to have died in the Alcanar explosion.

An investigation into whether the cell had international links goes on, police have said.

La Vanguardia said Moroccan authorities had arrested a man who had been in touch with Moussa Oukabir, one of the suspects killed by police in Cambrils, and may have played a role in connecting the Catalan cell with Islamic State.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb on Tuesday confirmed press reports that the Audi used in the Cambrils attack had been caught on camera speeding in the Paris region days before the Catalonia attacks.

But he told BFM TV that French authorities had been unaware of the existence of the Catalan cell, saying they were “exclusively Spanish”.

BFM TV later reported that it had been Abouyaaqoub and an accomplice who traveled to the Paris region the weekend of Aug. 12-13, staying overnight at a hotel.

Spanish police have sought information from Belgian authorities on a visit the imam, Es Satty, made there last year.

(Additional reporting by Julien Toyer, Inmaculada Sanz and Carla Raffin and Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by Julien Toyer and Mark Trevelyan)