BREAKING: Catalonia Declares Independence

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia/spain-blocks-catalan-independence-vote-threatens-charges-idUSKCN1BI1GQ

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Is civil war imminent?

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/europe/spain-catalonia-politics/index.html

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I honestly don't know how Spain avoids a civil war over this, honestly.

[NewYorkExpress]

And if Catalonia does declare independence, we'll probably see troops marching through Barcelona.

[NewYorkExpress]

Probably best to just dissolve the regional government.  It's treason.

While they're at it, they might as well send troops into Barcelona.

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/europe/catalonia-general-strike-protests-barcelona/index.html

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King Felipe usually doesn't get involved in government affairs...so this is truly serious. We almost certainly will see troops marching into Catalonia should they declare independence.

[NewYorkExpress]

https://in.reuters.com/article/spain-politics-catalonia/spain-plans-new-elections-in-catalonia-to-end-independence-bid-opposition-idINKBN1CP13Y

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Unless the Government in Madrid bans pro-independence parties, the situation will repeat itself in January.

[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/13/europe/catalonia-russia-connection-referendum/index.html

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Does this surprise anyone?

[NewYorkExpress]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia-germany/german-court-rejects-extradition-of-former-catalan-leader-on-rebellion-charge-idUSKCN1HC2C1

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[NewYorkExpress]

Four years later, Puidgemont has been arrested in Sardinia.

Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was arrested on the Italian island of Sardinia on Thursday on charges related to his activities in Catalonia's failed bid in 2017 to secede from Spain, a court official and his lawyer told CNN.

His lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, told CNN the arrest was carried out on a Spanish Supreme Court warrant and a court spokeswoman said the Spanish court is contacting the Italian courts on Friday.

....
Separatist tensions continue in Barcelona and the surrounding northeast region of Catalonia. And the issue affects national politics right now, with the minority government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez relying on a Catalan pro-independence party, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), for support on the upcoming budget and other issues. The ERC now heads Catalonia's coalition government, partnered with Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia (JxCat).

Spain's government last June pardoned nine Catalan leaders, serving prison sentences, for their roles in the failed 2017 independence drive. Sanchez at the time said the move aimed to foster reconciliation between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

But the pardons did not apply to Puigdemont, who fled in 2017 along with some top aides, after Madrid took temporary direct control of the region.