[cucubelu]

Spain risks break-up as Mariano Rajoy stirs Catalan fury

The ruling parties of Catalonia have sought guidance from Brussels on the legality of secession from Spain, requesting a “route map” for membership of the European Union and the euro as an independent state.


It is the latest move in a fast-escalating clash between Catalan nationalists and Spanish nationalists, the latter backed by King Juan Carlos and the Spanish military.
Jose-Manuel Garcia-Margallo, the foreign minister, threw down the gauntlet, calling Catalan secession “illegal and lethal”. He warned that Spain would use its veto to stop the region of Catalonia becoming an EU member “indefinitely”.
The constitutional crisis has eclipsed the parallel drama of a Spanish bail-out request from the European Stability Mechanism. It is no longer clear whether premier Mariano Rajoy can deliver on any austerity deal with Brussels.
Catalan leader Artur Mas held high-stakes talks with Mr Rajoy in Madrid on Thursday, armed with a mandate from the Catalan parliament and with charged emotions left from an unprecedented protest by 1.5m people in Barcelona 10 days ago.
He demanded an independent treasury for the rich Catalan region, with control over its own tax base akin to the model already enjoyed by Basques. The 9m Catalans have an economy the size of Austria’s.


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Shit in Europe is getting shittier by the minute...so Happy I live states side... fuck all the drama over there! Greece, Portugal etc

A similar thing happened during the Spanish Civil war with the Basques, who created their own autonomous republic but sided with the Republicans, and were in turn destroyed by the Nationalist forces under General Franco. Notably the Bombing of Guernica by German planes(Germany was helping Franco and the Nationalists) which led to Picasso's famous painting of Guernica.

[cucubelu]

Yea the Basques were and still are heavily outnumbers. The Catalonia province is getting more and more support for an independent nation from with in the province. This will be an interesting development. I doubt that Spain's government will be fine with such a change. Europe gone to hell! Part 2 -- Which country will fall after Greece.