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posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 20 2017, @02:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the I-said-no dept.

After Catalonia's leader missed a deadline to clarify the government's stance on an independence referendum, and missed another deadline (Thursday calling for an unambiguous renouncement of the independence referendum, the Spanish government plans to strip Catalonia of its autonomous status:

Spain was preparing to impose direct rule over semi-autonomous Catalonia after the region's leader Carles Puigdemont declined to categorically renounce an independence referendum, the prime minister's office announced Thursday.

Spain's government said it would hold a special Cabinet meeting and "approve the measures that will be sent to the Senate to protect the general interest of all Spaniards."

At the Cabinet meeting, the government would invoke Article 155 of Spain's constitution allowing it to strip Catalonia of its self-governance. That would take effect on Saturday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office said in a statement.

Madrid had given Puigdemont a 10 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) deadline to clarify his government's stance on a non-binding declaration of independence passed by the regional legislature following a successful referendum on secession. But the Catalan leader insisted on keeping his options open, but that wasn't good enough for Spain's government, which had insisted on an unambiguous "no."

Bloomberg reports "Merkel and Macron Have Spain's Back as Catalan Crisis Escalates":

European Union leaders offered their support for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as he prepares to suspend the powers of the Catalan administration to clamp down on its push for independence. EU chiefs arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday said they backed Madrid and stressed that the issue of Catalonia's independence was a domestic one for Spain.

"We're looking at this very closely and support the position of the Spanish government, which is also a position that's been adopted across parties," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Of course this preoccupies us, and we hope that there can be a resolution on the basis of the Spanish constitution." Asked whether he supported the Spanish government, French President Emmanuel Macron said "always," adding that "this summit will be marked by a message of unity of its members in regards to Spain."

Also at BBC, The Guardian, and EUObserver (opinion).

Previously: Spain Trying to Stop Catalonia Independence Referendum
Police and Voters Clash During Catalan Independence Referendum


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Friday October 20 2017, @03:06PM (2 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 20 2017, @03:06PM (#585252) Journal

    As has always been the case, you can have as much autonomy as you want, as long as you keep paying your Taxes.

    At least, until someone takes away that autonomy.

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Friday October 20 2017, @03:45PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 20 2017, @03:45PM (#585268) Journal

    No. You will still have autonomy. Complete autonomy. The best autonomy! The best. The very best. And believe me, I know my autonomy! I promise. People are always calling to tell me how great my autonomy is and that I should wear clothes that show off my autonomy more. Trust me.

    wandering back on track . . .

    They will only take away the things by which autonomy is defined. But you can keep the label. Sort of like how countries that label themselves Democratic and Republic, and People's, are none of those things.

    In other words double plus good newspeak. Of course you can have freedom, within this prison cell. War is peace. The best way Spain can protect the autonomy of Catalonia is to suppress its people's right to vote, and deny their right to choose how and by whom they are governed. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @07:05PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @07:05PM (#585376)

      Sort of like how countries that label themselves Democratic and Republic, and People's, are none of those things.

      Or United.