No ease in independence stand-off as Spain and Catalonia refuse to talk
Barcelona/Madrid — The Spanish government and its Catalonia region showed no signs of compromise on Monday, a day after hundreds of thousands of pro-Spain unionists protested in Barcelona against Catalan leaders’ plans to declare independence as early as this week. Spain fears the Catalan parliament could declare independence on Tuesday, when the regional government’s leader is due to speak to the assembly in the wake of a banned referendum on October 1 Catalan officials say people voted overwhelmingly for secession. However, on the eve of Tuesday’s parliamentary session, neither Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy nor Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont showed signs of entering into talks, with each buoyed by large protests on both sides of the independence divide. The Catalan crisis has presented Spain with its biggest political challenge since it became a democracy four decades ago. Losing Catalonia, which has its own language and culture, is almost unthinkable for Madrid. It would deprive...
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