Catalunya asks Madrid for independence vote
L'Estelada Blava, the flag of the Catalan independence movement, hangs from a balcony in Barcelona. On Thursday, January 16, the Catalan National Assembly asked the national government to allow Catalunya to hold a referendum on whether to secede from Spain. The national government has the authority to block secession under Spain's 1978 Constitution, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block a referendum. While Catalonia already has broad autonomy, a longstanding, latent pro-independence sentiment has been fanned in recent years by the perception that the region -- Spain's wealthiest and most highly industrialized -- gives more to the Spanish state than it gets in return. See assemblea.cat/ for additional detail.
Catalunya asks Madrid for independence vote
L'Estelada Blava, the flag of the Catalan independence movement, hangs from a balcony in Barcelona. On Thursday, January 16, the Catalan National Assembly asked the national government to allow Catalunya to hold a referendum on whether to secede from Spain. The national government has the authority to block secession under Spain's 1978 Constitution, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to block a referendum. While Catalonia already has broad autonomy, a longstanding, latent pro-independence sentiment has been fanned in recent years by the perception that the region -- Spain's wealthiest and most highly industrialized -- gives more to the Spanish state than it gets in return. See assemblea.cat/ for additional detail.