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EEKEND
Issue 08 Sept. 24 - Oct. 07, 2015
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Catalonia’s president Artur Mas urged Catalans to “give the finger” to their opponents and vote for independence, the central government hit back with grim warnings of what would happen to the wealthy north-eastern region if it broke away.”Some say that Catalan independence is the panacea that cures all ills, that it will generate jobs. All of that is not true,” Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said during an interview with radio Onda Cero. “It would leave the EU. What would happen with pensions? There are many more pensioners than contributors. What would happen with financial institutions, what would happen with bank deposits, to the currency?” He also said he “did not know” if Catalans would be able to hold on to their Spanish citizenship if Catalonia became independent. The prime minister has ruled out any dialogue with the Catalan government as some business leaders and opposition parties have urged. He said any push by
Catalan nationalists to break away from Spain after the regional elections “would have no legal value; we would obviously go to the Constitutional Court.” Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economic output, has its own language which was suppressed during General Francisco Franco 1939-75 dictatorship. The region’s independence drive has intensified over the recent years of economic crisis.
DEBT WARNING Rajoy warning follows threats from the Bank of Spain’s governor Luis Maria Linde who earlier in the week warned an independent Catalonia would be dropped out of the Eurozone and lose access to credit from the European Central Bank meaning the prospect of a bank deposit freeze while a top social security officials have warned of possible problems with the payment of pensions. A similar warning on pensions was made in Scotland before its independence referendum last year which resulted in a “no” vote for separatists. In response Mas, the Catalan president, has flexed the region’s financial muscle to issue a warning of his own, saying an independent Catalonia might not pay its share of the public debt if Spain refused to do a deal. “How would the state face its debt if there is no agreement for Catalonia to assume its part?
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Threats fly as Catalan breakaway vote nears S panish leaders have increased pressure on Catalonia over its independence drive, warning it would put pensions and bank deposits at risk, as insults and threats heated up campaigning for the region’s crucial election. Nationalist leaders in Catalonia have vowed to declare independence within a year and a half if they win a majority of seats in the regional assembly on Sunday.
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A mother who believes her new-born daughter was stolen as part of a baby-trafficking scandal in Spain has travelled to Brussels to take her fight for answers to the European parliament. Ruth Appleby, from North Yorkshire, was told her baby had died hours after birth in a Spanish hospital. But she now fears her daughter Rebecca was taken away and sold to adoptive parents. It’s estimated 300,000 babies may have been sold by a network of doctors, nurses and nuns in Spain.