Spain’s snap election revives issue of national unity

Under the heat of the Barcelona sun, a pro-independence party, Together for Catalonia, is holding a campaign event ahead of Sunday’s general election in Spain.

About 40 people are gathered to hear speeches before a video message is shown, recorded by the former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont.

At least 110 people have been injured after tennis ball-sized hail rained down on a region of northern Italy overnight Wednesday.

In a surprise storm, hailstones of up to 10 cm in diameter pelted the streets of Veneto, according to regional president Luca Zaia.

Emergency services responded to more than 500 calls for help due to damage to property and personal injuries, the Veneto regional civil protection said.

Workers have been removing glass from broken windows and cutting trees and other plants that were severely damaged in the storm.

“The wave of bad weather, after having impacted our mountain regions, has now also hit the plains, causing injury to some people,” Zaia said, adding that most injuries were caused by broken glass and people slipping on the hailstones.

A 53-year-old man riding his bicycle died during the storm when his wife, who was following him with their car, ran over him, CNN affiliate Sky24 reported.

Europe has seen dramatic shifts in weather this year.

Italy, Spain and Greece have faced unrelenting heat for days.

The Italian capital Rome hit a new record temperature of 41 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

He lambasts the Spanish state, comparing its lack of democratic credentials to Hungary and Poland, and calls for an independent Catalan republic.

It is a low-key event compared to the massive demonstrations that led up to Catalonia’s attempt to secede in 2017.

The Spanish authorities responded to that bid by clamping down with police action and temporarily imposing direct rule in the region, while Mr Puigdemont fled to Belgium, where he has remained ever since.

But this Sunday’s Spanish general election could have a major impact on the country’s simmering territorial issue. The result, many believe, will decide whether the relationship between Catalonia and Madrid improves or flares up once

Carles Puigdemont, who fled Catalonia after leading a breakaway independence vote in 2017, appears at rallies remotely again.

“If the right wins, the situation could complicate in Catalonia,” said Lola García, a journalist at La Vanguardia newspaper who wrote an account of the 2017 crisis.

“We might well go back to seeing heightened tensions there.”

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared improving the febrile atmosphere in Catalonia a priority when he first took office in 2018, and again when he formed a new coalition government in 2020.

With that aim in mind, his administration pardoned nine politicians who had been jailed for their role in the 2017 independence bid.

It also reformed the penal code, eliminating the crime of sedition and modifying the crime of misuse of public funds - both of which changes benefitted Catalan leaders who were facing legal action. Meanwhile, Mr Sánchez’s government has also engaged in slow-moving talks with the pro-independence Catalan administration aimed at resolving the territorial problem.