About: Catalonia referendum Archives

On Monday, local government officials from across the European Union will converge in Brussels for the ‘European Week of Regions and Cities’. As they meet, they will be well aware of the turmoil taking place in one region in particular - Catalonia.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło told Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday (4 October) that Poland will not interfere with Spain’s domestic affairs. During the telephone conversation she advocated dialogue and compromise as the best solutions. EURACTIV Poland reports.

A summit of southern European Union countries due to take place next week in Nicosia has been postponed due to the Catalan crisis, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades announced yesterday (5 October).

Catalan leaders are preparing to declare independence from Spain after a violence-hit referendum, defying a warning from the country's king that national stability was in peril.

Catalonia is looking for an international mediator who would help build a minimum of “mutual trust” between Madrid and Barcelona following the region's independence referendum on 1 October, Catalan Permanent Representative to the EU told EURACTIV.

The secessionist leader of Catalonia called for international mediation yesterday (2 October) in the region’s dispute with Madrid, a day after hundreds of people were hurt as police swung truncheons and fired rubber bullets to disrupt an independence referendum.

In a carefully worded statement, the European Commission dismissed as "illegal" Catalonia's independence referendum held on Sunday (1 October), only shyly mentioning the police violence that left some 800 people wounded.

Catalonia's leader, Carles Puigdemont, said the region won the right to break away from Spain, with his government claiming on Monday (2 October) that 90% of voters backed independence in a banned referendum marred by violent clashes.

Around 760 people have been injured in disturbances across Catalonia on Sunday (1 October) according to the latest figures released by the regional government, as riot police clashed with people who had gathered for a banned referendum on the region’s independence from Spain.

Catalonia has told the Spanish authorities it is willing to consider proposals to avert the break-up, but is otherwise set to proclaim independence within 48 hours if the ‘yes’ camp wins in Sunday's referendum, Raül Romeva, a member of the Catalan government in charge of foreign relations, said on Thursday.

The European Commission remained silent on Tuesday (26 September) when confronted with the news that Spanish authorities had shut down websites that provide information about this weekend's Catalan independence referendum. A vote that Spain still maintains is illegal.

Estonia is hosting a summit focused on technology issues this Friday (29 September) but will have to battle for EU leaders’ attention less than one week after the German election, a fresh round of Brexit talks and French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposals on the future of Europe.

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will not attend the Tallinn Digital Summit with other EU leaders on Friday (29 September) because of unrest ahead of a controversial independence vote in Catalonia on Sunday, EURACTIV.com has learned.

Sympathy with Catalonia's bid to hold an independence referendum next week is running high in Scotland, where lawmakers are increasingly vocal in condemning Spain's actions and a group of volunteers is heading out to help.

As Catalonia's independence referendum crisis deepens, EU officials are staying doggedly tight-lipped even as diplomats privately voice serious concern at a situation some regard as a challenge to fundamental European values.

Jean-Claude Juncker likely infuriated Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Thursday (14 September) by saying that if Catalonians voted to secede from Spain in next month's referendum, the Commission would respect the outcome.

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans rallied yesterday (11 September) to demand their region's secession from Spain, in a show of strength three weeks ahead of an independence referendum which has been banned by Madrid.

Catalonia will declare independence from Spain within 48 hours if voters back secession in an October referendum, according to a draft bill proposed by secessionist parties on Tuesday (4 July), though it remains unclear whether the vote will go ahead.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola yesterday (11 June) joined thousands of protesters in Barcelona to call for independence for the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Carles Puigdemont, the President of the Catalonia regional government, pledged to go ahead with independence referendum, even in the absence of agreed proposal for the future ahead by the authorities in Madrid.

Spain will not raise any objections to a statement at the European Council summit tomorrow (29 April) recognising that a united Ireland would be an EU member state, according to an EU diplomatic source with knowledge of Spain's position in the Brexit negotiations.

Catalonia's separatist government yesterday (19 March) urged Spain's central government once again to let it hold a legal referendum on independence like the one Scotland staged in 2014 with London's approval.

Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont found the EU institutions’ doors closed in his first official visit to Belgium in early May, but he said that he would embark on a charm offensive after the in-or-out referendum in the United Kingdom next June.

Catalonia's parliament swore in a new separatist leader yesterday evening (10 January), putting the pro-independence movement's commitment to break with Spain over the next 18 months back on track after a long political deadlock.