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☆ I've lived in Catalonia for 8 years. There are 5 things tourists should know before traveling to this part of Spain.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Nicola Prentis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewIf your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco, and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you. The main language in Catalonia is CatalanAlthough Spanish is the most common language and almost everyone is bilingual, Catalan is the main language outside Barcelona. Catalan paella is different from what you find in the rest of the country. Catalan paella is dark brown in color, much more seafood heavy, and never contains vegetables. You'll want to branch out into Catalan winesMany people think of rioja when they think of Spanish wine.

Persons: —, we'd, you'd, Nicola Prentis, There's, paella, Rice, sommelier, Champagne ., it's, Caga, haven't, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Catalans, La, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Locations: Spain, Catalonia, Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Catalan, Spanish, Valencia, mayo, Cava, rioja, La Rioja, Priorat, Tarragona, Champagne

☆ Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont returns to Spain after seven years, risking arrest
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

BARCELONA, SPAIN - AUGUST 08: Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont makes his first public appearance since he fled Spain in 2017, speaking at a public rally in Barcelona, Spain on August 08, 2024. Catalan police had the order to arrest him immediately, but Puigdemont managed to speak for several minutes outside of the Catalan parliament. (Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty Images)Former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain after seven years of self-imposed exile, defying a pending arrest warrant and igniting a police manhunt. A Catalan Interior Ministry spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that the separatist politician has yet to be captured. Illa's platform won the largest share of the vote in the Catalan elections of May, dethroning Puigdemont's hardline separatist Junts per Catalunya party.

Persons: Carles Puigdemont, Puigdemont, Adria Puig, Salvador Illa, dethroning, Ignacio Garriga —, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Bill Organizations: Anadolu, Getty Images, CNBC, Interior Ministry, Reuters, Spanish, Government, Socialist Locations: BARCELONA, SPAIN, Spain, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spanish, Catalan, Catalonian, Catalunya

☆ Catalan separatists lose majority as Spain’s pro-union Socialists win regional elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A pro-unity rally marches through Barcelona, Spain, on October 8, 2017, in response to last Sunday's disputed referendum on Catalan independence. This was the first time the Socialists led a Catalan election in both votes and seats won. Illa led Spain's response to the COVID-19 pandemic before Sánchez sent him back to Barcelona to lead his party. The Socialists are already in a coalition government in Madrid with the Sumar party, which now has six seats in the Catalan parliament. Separatists have held the regional government in Barcelona since 2012 and had won majorities in four consecutive regional elections.

Persons: Carles Puigdemont, Salvador Illa savored, Illa, Catalonia's, Sánchez, bode, Pedro Sánchez, Puigdemont, pardoning, Puigdemont's, Pere Aragonès, Vox Organizations: Socialist Party, Socialists, Sánchez's Socialists, Republican, Popular Party, Catalan Alliance Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Catalonia, Madrid, Catalan, France, Spain's, Spanish, Catalans

☆ Catalan Leader Denies Spy Agency Claim He Led Separatist Protest Group
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Joan FausBARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia's regional leader on Friday denied allegations by Spain's spy agency CNI that he had secretly led a radical separatist protest group, which he said CNI had used as a pretext to snoop on him. Pere Aragones told reporters he had received on Thursday some heavily redacted declassified CNI documents related to the alleged espionage he had been subject to, and he called for those responsible to be held accountable. Asked about the documents, Spain's Justice Minister Felix Bolanos reiterated that the government did not know about nor authorise the alleged spying. "(The documents) make this affirmation that is obviously out of touch with any minimum sense of reality," Aragones told reporters, adding that the documents provided no explanation for such suspicions. Aragones said the documents were full of falsehoods and their aim was to destroy the legitimate political project of Catalan independence from Spain.

Persons: Joan Faus BARCELONA, Spain's, CNI, snoop, Pere Aragones, Felix Bolanos, Aragones, Paz Esteban, Esteban, Joan Faus, Andrei Khalip, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Citizen, Pegasus, Spain's Locations: Canada, Spain, Barcelona

☆ Police seize pistol from military officer at Spanish amnesty protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Susana Vera / File... Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreMADRID, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A Spanish military officer was arrested with a pistol at a demonstration against an amnesty law which will benefit Catalan separatists involved in a failed 2017 bid for independence, police said on Sunday. About 1,500 people took part in the demonstration, the 16th consecutive protest outside the Socialists' headquarters. El Confidencial, a Spanish news site, reported on Sunday that the officer had a private weapon that was not a pistol used for military purposes. The independence referendum was declared illegal by the courts and resulted in Spain's worst political crisis for decades. Sanchez has defended the law saying an amnesty would help to defuse tensions in Catalonia.

Persons: Catalonia's, Susana Vera, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Graham Keeley, Hugh Lawson Organizations: REUTERS, Zaragoza Military Academy, Socialist, Reuters, Socialists, Spain's Socialists, Spain's Socialist, Thomson Locations: Spanish, Madrid, Spain, MADRID, El, Catalan, Basque, Catalonia

☆ Biggest protest in Spain against Catalan amnesty law draws 170,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Raul Cadenas Susana Vera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The amnesty will cover about 400 people involved in the independence bid that came to a head in 2017, including separatists but also police involved in clashes with activists. The independence referendum was declared illegal by the courts and resulted in Spain's worst political crisis for decades. The amnesty will be the largest in Spain since the 1977 blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the Francisco Franco dictatorship, and the first amnesty law approved in the European Union since 1991, according to Spain's CSIC research council. Protesters, including neo-Nazi groups, have held rowdy demonstrations outside the Socialist headquarters in Madrid for 15 nights consecutively since the deal was announced. In a survey by Metroscopia in mid-September, around 70% of respondents - 59% of them Socialist supporters – said they were against the idea of an amnesty.

Persons: Catalonia's, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Santiago Abascal, Francisco Franco, Metroscopia, –, Graham Keeley, Susana Vera, Raul Cadenas, Silvio Castellanos, Clelia Oziel, Mike Harrison Organizations: Spain's Socialists, Spain's Socialist, Authorities, People's Party, Vox, European Union, Socialist, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, MADRID, Catalan, Basque, Catalonia

☆ Fact Check: Video shows Madrid protest over Catalan amnesty deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of a protest in Madrid against a plan by Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant amnesty to Catalan separatists has been falsely claimed online to show a pro-Palestinian protest. The acting premier’s Socialist Party (PSOE) secured the backing of the Catalan separatist party Junts on Nov. 9 via a deal that included passing a law to grant amnesty to individuals convicted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain in 2017. Thousands of people gathered across Spain on Nov. 12 to oppose the deal. Photographs and livestreams (archived) also captured different angles (archived) of the same protest. The protest was held over the Spanish government’s Catalan-separatist amnesty, not the Israel-Hamas war.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Junts, Sanchez, Read Organizations: Socialist Party, PSOE, Twitter, Facebook, El, Libertad Digital, Catalan, Spanish, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Catalan, Spain, Madrid’s Puerta, Sol, Palestine, Israel

☆ Sanchez wins Spanish parliament's backing for new term as PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

His Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) had reached separate deals with a number of regional parties to earn their backing, including a contentious bill on amnesty for Catalan separatists that has sparked protests across Spain. Sanchez's bid garnered 179 votes in favour and 171 against, with no abstentions. The "nays" stemmed from the conservative People's Party, the far-right Vox and the People's Union of Navarre's lone lawmaker. PSOE's hard-left ally Sumar, Catalan pro-independence parties Junts and ERC, Basque parties PNV and EH Bildu, Galicia's BNG and the Canary Coalition all voted for Sanchez, who first acceded to the office in 2018. Reporting by Belén Carreño, Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Andrei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, amnesties, Catalonia's, Sanchez's, Vox, Navarre's, PSOE's, Sumar, Galicia's BNG, Sanchez, Belén Carreño, Inti Landauro, Emma Pinedo, David Latona, Andrei Khalip Organizations: Spain's, Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, PSOE, People's Party, People's Union, Junts, ERC, Canary Coalition, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Spain, Catalan, Basque

Sanchez's confirmation as premier would end four months of uncertainty since an election in July produced no outright winner. Authorities said 15 people were arrested in a 2,000-person protest on Wednesday night outside the Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid following clashes with police. Feijoo, who accused Sanchez of undermining the rule of law on Wednesday called for mass protests on Saturday Nov 18. Sanchez argued on Wednesday that an amnesty would help to defuse tensions in Catalonia. Reporting by Belen Carreño and Emma Pinedo; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez applauds, amnesties, Catalonia's, Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Jorge Pueyo, Sumar, Patxi Lopez, Feijoo, Miriam Nogueras, Nogueras, Belen Carreño, Emma Pinedo, Charlie Devereux, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Spain's, Socialist, People's Party, Sanchez's Socialist Party, PSOE, ERC, Socialists, Authorities, Socialist Party, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Spain, Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia, Madrid, Socialist

☆ Spain's Sanchez to seek new term as PM in lower house on Nov. 16
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Susana Vera/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMADRID, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will seek to clinch a new term in a parliamentary vote on Thursday, the lower house speaker Francina Armengol said on Monday. The vote will follow a parliamentary debate scheduled to start at noon local time (1100 GMT) on Wednesday, she told reporters. Sanchez looks assured of winning a new term with an absolute majority of the 350-member assembly. After an inconclusive election on July 23, Sanchez's Socialist Party spent weeks negotiating with smaller parties, most of which had supported him in 2020 for his previous term. Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by David Latona and Andrew CawthorneOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Andoni Ortuzar, Susana Vera, Francina Armengol, Sanchez, UPN's, Inti Landauro, David Latona, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Basque Nationalist Party, REUTERS, Rights, Junts, ERC, Sanchez's Socialist Party, Bildu, Canary Coalition, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Rights MADRID, Catalan, Basque, Navarre

☆ Spain's Sanchez to Seek New Term as PM in Lower House on Nov. 16
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will seek to clinch a new term in a parliamentary vote on Thursday, the lower house speaker Francina Armengol said on Monday. The vote will follow a parliamentary debate scheduled to start at noon local time (1100 GMT) on Wednesday, she told reporters. Sanchez looks assured of winning a new term with an absolute majority of the 350-member assembly. The prospect of the amnesty has brought thousands of opponents to the streets over the past week. After an inconclusive election on July 23, Sanchez's Socialist Party spent weeks negotiating with smaller parties, most of which had supported him in 2020 for his previous term.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Francina Armengol, Sanchez, UPN's, Inti Landauro, David Latona, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Junts, ERC, Sanchez's Socialist Party, Bildu, Canary Coalition Locations: MADRID, Catalan, Spain, Basque, Navarre

☆ Tens of thousands protest across Spain at proposed Catalan amnesty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people protested across Spain on Sunday against acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez's plans to grant amnesty to Catalan separatists in exchange for support for another term in office. The government secured a deal with Catalan separatist party Junts on Thursday which includes passing a contentious law granting amnesty to those convicted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain in 2017. "He (Sanchez) has betrayed coexistence, democracy...he can't keep governing," said banker Tomas Perez, 38, holding a sign reading "Sanchez traitor". After an inconclusive July 23 election, the Socialists spent weeks negotiating with smaller parties including far-left platform Sumar and Catalan, Galician and Basque nationalist parties. Reporting by Miguel Gutierrez and Guillermo Martinez; Writing by Jessica Jones; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez's, Junts, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Puerta, amnesties, Catalonia's, Sanchez, Tomas Perez, Inmaculada Herranz Castro, Miguel Gutierrez, Guillermo Martinez, Jessica Jones, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: People's Party, Authorities, Popular Party, Spain's, Socialists, Basque Nationalist Party, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Spain, Sol, Madrid, Spanish, EU, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Malaga, Palma, Valencia, Galician, Basque

☆ Spain's Sanchez wins support for PM bid amid anger over Catalan amnesty vow
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We have managed to secure a majority that will make possible the investiture of Pedro Sanchez," acting minister for parliamentary relations Felix Bolanos said in an interview with SER radio station. Opinion polls have painted a picture of a country divided over the question of amnesty, even within the ranks of the Socialist Party. With Junts and PNV and the national and regional left-wing parties, Sanchez would win an absolute majority of 178 out of 350 lawmakers. Later on Friday, the Socialist Party added one vote more to its wide coalition after Canary Islands' regionalist party Coalicion Canaria also agreed to back Sanchez. Bolanos said the Catalan amnesty law would help ease tension in Catalonia as it would free school directors, firefighters and other civil servants who helped organise an illegal referendum on the region's independence in 2017 from legal proceedings.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, Jon Nazca, Junts, Sanchez, Felix Bolanos, Bolanos, Canaria, Carles Puigdemont, Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro, David Latona, Jessica Jones, Aislinn Laing, Toby Chopra, Nick Macfie, Hugh Lawson, Andrea Ricci Organizations: European, REUTERS, Rights, Catalan separatists, National Basque Party, Canaries ' Coalition, SER, Socialist Party, Socialist, La, Sigma, Sanchez's Socialist Party, Interior Ministry, El Mundo, Socialists, Police, Thomson Locations: Granada, Spain, Rights MADRID, Catalonia, Galician, Basque, Canary Islands, Junts, Madrid

☆ Spanish Socialists and Catalan Junts reach deal for government support, amnesty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A law granting amnesty to those prosecuted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain was included in the deal, political leaders said and the deal text showed. The agreement included Junts lending its votes in parliament to support legislation for a full four-year term, he said. But Junts, which seeks another independence referendum, said supporting each law would depend on progress in talks involving Catalonia's political conflict. As a deal between Junts and the Socialists edged nearer in the past week, the mood in the country has become increasingly febrile, with protesters clashing with police outside the Socialists' headquarters in Madrid. An amnesty could exculpate as many as 1,400 activists and politicians involved in the attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain.

Persons: Junts, Feijoo, Puigdemont, Pedro Sanchez, Santos Cerdan, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Jaume Clotet, Belen Carreno, Joan Faus, Graham Keeley, Aislinn Laing, Charlie Devereux, Alison Williams, Toby Chopra, Bernadette Baum, Sharon Singleton, Alex Richardson Organizations: Companies Spain's Socialists, Conservative, Socialist Party, PSOE, Socialist, Socialists, Police, People's Party, Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, Basque Nationalist Party, Thomson Locations: Catalan, Madrid, MADRID, Spain, Brussels, Junts, Catalonia, Belgium, Waterloo

☆ Hundreds protest against Spain's potential amnesty law
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsHundreds protest against Spain's potential amnesty lawPostedHundreds of people protested on Wednesday (November 8) outside Spanish Socialist party headquarters in Madrid against ongoing negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid.

Persons: Catalonia's Organizations: Spanish Socialist Locations: Madrid

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont delivers a statement after a deal was signed with Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) for Spanish government support, which is expected to include an amnesty law for Catalan separatist activists, in Brussels, Belgium November 9, 2023. The promise of a wide amnesty for Catalan separatists, including himself, that the 60-year-old fugitive from Spanish justice won in return is already dividing the country where protests have erupted in recent days. Puigdemont made his intentions clear in his inauguration speech, vowing to start "the constituting process of an independent state". A year and a half later, following an October 2017 independence referendum deemed illegal by Spanish courts, the same parliament declared Catalonia's independence. But he appears to have changed his tune since an interview published by Catalan newspaper ARA a week before Spain's election last July.

Persons: Carles Puigdemont, Yves Herman Acquire, Catalonia's, Pedro Sanchez, Puigdemont, Artur Mas, Spain's, Mariano Rajoy, Sanchez, Junts, Andrei KhalipMacfie Organizations: Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, PSOE, Catalan, REUTERS, Rights, Spanish, Catalonia's, Spain's, ARA, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights BARCELONA, Spain, Spanish, Madrid, Girona, Germany, Italy, Catalonia

The clashes led to chaotic scenes of people running amid smoke and trash containers thrown in the streets, Reuters video footage showed. Around 4,000 people attended the protest - including Spain's far-right party Vox leader, Santiago Abascal - and at least one person was detained, according to local media reports. The Socialists are reportedly nearing their negotiations with Puigdemont's party, Junts, while the proposed law has been fiercely criticized by conservative parties and judges who accuse Sanchez of jeopardizing the rule of law. The protest was organised by a Spanish nationalist grassroots organization and smaller protests took place in other Spanish cities such as Barcelona. "To attack the PSOE offices is to attack democracy and all those who believe in it," Sanchez posted on X, using the Socialist Party acronym in Spanish.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Catalonia's, Santiago Abascal, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Puigdemont Organizations: Spanish, Spain's Socialists Party, PSOE, Socialist Party, TVE, Police, Socialist, El, Socialists, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, MADRID, El Pais, Spanish, Barcelona

☆ Spain's Socialists win backing of Catalan separatist ERC, still waiting on Junts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) reached a deal with Spain's Socialists (PSOE) to support acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's bid for a second term, both parties said on Thursday. However, the crucial backing of rival party Junts remains pending amid last-minute negotiations. Seeking the support of the Catalan parties, Sanchez said on Saturday he favoured granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. The agreement with ERC included "an amnesty for all", the Catalan party's chairman Oriol Junqueras told reporters, without elaborating. Junts held a meeting in Brussels to decide whether to back Sanchez's investiture, but it ended without an agreement with the PSOE, said a Junts source.

Persons: Esquerra, Pedro Sanchez's, Junts, Sanchez, Catalonia's, Oriol Junqueras, Pere Aragones, Felix Bolanos, Bolanos, Junqueras, Emma Pinedo, Belen Carreno, Charlie Devereux, Joan Faus, Gareth Jones Organizations: ERC, Spain's Socialists, PSOE, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Catalan, Basque, Spain, Brussels

☆ Spain's acting PM Sanchez backs Catalan amnesty deal in bid to form government
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/ Albert Gea/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMADRID, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday said he supported granting a controversial amnesty to those involved in Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in the hope of persuading the region's parties to back him in government. He needs the backing of Catalan separatist parties, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ERC and Junts, who have demanded an amnesty law that could potentially cover more than 1,400 people involved in the failed independence bid. "To continue moving forward, we must overcome all the episodes that in the past divided us and fractured our societies," Sanchez said. He said his party "looks at the problems head on", adding 80% of Catalans supported an agreement on the issue. A poll in September showed 70% of respondents - 59% of them socialist supporters - were against an amnesty.

Persons: Oriol Junqueras, Passeig de Gracia, Albert Gea, Pedro Sanchez, Catalonia's, Sanchez, Esquerra, Jessica Jones, Mike Harrison Organizations: Passeig, REUTERS, Rights, Socialist Party's Federal, Catalunya ERC, Junts, Catalans, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Rights MADRID, Catalonia, Madrid, Catalan

Those include two pro-secession Catalan parties who led the unsuccessful 2017 breakaway attempt and who now find themselves holding the key votes in Parliament that Sánchez requires. They have made an amnesty law as a prerequisite for supporting Sánchez. “Pedro Sánchez needs the amnesty law to pass so he can get the four votes he is lacking,” Nebrera told the AP. Spain granted a sweeping amnesty during its transition back to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But legal experts are divided over the constitutionality of an amnesty for the Catalan separatists.

Persons: Oriol Calvo, Calvo, Pedro Sánchez, “, ” Calvo, Sánchez, Carles Puigdemont, Spain can’t, ”, Pablo Seco, Montserrat Nebrera, ” Nebrera, Felipe González, Francisco Franco, Xavier Antich, Hernán Muñoz Organizations: —, Socialist, International University of Catalonia, AP, Omnium Locations: BARCELONA, Spain, — Barcelona, Catalonia’s, Madrid, Catalonia, Belgium, Barcelona, Montserrat, Sánchez, Catalan

☆ Tens of thousands protest against possible Catalan amnesty deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Graham Keeley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Unionist supporters protest against amnesty of separatist leaders and activists involved in the 2017 failed independence drive at Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, Spain, October 8, 2023. Pedro Sanchez needs the support of Catalan separatist parties Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which want the unpopular amnesty in exchange for votes in parliament. An amnesty would put the government above democracy and the rule of law," said Javier Tapia, 55, a chemicals worker. The amnesty could potentially cover more than 1,400 people involved in the independence bid that came to a head in 2017, pro-separatist Catalan group Omnium estimates. Around 70% of respondents - 59% of them Socialist supporters – said they were against the idea of an amnesty in a poll in mid-September.

Persons: Passeig de Gracia, Albert Gea, Sanchez, Spain's, Pedro Sanchez, Junts, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Santiago Abascal, Javier Tapia, Isabel Martinez, Feijoo, Francisco Franco, –, Graham Keeley, Joan Faus, Horaci Garcia, Guillermo Martinez, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Passeig, REUTERS, Barcelona, BARCELONA, Spain's, Socialist, People's Party, Vox, Sale, AMNESTY, European Union, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Catalan, Catalonia

[1/6] A person holds a placard that reads "No to amnesty" during a rally against a possible amnesty for Catalan separatist leaders in Madrid, Spain, September 24, 2023. Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative People's Party (PP) travelled from across Spain to attend the rally in Madrid. Puigdemont, wanted in Spain for attempting the region's secession, has demanded that legal action be dropped against fellow separatists as a condition for his support. Withdrawing criminal cases against the separatists would amount to granting an amnesty to "coup plotters", he told supporters at the Madrid rally. He did not mention an amnesty but said the Socialists wanted to heal social divisions over the Catalan crisis.

Persons: Susana Vera, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Puigdemont, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Gregorio Casteneda, Feijoo, Graham Keeley, Silvio Castellanos, Michael Gore, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Sunday, People's Party, Authorities, Reuters, Socialists, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Rights MADRID, Catalonia, Catalunya, Santander, Spain's, Gava, Catalonia's, Barcelona

Spanish farmer Miguel Moreno was an early adopter of so-called cover crops. Spain's drought-hit olive oil production slumped to 663,000 tonnes last year, less than half the average of 1.45 million tons recorded in the previous four harvests, according to the government. In January, it began subsidising farmers who use cover crops as part of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). She said the company was pushed both by customers such as Walmart in the U.S. and by regulation to buy olive oil from producers using sustainable practices. Ecology professor Manzaneda is also coordinator of EU-funded project SOIL O-LIVE and is testing methods for coaxing Albacete's degraded earth back to health.

Persons: Chiclana de Segura, Jon Nazca, Andrea Ronca, Miguel Moreno, Angel, Dcoop, Gonzalo Delacamara, Emilio Gonzalez, Antonio Manzaneda, Manzaneda, Olive, Syngenta, Luis Miranda, Domingo, Marco Trevisan, Dean, Simone Rech, Catalonia's Cava, Sebastiano Conti, Charlie Devereux, Antonella, Corina Pons, Keith Weir, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, Companies Southern, VILLANUEVA DEL ARZOBISPO, Farmers, European Union, of Nutrition, Plant Science, IE, Water, University of Cordoba, University of Jaen, European, Walmart, Swiss, Syngenta, EU, TECH, Smart, Milan Polytechnic, University of Brescia, of Agricultural Sciences, Catholic University of Piacenza, Thomson Locations: Olive, Chiclana, Jaen, Spain, ROME, Italy, Madrid, European, France, Germany, Mantua, Andalusia, European Union, U.S, ITALY, Treviso, Venice, Sicily

☆ Thousands celebrate Catalonia Day as regional parties become Spain's kingmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People hold up Esteladas, or Catalan separatist flags, during a demonstration to mark Catalonia's national day 'La Diada' in Barcelona, Spain, September 11, 2022. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBARCELONA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Thousands of people were expected to celebrate Catalonia's National Day on Monday as the Spanish region's separatist parties appear set to play a kingmaker role in forming a national government. In recent years, attendance at La Diada, as the National Day is known, has fallen as support for breaking away from Spain has decreased. But with two Catalan parties poised to play a role in forming a new government, it may boost the independence cause. In October 2017, when Puigdemont's separatist regional government held a referendum declared illegal by the Spanish courts, a CEO poll found 49% supported splitting from Spain while 43% were against.

Persons: Nacho, Pere Aragones, Carles Puigdemont, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Isabel Rodriguez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Graham Keeley, Peter Graff Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, La, Catalana, ERC, Socialist, People's Party, Catalan Centre, Public, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Rights BARCELONA, Spanish, Catalonia, Catalan, Belgium, Catalunya

☆ Drought in Spain empties reservoirs, forces limits on water use
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Horaci Garcia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Residents enjoy Boadella reservoir, which is 20% of its capacity, as Spain braces for the third heatwave of the summer near the Spanish-French border, in Darnius, Spain, August 6, 2023. REUTERS/Nacho DoceAGULLANA, Spain, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Artur Duran holds his hand out by his waist to show the level of water he remembers two years ago at the Darnius Boadella reservoir in northeastern Spain. Catalonia's authorities last week imposed new water usage restrictions on 22 villages around the reservoir, near the French border, as the aquifer supplying them is also emptying. Several heatwaves recorded in Spain and wider Europe this summer have worsened the drought, lowering reservoirs' levels as water evaporation and consumption increased, said Ruben del Campo, spokesperson for Spain's meteorological agency AEMET. The village of Agullana with 900 residents has been keeping its water usage below the 200-litre cap for several months, but its mayor said further steps will be implemented.

Persons: Doce, Artur Duran, sunbathed, Ruben del Campo, Josep Jovell, Horaci Garcia, Joan Faus, Andrei Khalip, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Authorities, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Spain, Spanish, Darnius, Catalonia, Spain's Andalusia, Europe, Agullana

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