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☆ Catalan kingmaker tells Spain's Sanchez not to take support for granted
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File PhotoBARCELONA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Spain's Socialists (PSOE), seeking to form a government after a hard-fought national election, should not take the support of Catalonia's separatist parties for granted, one of their leaders said on Wednesday. "It is Pedro Sanchez who has to make the moves to get support," Aragones said. To renew its support, ERC wants further talks, to cut the region's contributions to the national public finances, and to take control of local train services. Junts is demanding a referendum on independence and an amnesty for all separatists facing legal charges related to the failed 2017 independence bid. Aragones said the two parties' leverage could help obtain a referendum and amnesty, but also concessions in financial or cultural issues.

Persons: Pere Aragones i Garcia, Sarah Meyssonnier, Pere Aragones, Pedro Sanchez's, Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez, Aragones, Junts, Joan Faus, Charlie Devereux, John Stonestreet Organizations: of, Entrepreneurs de France, Paris, Paris Longchamp Racecourse, REUTERS, Spain's Socialists, PSOE, ERC, Socialist, People's Party, Thomson Locations: of Catalonia, Paris Longchamp, Paris, France, Spain, Catalan

[1/2] "Junts x Catalunya" members raise up an "Estelada" flag (Catalan separatist flag) as they celebrate the results of the European Parliament elections in Barcelona, Spain, May 27, 2019. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File PhotoBARCELONA/MADRID, July 26 (Reuters) - Spain may be heading for a repeat of Sunday's inconclusive election unless Catalan separatist parties compromise on their demands for an independence referendum in exchange for their support. After neither the right nor left bloc won enough seats to form a majority, Catalan separatist parties Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and Junts have emerged as kingmakers. However, Sanchez, who rejects Catalan independence, has long said he opposes a referendum or an amnesty. INDEPENDENCE SUPPORT DECLININGEven if Sanchez were willing to concede, a referendum could prove difficult to implement.

Persons: Albert Gea, Esquerra, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Junts, Carles Puigdemont, Ramon Tremosa, mignon, Tremosa, Josep Rius, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Feijoo, Mariano Rajoy, Joan Esculies, Isabel Rodriguez, Yolanda Diaz, Diaz, Jaume Asens, Puigdemont, Wayne Griffiths, Rius, Pedro Sanchez's, Joan Faus, Belen Carreno, Charlie Devereux, Aislinn Laing, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, ERC, Junts, Sanchez's Socialists, Socialists, European Union, People's Party, Socialist, Monday, Volkswagen's, SEAT, Catalans, Vox, Thomson Locations: Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, BARCELONA, MADRID, Catalan, Catalonia, Belgium, Socialist, Madrid, Volkswagen's Barcelona, Spanish

☆ Barcelona gets Socialist mayor in consolation for prime minister Sanchez
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BARCELONA, June 17 (Reuters) - Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was given a last-minute consolation on Saturday when Barcelona's city council appointed a new Socialist mayor after a deal involving two rival parties. Despite pro-independence parties appearing certain to run Spain's second city, Jaume Collboni, the Socialist candidate, became mayor after the far-left Barcelona en Comu of the outgoing mayor Ada Colau gave him its support in a move supported by the conservative People's Party. The decision was a boost for the Socialist Party, which leads the national government, after mostly poor results in local elections around the country on May 28. Xavier Trias, 76, who represents the pro-business, pro independence party Junts per Catalunya, had been favourite to become mayor until the 11th-hour deal favouring Collboni. The political shift in Barcelona is a further setback for Catalonia's pro-independence movement, which has faltered in recent years.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Jaume Collboni, Ada Colau, Sanchez, Xavier Trias, Graham Keeley, Joan Faus, David Holmes Organizations: Socialist, People's Party, Socialist Party, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Barcelona's, Barcelona, Catalunya, Comu

☆ An airline was fined for imposing strict rules about high heels and makeup on female cabin crew, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Spanish airline was fined for enforcing a strict makeup and high heel policy on female crew. Vueling requires female crew to wear high heels and enforces makeup rules, per El Periódico. Catalonia's labor department fined the airline 30,000 euros (about $32,000) after a union complaint. The publication said Vueling's female cabin crew were required to wear high heels of between five and eight inches, and foundation that matches their skin tone. A Vueling representative said it was considering its options following the ruling but there was now "no gender distinction or obligation to wear make-up."

☆ Church tower reemerges from parched reservoir in drought-hit Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The weather will be drier and hotter than usual this spring along the northeastern Mediterranean coast that includes Catalonia. The dry weather will heighten the risk of wildfires even as it brings average rainfall nationwide, Spain's meteorological agency AEMET said. "Heat waves in this geographical area of the planet are more frequent, are increasing more frequently than in other regions," he said. Spain's drought nationwide measured over 12 months is no worse than it was in 2017, 2012 and 2005. But the average water level in Catalonia's reservoirs stands at just 27%, slightly above the level in parts of the southern region of Andalucia.

☆ Barcelona taxi restrictions relaxed for world's biggest telecoms conference
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Catalonia's regional government is addressing the problem of long queues for taxis at the world's biggest telecoms conference, which starts in Barcelona on Monday, by relaxing restrictions on ride-hailing companies like Uber (UBER.N) and Cabify. Catalan authorities have relaxed rules so ride-hailing cabs from across Spain can operate in Barcelona between Feb.24 and March 7. Some regions, such as Madrid and Andalusia, allowed the drivers to continue to operate as before, but others, such as Barcelona, introduced more restrictive measures. "There is a lack of alternatives to get around in Barcelona since the Catalan government introduced restrictions," he said in a statement. A spokesman for the Catalan government said an exception has been introduced at the request of Barcelona council for these ride-hailing cabs to provide services for ten days.

☆ Brazil's Dani Alves jailed on remand in Spain over sexual assault allegation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A Spanish judge on Friday ordered that Brazil soccer player Dani Alves be jailed on remand without bail over an alleged sexual assault of a woman in a Barcelona nightclub, the regional court system said. Earlier on Friday, Alves appeared before a Barcelona judge after local police detained and questioned him. The alleged victim had filed a complaint earlier this month and the case remains open over a crime of sexual assault, Catalonia's court system said in a statement. Alves told Antena 3 TV earlier this month that he was at the club with other people but denied any such behaviour. Alves played for Barcelona from 2008-2016 and briefly returned to the LaLiga team for the 2021-22 season.

☆ Spain, France champion Europe's industry in bilateral summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. efforts to boost green technology should not lead to the dismantling of Europe's industry, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday after signing a new bilateral treaty with French President Emmanuel Macron in Barcelona. The industrial references come amid an intense debate within the European Union on how to respond to government support measures under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). "We need to accelerate our green technology, and our 'Made in Europe' strategy," he said. About 6,500 Catalan separatists protested outside the museum where the summit took place against Sanchez's position on independence, according to police estimates. Catalonia's regional leader Pere Aragones greeted Sanchez and Macron before the summit, but left before both countries' anthems were played.

☆ Spain's Supreme Court drops sedition charges against Catalan separatist leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Spain's Supreme Court on Thursday dropped sedition charges against the leader of Catalonia's failed bid for independence, Carles Puigdemont, after a reform of the country's penal code abolished the crime. Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium to avoid prosecution in Spain, still faces charges of disobedience and embezzlement, which carry jail terms of up to eight years. Spain's previous bids to have Puigdemont extradited during his stays in Germany, Belgium and Italy have failed. Puigdemont posted a video on Twitter in which he vowed to fight "to the end" against his extradition in European courts. Puigdemont has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since late 2017 and served as a member of the European Parliament since 2019.

☆ Fossils of car-sized dinosaur-era sea turtle unearthed in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It dwarfed today's largest turtle - the leatherback, which can reach 7 feet (2 meters) long and is known for marathon marine migrations. Other large turtles from Earth's past include Protostega and Stupendemys, both reaching about 13 feet (4 meters) long. Protostega was a Cretaceous sea turtle that lived about 85 million years ago and, like its later cousin Archelon, inhabited the large inland sea that at the time split North America in two. The presence of a couple of bony bulges on the front side of the pelvis differs from any other known sea turtle, indicating that Leviathanochelys represents a newly discovered lineage. It shows that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in separate Cretaceous lineages in North America and Europe.

☆ Analysis: Catalonia's economic muscle weakened five years after separatist bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The fallout serves as a cautionary tale for the independence movement in Scotland, which is pushing to hold another referendum next year on breaking away from the United Kingdom. Junqueras was Catalonia's deputy government head when the region held an independence referendum banned by a Spanish court. Junqueras insisted the Catalan separatist movement is still strong, pointing out the increase in pro-independence lawmakers in the past decade. Like Scotland, Catalonia's independence movement is now pushing for another referendum, this time with the approval of the Spanish government. But as with the UK government and Scotland´s bid, Spain has so far rejected the proposal.

☆ Catalonia seeks Spain's agreement for new independence referendum
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has favoured dialogue with Catalonia to rebuild relations after a chaotic unilateral bid for independence in 2017 plunged Spain into its worst political crisis in years. It remains, however, staunchly opposed to independence and has hitherto ruled out a legal referendum. A similar proposal by Catalonia in 2012 was firmly rejected by the then conservative government in Madrid. The wealthy northeastern region held a referendum five years later despite a ban by the courts, and issued a short-lived unilateral independence declaration. Catalan government head Pere Aragones told the regional parliament that for another referendum, Catalonia needed Madrid's buy-in.

☆ Humanity's great heights: The surreal symmetry of Catalonia's human towers
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-08 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Russia launched its most widespread air strikes since the start of the Ukraine war on Monday, raining cruise missiles on busy cities during rush hour and knocking out power and heat, in what President Vladimir Putin called revenge for a blown up bridge.

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