Free Republic

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont couldn't vote in the election because he's currently in self-exile in Belgium, but he and his party won yesterday's elections in Catalonia, exit polls show. This means that Catalonian voters have strongly rebuked the aggressive anti-independence stance of Madrid and the European Union. In all, 70 out of the 135 seats in Catalonia's parliament will now be occupied by separatist parties, with Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) being the largest of those parties. The only party that's larger than Puigdemonts JPC is Ciudadanos (Citizens). Ironically, that's a unionist party. The reason the unionist...

n Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional yesterday they began to read the closing statements for the trial of the first part of the Gürtel case (1999-2005). This is the biggest corruption trial in the history of Spanish democracy and it involves a single party, the Partido Popular, which would love to see it hushed up. The prosecutor was particularly emphatic in her final remarks and penalty request for the 37 defendants. She explained that the ringleaders of Gürtel set up a slush fund to bribe PP officials, which became their “way of life”.The trouble is that Gürtel was not merely a corrupt...

Officials in Catalonia, Spain's richest and most highly industrialized region, whose capital is Barcelona, recently held a referendum in which there was a 92 percent vote in favor of independence from Spain. The Spanish authorities opposed the referendum and claimed that independence is illegal. Catalans are not the only Europeans seeking independence. Some Bavarian people are demanding independence from Germany, while others demand greater autonomy. Germany's Federal Constitutional Court ruled: "In the Federal Republic of Germany ... states are not 'masters of the constitution.' ... Therefore, there is no room under the constitution for individual states to attempt to secede....

(Nigel Farage at :12) .......President Trump he is the most extraordinary user of social media cause he's got over 35 million followers. And I know some of his tweets enrage people but others are actually quite funny. Try this from President Trump today. "We should have a contest as to which of the networks, plus CNN and not including Fox is the most dishonest, corrupt and or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite president........" (at 2:04) Its Carlos Puigdemont, the ousted Catalan leader because what he said today is quite extraordinary. He was talking about the European Union...

Following developments in Eastern Europe and Catalonia, EU foreign affairs ministers pledged more resources to fight against foreign interference in Europe, in particular coming from Russian actors. […] Propaganda and disinformation activities generated and multiplied by foreign actors based in Russia have become a concern, primarily in Ukraine and eastern EU member states. But following a swathe of fake news stories during the French elections and, more recently, during the Catalan crisis, ministers agreed that more needs to be done to counter this new type of threat aimed at destabilizing the bloc. After referring to the Catalan example, Spanish Foreign...

Around three-quarters of a million Catalans have marched to demand the release of local politicians arrested for their role in the drive for independence. Spain’s central government has dissolved the Catalan parliament, dismissed the Catalan government, and imposed direct rule following the region’s unilateral declaration of independence on October 27th. This followed a self-determination referendum which the Spanish authorities deemed illegal and attempted to shut down violently, with the blessing of the European Union’s ruling bodies.Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s ex-president — or president-in-exile, depending on your point of view — had given some indication that he would ignore Madrid’s attempts to terminate...

Three quarters of a million people have rallied in Barcelona to protest against Spain's detention of Catalan independence leaders, police estimate. They shone phone torches in unison at sunset as calls were made to free eight regional ministers and two grassroots campaign leaders being held on remand. Some of the detainees will be included on the list of a Catalan separatist party at next month's snap election. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is to visit the city on Sunday...... Prisoners and elections James Reynolds, BBC News, Barcelona The pro-independence movement has proven its ability to mobilize large numbers of demonstrators.....

Catalonia's deposed president Carles Puigdemont and four former advisors have turned themselves in to Belgian police, says a prosecutors spokesman. He said an investigating judge would decide by Monday morning whether to execute an EU arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge on Friday......

A Spanish judge has issued European Arrest Warrants for sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his allies who went to Belgium..... Mr. Puigdemont has said he will not return to Spain unless he receives guarantees of a fair trial. Belgium will "study" the warrant, a spokesman for the state prosecutor told AFP news agency..... Thousands of protestors have gathered in Barcelona and other Catalan cities for a second night running calling for the release of the former officials detained on Thursday.

(Nigel Farage at :12) A Spanish prosecutor has asked a judge to issue a European Arrest Warrant for the ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. This is after he and four of his closest allies failed to comply with a summons to appear in court in Madrid today. They were of course in Brussels being photographed drinking coffee in a bar but some of the Catalan politicians did turn up and appeared before Judge Carmen Limella and eight of them have been remanded in jail. A ninth will be set free if pays a bond of 50-thousand Euros. The hearings have...

Thousands of Catalans have protested against the detention of eight regional ministers sacked over Catalonia's push for independence from Spain. The officials-who appeared in Spain's high court-are accused of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds. Prosecutors are also seeking a European Arrest Warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who did not show up in court and is now in Belgium. The request also covers four other ex-ministers who ignored the summons...... On Thursday, thousands of people gathered outside Catalonia's regional parliament in Barcelona. Many carried Catalan flags and slogans that read "Freedom for political prisoners." Similar protest rallies...

Eight sacked Catalan ministers have been remanded in custody by a Spanish high court judge over the region's push for independence...... Prosecutors are also seeking a European Arrest Warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.......

Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will not return to Spain to answer charges including rebellion, his lawyer has said. Speaking to the Associated Press, Paul Bekaert suggested Mr. Puigdemon should instead be questioned in Belgium where has been since Monday. He has been summoned to court in Madrid on Thursday, alongside 13 deputies. They face charges including sedition and misuse of public funds over last month's banned independence referendum......

FRIEDMAN: Almost All Countries In Europe Have Border Issues OCTOBER 30, 2017 BY GEORGE FRIEDMAN For centuries, Europe has fought wars over borders. In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Europe’s borders shifted wildly. As empires fragmented, new nations arose and wars were waged. After 1945 and the beginning of the Cold War, a new principle emerged on the Continent. The borders that existed at the end of World War II were deemed sacrosanct—not to be changed. Europeans knew that border disputes had been one of the reasons of the two world wars and that...

I haven't been following the Catalan crisis all that closely, so I'd like to know what Catalonia's beef is with Madrid. I do know that Catalan Spanish is slightly different from Castilian Spanish, but other than that...Is it the same as the Basque crisis?ff

Spain's top prosecutor called for charges against sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and other separatist leaders on Monday as Barcelona capitulated to Madrid. Mr Puigdemont and former speaker Carme Forcadell were ordered to hand themselves over to police on charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement as Mr Puigdemont's bail was set at 6million Euros (£5.3million).

(Nigel Farage at :29) .....we saw a Declaration of Independence, a Universal Declaration of Independence from Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan president and that on the day when the Spanish senate voted to sack the entire Catalan parliament and its president and the region's autonomy and they're going to move in this week apparently and take over. So it is a situation that is worrying potentially, what happens when police or troops or whatever it is move in and take over government buildings. Are there going to be rings of protestors outside trying to stop them? Will the police, the civil...

The European Parliament's president says no one will ever recognize Catalonia as an independent country. Antonio Tajani says Catalonia's independence referendum was illegal and state of law should be restored. He also spoke against EU mediation, saying the crisis is an internal Spanish issue. Catalonia's separatist leader on Saturday called on Catalans to peacefully oppose Spain's takeover.

Nationhood and autonomy are issues that transcend north-east Spain, with others wanting to redraw the map of Europe. (A list of regions in Europe that are pining for some level of independence, and a presentation of their grievances and prospects) (This is one of the major reason why most national governments of Europe back Spain in its fight with Catalonia - they don't want to be put in the same situation. If Catalonia wins, it will only embolden all these independence movements.)

EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage has slammed the European Union's response to the crisis in Catalonia, saying it is Jean-Claude Juncker's worst nightmare. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the former UKIP leader said: "This is Mr. Juncker's worst nightmare. The European Union backed Spanish brutality and turned the Catalans against the EU. This makes Brexit look like a Sunday afternoon picnic." Mr. Farage hit out after the President of the European Council Donald Tusk once again refused to help the Catalan people in their pursuit of following self-determination and breakaway control from Madrid.......