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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 10 OcTOber 2017
Spain on edge before possible Catalan secession declaration

By ARITZ PARRA on people trying to vote in
Associated Press the referendum.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Spanish government’s
The focus of the deepen- staunch opposition, the
ing clash between Cata- lukewarm response of the
lan separatists and Spanish international community
authorities is shifting to the to the prospect of a break-
regional parliament for a away state in Europe and
key session likely to include the concerns of business
a historic declaration of leaders all suggest an in-
independence that Spain dependence move would
has pledged to crush.Cat- extract a heavy price from
alan president Carles Puig- Catalan’s separatist lead-
demont hasn’t revealed ers.
the precise message he Still, separatist politicians
will deliver Tuesday eve- say there will be a decla-
ning with separatist politi- ration of independence
cians expecting some sort for the northeastern re-
of declaration based on gion of 7.5 million people
the results of the disputed during the Tuesday ses-
Oct. 1 referendum on inde- sion, although some ruling
pendence. coalition lawmakers say
At stake is the territorial the move could be simply
integrity of Spain, threat- Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, center left, stands next to Popular Party leader in Catalonia “symbolic.”
ened by a growing sepa- Xavier Garcia Albiol, right, as they lead a march to protest the Catalan government’s push for The Oct. 1 referendum
ratist movement that is secession from the rest of Spain in downtown Barcelona, Spain. vote has been followed by
sorely testing the strength (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) mass protests of Catalans
of its constitution and the The Spanish leader has said sidered invalid under Span- Puigdemont’s embrace angered by heavy-hand-
skill of its national and re- he is willing to use a consti- ish law. of independence may be ed police tactics.
gional leaders. tutional clause that allows “Spain will not be divided slowed by the decision of But there also have been
Some expect a strictly sym- Madrid to take over direct and the national unity will several major banks and well-organized, large-scale
bolic declaration, while control of regions if they be preserved. We will do businesses to move their rallies in both Catalonia
others believe a risky full- violate Spain’s constitu- everything that legislation headquarters out of Cata- and Madrid by people
scale break with Spain tion — a move that could allows us to ensure this,” lonia because they want committed to keeping
will be attempted, even apply in this case because Rajoy told German news- to remain under the Euro- Spain intact.
as Spanish Prime Minister Spain’s constitutional court paper Die Welt. pean Union’s regulatory Police say roughly 350,000
Mariano Rajoy vows he had suspended the refer- “We will prevent this in- umbrella, and also by the took part in the anti-inde-
will use all lawful means to endum. dependence from taking bloc’s backing of Spain de- pendence protests Sunday
keep Spain intact. Its results are therefore con- place.” spite a police crackdown in Barcelona. q
German minister Schaeuble

bows out, convictions intact

By RAF CASERT was its biggest crisis since its
Associated Press launch in 1999.
BRUSSELS (AP) — German They note that no country
Finance Minister Wolfgang has ditched the euro and
Schaeuble, who champi- of the bailed-out countries,
oned austerity as the only all but Greece are stand-
way countries like Greece ing on their own two feet.
could avoid bankruptcy Even Greece, with its an-
and continue to use the nual budget in much bet-
euro currency, is winning ter shape is due to exit its
plaudits at his final meeting bailout era next year.
with European peers. Schaeuble’s critics though
Schaeuble, a close ally of have accused him of be-
Chancellor Angela Merkel, ing cold-hearted and im-
has been a controversial pervious to the damage
figure at the eurogroup wrought to vast sections of
meetings over the past few society from the austerity
years, not least because of prescribed.
his insistence that countries In return for the hundreds
requiring financial bailouts of billions of euros that
had to implement tough allowed the bailed-out
austerity measures, such as countries — Greece, Ire-
big spending cuts and tax land, Portugal and Cy-
increases, in return for the prus — to meet their debt
money. obligations, governments
His supporters, mainly in have had to undertake
northern Europe, argue wide-ranging reforms to
that Schaeuble’s ap- their economies as well as
proach helped stabilize pursuing strict budgetary
the euro currency in what constraint. q