Cops seal off booths to scuttle Catalonia vote
barcelona — Police in Catalonia had already sealed over half of the 2,315 polling stations in the region by mid-Saturday to stop an independence referendum from taking place, the Spanish government said, as separatists remained determined to fight for their right to vote.
Teachers, parents, students and activists in this wealthy northeastern region have leapt into action to defend the vote slated for Sunday, defying Madrid’s warnings of repercussions by occupying more than 160 schools designated as polling stations, it said.
Enric Millo, the central government representative in Catalonia, told reporters 1,300 polling stations had already been sealed off.
He said that 163 of those had already been occupied when they were sealed off, which meant those inside were allowed to leave but no one could go in.
Reporters, however, visited several schools occupied by parents, students and locals where people could go in and out freely, indicating there may be more occupied buildings that have yet to be sealed off.
The standoff between the central government and Catalan leaders over an independence referendum opposed by Madrid has morphed into one of the biggest crises to hit Spain since democracy was restored after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. In Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Santander, Alicante and Valencia, thousands protested for Spanish unity. —
madrid — Catalonia, whose leaders are pushing for secession from Spain, is one of the powerhouses of the Spanish economy, buoyed by industry, research and tourism but burdened with a heavy debt.
Contributing 19 percent of Spain’s GDP in 2016, Catalonia rivals Madrid for the distinction of being the richest region in the country.
It is fourth in terms of GDP per capita with 28,600 euros ($33,600), after Madrid, the northern Basque Country and neighbouring Navarra. GDP per capita in Spain overall is 24,000 euros.
Like in Madrid, unemployment is also lower than in the rest of the country: 13.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2017 compared to 17.2 per cent nationally.
Catalonia is by far Spain’s top exporting region, with a quarter of all goods produced there sold abroad in 2016 and in the first quarter of 2017.
It attracted some 14 per cent of foreign investment in Spain in 2015, in second place after Madrid, which received a huge 64 per cent, but far ahead of all the other regions, according to the economy ministry’s latest data.
Several large companies have their headquarters in Barcelona: textile group Mango, Spain’s third largest bank CaixaBank, Gas Natural, highway giant Abertis or perfume firm Puig, which owns Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne and Jean-Paul Gaultier. The agri-food, chemistry and auto sectors are pillars of Catalan industry, which also has a big logistics hub. The biggest industrial sector in the region in terms of jobs and turnover is agri-food, buoyed by the powerful meat business which exports a lot of pork.
Oil, food for cattle and grocery products also contribute. The region concentrates around half of all of Spain’s chemical production, with a major hub in Tarragona.
According to the sector’s regional federation, turnover in Catalonia is higher than in Austria or Denmark.
In 2016, the region was also the second car producer in Spain after Castilla y Leon. Nissan and Volkswagen, via its brand Seat, have factories there. Spain is the second biggest vehicle maker in the EU after Germany. Since the 1990s Catalonia has invested in research, particularly in bioscience — genetics, neurosciences, cell biology — and the sector now represents 7 percent of its GDP. —