Divided Catalonia ready for regional election

Madrid hopes to restore autonomy after vote

Wednesday, 20th December 2017

Voters are returning to the polls in Catalonia tomorrow in a regional election called by the Spanish government as a way out of the area’s political crisis.

In Barcelona, the region’s cosmopolitan capital, there is no sign of the independent country that Catalonia’s former leaders proclaimed with great fanfare nearly two months ago.

The Catalan independence movement’s leaders are in jail or have fled the country after staging a brazen October 1 referendum on secession which was declared illegal by Spain’s government and highest court.

Catalonia has been left deeply polarised by this autumn’s dramatic events.

On the surface, independence now seems further away than before the referendum. The Spanish government applied never-before-used constitutional powers take direct control of the region.

The plan is to restore autonomy after Thursday’s election produces a new regional government.

However, the Catalans supporting a total break-up with Spain now seem more committed than ever, saying the government’s tough response showed the true nature of the Spanish state.