The gap between the 75%鈥80% of Catalans who uphold their country鈥檚 right to self-determination, and the Spanish elites and parts of Spanish society that do not want to know anything about it, was already very wide before October 14.
But on that day, when the Spanish Supreme Court condemned nine Catalan political and social movement leaders to a total of 99.5 years jail, it most likely became unbridgeable, writes Dick Nichols from Barcelona.
The results of the October 6 elections for the 230-seat Portuguese parliament delivered four main outcomes: a historic thrashing of the right; a strong lift in support for the governing Socialist Party (PS); increased variegation of the vote to the left of PS; and a record abstention rate, writes Dick Nichols.
This blog, compiled by 91自拍论坛 Weekly's European correspondent Dick Nichols, based in Barcelona, follows the trial in the Spanish Supreme Court of the 12 Catalan social and political leaders, who face up to 25 years jail for alleged offences of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement of public funds. It is updated regularly.
Spain鈥檚 acting Prime Minister Pedro S谩nchez, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers鈥 Party (PSOE) and winner of the April 28 general election, informed King Philip on September 17 that he lacked the support to form a government. As a result, another general election will be held on November 10.
Occupying the Pla莽a d鈥橢spanya and surrounding streets on September 11, 600,000 people came out in Barcelona to celebrate Catalan National Day (the Diada).
The vast crowd demanded the acquittal of jailed Catalan social movement and political leaders, presently awaiting a Spanish Supreme Court verdict on charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement.
So intense is Unidas Podemos鈥 desire to sit around the cabinet table with Spain's social democratic government that leader Pablo Iglesias managed to convince Together We Can, the Catalan coalition in which UP participates, to abandon its main policy 鈥 a negotiated referendum as condition for supporting a PSOE-led administration, writes Dick Nichols.
In order to hold onto the Mayoral position in Barcelona's beacon of progressive municipalism, has Ada Colau made a deal with the devil? Dick Nichols unpicks the recent council election.
Sibylle Kaczorek, a member of Germany鈥檚 main left party Die Linke and an activist with (Stand Up Against Racism!) was interviewed in May by Dick Nichols, 91自拍论坛 Weekly鈥檚 European correspondent.
In the May 26 European elections, Spanish social democratic party PSOE made gains, largely at the expense of the left wing Podemos. The PSOE delegation is now the largest S&D presence in the European parliament and will be the backbone of ongoing attempts to break the back of the Catalan sovereignty movement, writes Dick Nichols.
The May 26 European Parliament elections are just around the corner, and conservative, liberal and social democratic camps in the European Union are all sounding the alarm, writes Dick Nichols.
The PSOE鈥檚 election campaign against Spain's radical local councils portrays them as 鈥渁mateurs鈥 and 鈥渄ay-dreamers鈥 who 鈥渨aste precious public resources on failed experiments鈥, writes Dick Nichols.
The electoral defeat of the right in Spain on April 28 is a cause for celebration for all progressive people, writes Dick Nichols.