Spain

Catalonia referendum: the insurrection against the Spanish state is reaching a decisive climax

The war without guns between the Spanish state and the 80% majority of Catalan people who support their parliament鈥檚 October 1 independence referendum is reaching a climax at the time of writing on September 29.

On October 1, it will become clear whether the Catalans have humiliated the central Spanish People鈥檚 Party (PP) government by succeeding to vote; suffered a setback because the 10,000 Spanish National Police and paramilitary Civil Guards in Catalonia succeed in closing polling stations; or achieved a mixed result due to only some voters getting into polling stations.

Catalonia: Mass resistance greets Spanish state coup

Forty-one Spanish Civil Guard raids on Catalan government-related buildings and private homes on September 20 led to the arrest of 13 high-level Catalan government officials and harvested a lot of 鈥渟uspect material鈥 for the prosecutors charged with stopping Catalonia鈥檚 October 1 independence referendum. However, the raid have provoked a mass revolt in response.

The haul included 10 million ballot papers stored in a printery warehouse in the central Catalan town of Bigues i Riells.

Catalan referendum: resisting the Spanish government siege

In 1713-14, it took the troops of Spain鈥檚 Borbon monarchy 14 months to take Barcelona and end Catalan self-rule. Three centuries later, Catalonia is again under siege, this time from the central Spanish People鈥檚 Party (PP) government.

Under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish state is concentrating all its firepower on stopping the Catalan government鈥檚 October 1 independence referendum, where Catalan citizens will be asked to vote on whether 鈥淐atalonia should become an independent state in the form of a republic鈥.

Barcelona: Half-a-million march for tolerance and solidarity, amid contested responses to terror

Half-a-million people marched in the Catalan capital of Barcelona on August 26 to express the profound desire in Catalan society to stay tolerant, open and un-militarised in the face of the August 17-18 terror attacks on Barcelona鈥檚 Rambla and in the seaside town of Cambrils.

This was partly because the attacks 鈥 claimed by Islamic State and causing 15 deaths and up to 130 wounded 鈥 coincided with the tensest moments to date in the fight between the Catalan and Spanish governments over the planned October 1 referendum on Catalan independence.

Catalonia: Muslims march in Barcelona to say 鈥榥ot in our name鈥

Thousands of Muslims voiced their rejection of jihadi extremism on August 21, marching through central Barcelona with banners reading 鈥淭errorism has no religion鈥, Morning Star Online .

It came in the wake of the聽, which killed 13 and was claimed by Islamic State.

Spain: Showdown in Catalonia

Catalonia鈥檚 regional government has declared it will hold a referendum on October 1 over whether it should become independent from Spain. In response, Spain鈥檚 conservative People鈥檚 Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed that the 鈥渦nconstitutional鈥 referendum will not take place, setting the scene for the biggest crisis in the Spanish state since the 1978 transition from the Franco dictatorship.

Inside Catalonia鈥檚 鈥榰rban Zapatistas鈥: an interview with People鈥檚 Unity List (CUP) spokesperson Quim Arrufat

Quim Arrufat is a joint national spokesperson for the People鈥檚 Unity List (CUP), an organisation that he has likened to 鈥渦rban Zapatistas鈥 鈥 in reference to the insurgent indigenous movement based in Chiapas, Mexico 鈥 that is committed to Catalan independence and socialism. 聽

Spain: Debate erupts in Podemos after first deal to join a PSOE government

On September 26 last year, Podemos鈥檚 Castilla-La Mancha secretary-general Jose Garcia Molina said that his party鈥檚 agreement keeping the regional Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) government in office in the autonomous community had 鈥渄ied of depression and shame鈥.

Left Basque leader Arnaldo Otegi: 鈥極ur path to overcome oppression is peaceful and democratic鈥

As the battle for the right of Catalonia to vote on independence rages between the Spanish government in Madrid and the independence-oriented Catalan parliament in Barcelona, major developments have taken place in one of the most famous struggles for independence on the Iberian Peninsula 鈥 the Basque Country.

In Barcelona, the 鈥楩earless Cities鈥 gathering brings together progressive councils for pro-people alternatives

鈥淔earless Cities鈥 was the name of the inaugural international municipalist meeting that took place in Barcelona on June 9-11. It was hosted by Barcelona en Comu (Barcelona Together, the radical citizen-based coalition which runs Barcelona Council in alliance with the Party of Socialists of Catalonia).

Catalonia: Could an independence referendum actually happen?

Nothing alarms Spain鈥檚 establishment more than the prospect of the unity of the Spanish state being threatened by the desire for self-determination of the peoples that live within its borders.

Spain: Socialist Party leader鈥檚 shock rebirth unnerves establishment

The plan had seemed so well organised.

Its first stage was executed on October 1 last year when the ruling elite of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) got the party鈥檚 Federal Political Committee (FPC) to force the resignation of general secretary Pedro Sanchez.