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Europe
Catalan deal costs Zapatero key political ally
2006-01-29
The Catalan Republican Left (ERC) party which gave vital support to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's minority government has withdrawn from a coalition with the ruling Socialist party.

Josep Carod Rovira, ERC leader, said his party had taken the step after Zapatero had failed to live up to promises over the Catalan autonomy bid. "We no longer feel obliged to guarantee the stability of the government nor vote in favour of its laws," he said. Carod-Rovira said efforts to make a "plural Spain" had failed.
Watching the various parts of Europe trying to devolve into smaller parts makes me wonder how in the world anyone could have been serious about pushing the EU Constitution through.
It will leave Zapatero without a key congressional ally. But it came after the prime minister agreed a deal with other Catalan parties, the CiU and the ICV, over the region's bid for greater autonomy. The deal tones down the demands made by the Catalan regional government when they agreed the so-called 'estatut' last September.

Meanwhile, a new group which opposes the Catalan autonomy bid, the Association for the Defence of the Spanish Nation, has called for resistance to what it calls the "decomposition" of the country.
Posted by:lotp

#2  that makes a lot of sense, Phil. I never thought of it that way. Would the Catalans have their own bureaucrats/ministers/et al alongside Zappy's in the EU format?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-29 18:36  

#1  Watching the various parts of Europe trying to devolve into smaller parts makes me wonder how in the world anyone could have been serious about pushing the EU Constitution through.

Actually, the EU sort-of makes the separatist urges worse: since everyone's part of the European Union, why should the Catalans have to continue to put up with the Middlemen in Madrid?
Posted by: Phil   2006-01-29 18:06  

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