Catalan News Roundup 30 Sept 2012

Each day there are more and more articles published about Catalonia. And searching for them reveals that many of these are copies, perhaps from a wire service like AP or from cooperating newspapers in different countries. Often, the headline is the only difference from one source to the next, and it is the byline, or a specific quote that really identifies the article. Nevertheless, I find it interesting that it is just a few articles (though many more than ever before) that are being picked up by so many newspapers across the globe. Again, I started this blog because I couldn't find *any* English-language news about Catalonia. Now, there is so much it's hard to keep up with.

As ever, updating throughout the day. Posted 4:39pm ET.

Ara.Cat (translated here at News Catalonia): Vice President of European Commission Denies that an Independent Catalonia would be Forced out of EU (Original article in Catalan here)

AP/Washington Post/Daily Beast/Houston Chronicle/Cleveland Plain Dealer/NPR/Yahoo News/Palm Beach Post: Spain crisis fuels Catalan Sentiment, by Joseph Wilson

Al Jazeera: Catalonians press for secession from Spain by Sam Bollier
"For instance, Giner told Al Jazeera that although the Spanish constitution obliges the state to protect the Catalan language, "they don't do anything about it. It's us or nobody. We have to look after it. This is a treasure for us." "

The Telegraph/Sydney Herald: Catalonia's growing calls for independence add to Spain's worsening euro crisis woes by Harriet Alexander
"But what most angers people is that Catalonia is responsible for managing public services, but Madrid retains regulatory and tax-and-spend powers"

And here on News Catalonia, a translation of Vilaweb's reporting on First Post-September 11th Polls Confirm Pro-Independence Surge
"That same poll indicates that 83% of Catalans agree with holding a referendum on independence, and 55% would vote in favor."

Only peripherally about Catalonia, but interesting:

Guardian: Behind Spain's turmoil lies a cronyism that stifles the young and ambitious, by John Carlin

Live Trading News: Spain, EuroCrisis, Wall St and Investing by John Mauldin
"The situation is complicated by the fact that the Basque region of Spain has been given a great deal of autonomy in its budget. If Spain were to compromise and give Catalonia the same deal, it would cost the Spanish government a great deal of money and enlarge the already gaping hole in their budget."

The Independent: The Square Mile: A breakdown of trust is Rajoy's biggest headache, by Margareta Pagano
"An unspoken practice in Spain is that most workers get two salaries. One is the official salary, the taxable one, the other is cash in a brown envelope – the black market if you will. Many private-sector workers are paid in this two-tier manner."

Business Insider: Why they protest in Spain by Joe Weisenthal
"It's not the cuts, per se (though they don't help, when unemployment is already where it is), it's the feeling that people have no power over government, that the government favors elites, and that the country is losing sovereignty that drive people mad."