The Spanish government calls the Catalans’ bluff
The independence dream dissolves on contact with reality
IT WAS a case of trying to have your cake and eat it—and the cake’s owner may end up with nothing. On October 10th Carles Puigdemont, the president of Catalonia’s devolved government, told his parliament that he was “assuming the mandate” of the people to proclaim an independent republic and thus leave Spain. But seconds later he asked the parliament to “suspend the effects of the declaration of independence” to allow for negotiation. All clear?
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Touching the void”
Europe October 14th 2017
- The Spanish government calls the Catalans’ bluff
- The 31-year-old who looks set to be Austria’s next chancellor
- Ties between Turkey and America are near breaking point
- France’s centre-right offers no serious opposition to Emmanuel Macron
- Poland’s president turns on his former boss
- Many eastern Europeans feel nostalgia for the communist era
- The EU will not help the Catalan secessionists’ cause
From the October 14th 2017 edition
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Emmanuel Macron shows off the gloriously restored Notre Dame
Five years after it was gutted by fire, the cathedral is more beautiful than ever
Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right
The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare