Catalan parliament approves independence vote

Hot on the heels of the independence referendum in Scotland, Cataluña’s parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving regional president Artur Mas the power to call an independence ‘consultation’.

145 people arrested for fraud

National Police in Cataluña have so far arrested 145 people and charged another 275 with defrauding €7.8 million through the setting up and running of shell companies to make fake work contracts for the purpose of collecting unemployment benefit.

Cataluña asking for €9 billion bailout for 2013

Cataluña is asking for a €9.073 billion bailout from the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA) for 2013, an increase of €3.7 billion on their 2012 request. In principle, the FLA has been set at €23 billion for 2013, up from €18 billion in 2012.

Rajoy rejects fiscal pact with Cataluña

An attempt by Cataluña’s regional premier Artur Mas to reach an agreement with the central government on a new financing plan for Cataluña has failed, and a disappointed Mas has said that he will announce his plans in the coming days and that early elections have not been ruled out.

Fires in Cataluña claim fourth victim

The two major wildfires in Girona have claimed a fourth life, one of those injured yesterday having failed to recover from very serious burns.

Police in Santa Coloma de Gramenet investigating death of 38 year old man

The Catalan police are investigating the death this morning of 38 year old Kashem O, a Bangladesh national, whose body was found in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona. The body showed obvious signs of violence and is the fifth violent death in the region in the past week.