Spain’s acting Socialist government is pursuing a “moderate and proportionate” approach to the ongoing crisis in Catalonia, amid extremist behaviour from both unionists and secessionists, according to economy minister Nadia Calviño. Calviño (51), a former director general for budget in the European Commission, has been one of the Spanish government’s most prominent voices on the Catalan issue in the international sphere. The minister points out that Catalonia already has substantial devolved powers, including education, police and healthcare. Since the unrest erupted last month, the political right has been urging Sánchez’s government to go the other way and temporarily restrict at least some of those powers. People in Catalonia have one of the highest degrees of freedom in the world,” said Calviño, countering such charges.

Source: The Irish Times November 06, 2019 14:48 UTC