MADRID – Catalan lawmakers voted Friday to declare independence from Spain but Madrid moved swiftly to quash the breakaway bid in a sharp escalation of a crisis causing jitters in secession-wary Europe. One lamented “a dark day” for democracy, and shares in Spanish companies, particularly Catalan banks, dropped sharply after the vote. Germany, France, and Britain, too, rejected the notion of Catalan independence. Catalan resentment at Madrid’s perceived interference has been building for years, culminating in an October 1 independence vote deemed illegal by the central government and the courts. The 2008 economic crisis has compounded the bitterness, with Catalans feeling they contribute more to the central purse than they get back.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 27, 2017 18:11 UTC