Regional President Carles Puigdemont’s mainstream separatist group is concerned that such a move would have immediate negative consequences for the economy, the people said. Spain’s benchmark stock index jumped as much as 1.2% on the news and settled 2.5% higher at 4:02pm. Puigdemont is trying to hold together a movement that includes a broad swathe of Catalan society from left-wing radicals like the CUP to business leaders like Abertis SA Chairman Salvador Alemany. While Puigdemont heads the regional executive, civic groups like the Catalan National Assembly hold much of the power. Spain disputes the result, saying that many people voted more than once due to the lack of proper guarantees.

Source: Mint October 05, 2017 14:26 UTC