Metro stations were closed in Barcelona, pickets blocked roads and state workers walked out on Tuesday in protests across Catalonia over a Spanish police crackdown on a banned independence referendum. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said the vote was valid, raising the prospect that the Catalan parliament could unilaterally declare independence from Spain within days. Catalonia, Spain’s wealthiest region, wedged in the northeast on the Mediterranean coast below the mountainous border with France, has its own language and culture, and a growing minority there has nurtured hopes of independence for years. Catalonia is a center of industry and tourism accounting for a fifth of Spain’s economy. “We aren’t going to tolerate mafia-like behavior from the town councils of Catalonia,” she said.

Source: Egypt Independent October 03, 2017 12:11 UTC