It would be the first time in Spain’s four decades of democracy that Madrid will have invoked the constitution to effectively sack a regional government and call new elections. The prolonged standoff has caused hundreds of companies to move their headquarters outside Catalonia and prompted the Spanish government to cut its economic growth forecast. The Spanish blue-chip stock index [.IBEX] is trading 2 percent lower since the Catalonia regional government went ahead with its Oct. 1 referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid. Spanish courts had ruled the referendum unconstitutional, but Puigdemont says the result is binding and must be obeyed. The European Union has declined to mediate, saying the crisis is for Madrid and Barcelona to resolve.

Source: bd News24 October 20, 2017 09:45 UTC