“All I ask of Mr Puigdemont is that he acts with good sense,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told parliament on Wednesday. The protest has been called against the imprisonment, the previous day, of leaders of independentist organizations Catalonian National Assembly, Jordi Sanchez, and Omnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart. Manchester City’s Catalan manager Pep Guardiola dedicated his team’s 2-1 win over Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday to the detained pair. But opponents say the region has more clout as part of a bigger Spain and that the instability could be disastrous for its economy. Madrid announced Monday that it was cutting its economic growth forecast for next year from 2.6 to 2.3 percent, pointing blame at the Catalan crisis.

Source: New Strait Times October 18, 2017 10:52 UTC