Catalan separatists survive confidence vote

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID

Catalonia’s main separatist coalition won a vote of confidence in the Barcelona-based parliament Thursday, after calling for an independence referendum next September.

Together for Yes successfully won the support of the leftist, separatist CUP party which holds the key to a majority in the parliament. The vote, 72-63, showed a united front as both separatist parties put aside their differences to push ahead with their independence project.

The pair had been fighting over the Spanish region’s budget, which is what triggered Thursday’s vote. However, the political conflict does not appear to be completely resolved.

“This confidence vote doesn’t give them free range to do what they want with the budgets,” Anna Gabriel, a CUP spokeswoman, told local media Thursday.

Thursday's vote comes despite Carles Puigdemont, head of Catalonia, telling the CUP on Wednesday that if its lawmakers did not approve the budget, there would be new elections -- derailing the plans of the separatists.

The success of this vote also upset the opposition, which had come out against Puigdemont.

“The victory of Puigdemont and CUP is the defeat of the Catalonia of moderation, centrality and agreement,” tweeted the anti-independence Popular Party on Thursday.

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID

Catalonia’s main separatist coalition won a vote of confidence in the Barcelona-based parliament Thursday, after calling for an independence referendum next September.

The pair had been fighting over the Spanish region’s budget, which is what triggered Thursday’s vote. However, the political conflict does not appear to be completely resolved.

“This confidence vote doesn’t give them free range to do what they want with the budgets,” Anna Gabriel, a CUP spokeswoman, told local media Thursday.

The success of this vote also upset the opposition, which had come out against Puigdemont.

“The victory of Puigdemont and CUP is the defeat of the Catalonia of moderation, centrality and agreement,” tweeted the anti-independence Popular Party on Thursday.