Barcelona, Spain
The Catalonia region of Spain voted this week for more autonomy from the central government in Madrid. Catalans voted overwhelmingly to establish local control of courts and tax collection. The new setup takes effect immediately, since it was already approved by Spain’s parliament. But Catalonia’s autonomy falls far short of that enjoyed by the Basque and Navarre regions. Also, the parliament rejected a key Catalan demand to be recognized as a “nation.” Instead, in a grammatically incorrect semantic sleight, Catalonia is defined as “a nationality.”
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