Economics
Why It's Time to Pay Attention to the Crisis in Catalonia
- Barcelona’s push for divorce threatens Spain’s brisk expansion
- Rebels playing cat-and-mouse with cops to hold Sunday’s vote
Rebel Catalonia Goes to Vote on Sunday
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Catalonia’s campaign for independence comes to a head on Sunday, when the rebel administration in Barcelona will attempt to hold a referendum on independence in defiance of Spain’s Constitutional Court and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government in Madrid.
Investors so far have shrugged off what has become the gravest constitutional crisis to befall Spain since the country returned to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco four decades ago. Spain’s benchmark IBEX 35 index has outperformed peers this year while the extra yield that investors demand to hold Spanish bonds instead of German debt is little changed from last September.