Catalonia calls snap elections in independence drive from Madrid He reiterated his call for Catalans to have more control over their economy, which accounts for a fifth of Spain's overall output. "If Catalonia were a state we would be among the 50 biggest exporting countries in the world," he said. Last month, Catalonia was forced to ask for a handout of 5 billion euros from a central government fund to help it pay its 40-billion-euro debt after finding itself increasing locked out of debt markets. The region with a population of 7.5 million has long complained that it gets far less from Madrid than it pays in taxes. "The sharing of sacrifices between the state and the regions is very unfair," Mr Mas argued. Hundreds of thousands of people staged a pro-autonomy demonstration in the streets of Barcelona two weeks ago. Polls show growing support for independence in Catalonia, but Spain's constitution bars a straight referendum on it. "I think this debate, at this time, is creating tremendous instability," Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Spain's deputy prime minister said on Cadena Ser radio. With all these actions a new crisis is being added to the crisis.