arget of 6.3%.
In September 2012, prime minister Rajoy rejected budget proposals put forward by the Catalan leader Artur Mas which would give Catalonia the right to raise and spend its own taxes. The resultant demonstration with the slogan ‘Catalonia: a new European state’ was attended by one and a half million people.
In December 2012 Mas was re-elected as regional leader. His centre-right Convergence and Union (CiU) alliance formed a coalition with the centre-left Republic Left (ERC) party. The coalition is united by their desire for a referendum on secession in 2014.
The rupture between the societies of Spain and Catalonia is growing day by day. This leaves politicians with little room to manoeuvre. Spanish politicians from the left and the right are trapped in a constitutional quagmire. They discuss democracy, but undemocratically exclude others from the debate. On the other hand, Catalonian society is clearly focused on one thing - pushing its government to fix a referendum date before the end of 2013.