Government
Barcelona Mayor Calls for a Third Way to Solve Catalonia Crisis
Ada Colau, a self-proclaimed “municipalist,” criticized threats from both Spanish nationalists and Catalonian independence seekers at CityLab Paris. She says city leaders are distinctly positioned to find compromise.
Since dramatic police violence broke out at the start of October over a referendum to Catalonian independence, both Spain’s national and Catalonia’s autonomous regional governments have been teetering on the edge of radical action.
Spain has threatened to temporarily strip the Catalonian government of its powers under a never-before-used provision of the country’s constitution, Article 155. Catalonia has stood on the edge of declaring independence, after an overwhelming vote in favor that was deemed illegal by the terms of Spain’s constitution. A police crackdown at polling stations escalated the crisis only further.