Spain is voting.

[Hamble]

at 19:08



Exit poll: 'Separatist majority'




Overall, separatist parties are on course to win an absolute majority in the new Catalan parliament, according to an exit poll quoted by Reuters.

[ausard2]

Will Jean - Claude Junker recognise it , Michel Barnier take early retirement on 200 euros a week.

[Alikado]

They are after separation from Spain but not the EU.

[Hamble]

Interesting article.

Quote
Reasons to be cheerful

"Madrid nos roba" is a popular secessionist slogan - "Madrid is robbing us". The received wisdom is that comparatively wealthy Catalonia pays in more than it gets out of the Spanish state.

Catalonia is certainly rich compared with other parts of Spain. It is home to just 16% of the Spanish population, but 19% of its GDP and more than a quarter of Spain's foreign exports.

It punches above its weight in terms of tourism too - 18 million of Spain's 75 million tourists chose Catalonia as their primary destination last year, easily the most visited region.

Tarragona has one of Europe's largest chemical hubs.

Barcelona is one of the EU's top 20 ports by weight of goods handled.

About a third of the working population has some form of tertiary education.

It's also true that Catalans pay more in taxes than is spent on their region.

In 2014, the last year the Spanish government has figures for, Catalans paid nearly €10bn (£8.9bn) more in taxes than reached their region in public spending. Would an independent Catalonia get the difference back?

Some have argued that even if Catalonia gained a tax boost from independence, that might get swallowed up by having to create new public institutions and run them without the same economies of scale.

And some argue that it makes sense for the state to redistribute money from richer to poorer regions in this way.

A harder reckoning

Perhaps of greater concern is Catalonia's public debt.

The Catalan government owes €77bn (£68bn) at the last count, or 35.4% of Catalonia's GDP. Of that, €52bn is owed to the Spanish government.

In 2012, the Spanish government set up a special fund to provide cash to the regions, who were unable to borrow money on the international markets after the financial crisis. Catalonia has been by far the biggest beneficiary of this scheme, taking €67bn since it began.

Not only would Catalonia lose access to that scheme, but it would raise the question of how much debt Catalonia would be willing to repay after independence.

That question would surely cast a shadow over any negotiations. And on top of the sum owed by the regional government - would Madrid expect Barcelona to shoulder a share of the Spanish national debt? "




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-euro...eporting-story