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 CATALONIA’S ruling Convergència i Unió (CiU) party is desperately trying to present a united front after one of its leaders

declared that “nothing is happening” to bring about independence and it emerged that the two party leaders cannot agree

on the wording of the ballot paper in the proposedreferendum. 

 Artur Mas, the Convergència leader, wants the ballot to read “Do you want Catalonia to become a state within the European Union?”

However, the Unió wing led by Josep Antoni Duran Lleida favours the wording, “How do you want Catalonia to be linked to Spain : as

an autonomous region, within a federal state or as an independent nation?” 

Catalonia: Independence bid in danger of sinking

Artur Mas wants the ballot to read 'Do you want

Catalonia to become a state within the European

Union?'. 

Monday 16th September 2013  Light showers 8°C / 13°C

Published on the 30 May 2013 21:07

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400,000 person human chain stretching 250 miles for Catalan independence

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans joined hands to form a human chain stretching 250 miles across the

Mediterranean coast of the north-eastern region to demand independence from the rest of Spain.

 Activists calling for the independance of Catalonia take part in a 'human chain' during a protest in Perthus, southern France

Photo: RAYMOND ROIG/AFP

By Fiona Govan, Madrid 7:43PM BST 11 Sep 2013

The mass protest on Catalonia's National Day by people dressed in yellow and waving

the regional flag demonstrated the strength of an Independence movement that is

demanding a Scottish-style referendum.

Telegraph.co.uk Monday 16 September 2013

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 A poll released on Wednesday showed that 52 per cent of Catalans would vote to

breakaway from Madrid and form a separate Catalan state.

 A deep recession and cuts in public spending in Catalonia, a wealthy industrial

region that accounts for a fifth of Spain's economic output, have stirred discontent

with the central government in Madrid.

The human chain stretched from the French border in the Pyrenees to the border 

with the neighbouring region of Valenica in the south.

Some 400,000 had registered to take part in advance of the event but organisers

claim 1.6 million eventually joined the human chain in Catalonia.

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06 Dec 2012

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bbc.co.uk navigation 

Europe11 September 2013 Last updated at 21:22 GMT

Catalans form human chain for independence from Spain

The BBC's Tom Burridge: "The human chain travels past some of Barcelona's iconic sights"

Supporters of Catalonia's independence from Spain have joined hands to form a 400km (250-mile) human chain

across the region in support of their cause.

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the event, which comes on Catalonia's national day. Lines of 

protesters, many wearing the red-and-yellow Catalan flag, stretched from the French border, through the city of 

Barcelona and south along the coast towards the regional border with Valencia.

Regional President Artur Mas has been urging Madrid to allow the region a referendum on independence in 2014.

But he has been unable to get the central government's approval for such a vote in the north-eastern region.

Catalonia - one of Spain's most developed regions - already has a wide degree of autonomy, but the economic

crisis has fuelled Catalan nationalism.

Pro-independence feelings go back centuries, and the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s strengthened animositybetween Madrid and Barcelona.

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"My intent is to try to negotiate with the central government a legal framework in

order to organise, to hold a referendum, next year in Catalonia," Artur Mas said.

"This is our intention. We don't know if the Spanish government will accept this kind

of deal.“ 

However, Spain's deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, said Mr 

Mas was promoting political divisions. "The worst thing a politician can do is force

people to separate,'' she said.

 A recent poll for Spain's Cadena Ser radio station has found that support in

Catalonia for the vote has risen slightly to 81%, our correspondent reports. He adds

that 52% of those questioned said they would vote in favour independence from

Spain.

However, public opinion in Spain remains strongly opposed to the idea, and

according to the Spanish constitution, a referendum in Catalonia would be

"unconstitutional".

BBC © 2013

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Catalans join hands to demand independence

Human chain 400km long in bilingual northeastern region meant to push for referendum on

separating from Spain.Last Modified: 11 Sep 2013 23:32 

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of an independent Catalan state have held hands in a 400km human

chain across the region to press the Madrid government to let them form their own country.

The chain, named the Catalan Way, linked 86 towns and villages along the coast to push for a referendum

on political self-determination for Catalonia.Promised referendum 

 Artur Mas, Catalonia's regional leader, has promised to hold an independence referendum in 2014, but has

been unable to get the Spanish government's approval.

Catalonia is a wealthy industrial region in northeastern Spain that accounts for a fifth of the country's

economic output.

 Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward, reporting from Barcelona on Wednesday, said Spain's regions all had some degree of 

autonomy,but people in Catalonia felt it was not enough. "There is a real buzz in the city today," she said. "Catalonia hasalways been one of the economic powerhouses of Spain, even since the recession, and people here say they have

been putting a lot in and getting very little in return. "But this is about more than economics. They feel their culture is

very distinct from Spain's and they want independence.“ A deep recession and cuts in public spending in Catalonia have

stirred discontent with the central government. Polls show backing for secession has risen steadily in Catalonia, with

some registering support as high as 50 percent.

 Al Jazeera's Hayward said that in a survey, eight out of 10 people said they would like to go to the polls to have their 

say on the situation. "This is about people wanting to have a referendum to decide their own future in Europe," she said.

Map showing route of the

Catalan Way human chain