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Spain approves Catalonia autonomy

MADRID: The Spanish Parliament on Thursday adopted a controversial statute agreeing to grant greater autonomy for the northern region of Catalonia with 197 votes in favour and 146 against, with one abstention. The vote came following a 12-hour impassioned debate on all sides which ended with the vote passing with only the conservative Opposition Popular Party voting against. During the debate, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he was willing to negotiate the proposals, adding that the wealthy region has a constitutional right to seek more self-rule. But he challenged the reform package's description of Catalonia as ``a nation'', which many conservatives have dismissed as separatist and unconstitutional. Mr. Zapatero said Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, ``has a national identity and this is compatible with the Constitution.'' The Barcelona daily La Vanguardia described the session as ``a great day for Catalonia and for Spain,'' one which showed that the two ideas are not ``incompatible for the majority of citizens in Catalonia nor for the greater part of their political representatives.'' In a nationally televised debate, Mr. Zapatero, who faces restive nationalism in several parts of Spain, said that, while the Catalans want their own tax collection system, the Central Government must retain ``a common trunk'' nationwide when it comes to raising tax revenue. The autonomy law gives the Barcelona Government power to change laws passed by the Spanish Parliament and a status of peer in its dealings with the Spanish Government. Catalan leaders defended the proposal saying it reflected broad popular sentiment and was not a nationalist blueprint for breaking away from Spain. — AP

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