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Catalonia

Located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, Spain's richest region has its own language and a distinctive identity.

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All Content on this topic

Carles Puigdemont attends a press conference in France in May

Catalan separatist to return to Spain, despite arrest threat

Carles Puigdemont says he plans to return home on Thursday, likely resulting in his arrest.
PoliticsAugust 7, 2024
Supreme Court in Madrid, Spain

Spain: Supreme Court upholds Puigdemont arrest warrant

Carles Puigdemont is accused of misappropriating public funds as part of Catalonia's 2017 independence referendum.
PoliticsJuly 1, 2024
Carles Puigdemont speaking at a rally in France

Spain gives final approval to Catalan amnesty bill

Spain's parliament has finally approved amnesty for Catalan separatists involved in an unsuccessful 2017 secession bid.
PoliticsMay 30, 2024
DW Podcast | Inside Europe | provisorisch f ROAD

Inside Europe 16 May 2024

The many political lives of Slovakia’s Robert Fico, Czechia plots its own course, a devastating week for Ukraine, and an AfD check. Also: Georgia’s Foreign Agents Law, Catalonian election hangover, Turkish crime crackdown and a fashionable reimagining of the Balkans route.
PoliticsMay 16, 202455:00 min
Catalonia's Socialist Party (PSC) candidate Salvador Illa (center) addresses the media in a press conference

Catalonia: Separatists lose majority, Socialists make gains

Separatist parties are set to lose their majority after more than a decade in power in Catalonia.
PoliticsMay 13, 2024
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero clapping in the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain

Spanish lawmakers pass amnesty bill for Catalan separatists

Spain's lower house of parliament has passed a bill that would grant amnesty over Catalonia's 2017 independence bid.
PoliticsMarch 14, 2024
DW Podcast | Inside Europe | provisorisch f ROAD

Inside Europe - 23 November 2023

Shock result in the Netherlands, Finland closes border crossings with Russia, and choppy waters ahead for Spain’s Pedro Sanchez. Also: Erdogan’s double game on the Middle East, Italy's mafia mega-trial, the EU's AI Act, and a night out at the circus.
PoliticsNovember 23, 202355:01 min
Protesters waving Spanish and EU flags in Madrid, with an extra-large Spanish flag waving tall in the center

Spain sees mass rally against Catalan separatist amnesty

The major rally comes after Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez agreed to the amnesty law in order to form a government.
PoliticsNovember 18, 2023
Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez applauds at the start of the investiture debate at the Spanish Parliament

Spain's Sanchez wins another term as prime minister

Pedro Sanchez narrowly won support for his new government after making a coalition deal with separatist Catalan parties.
PoliticsNovember 17, 202302:21 min
Anti-amnesty protesters including the head of the Spanish People's Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo

Spain: Thousands protest amnesty for Catalan separatists

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has promised amnesty to two Catala separatists parties whose support he needs to govern.
PoliticsNovember 13, 2023
Police cordon in Madrid following shooting of Alejo Vidal-Quadras

Spain: Former Catalan politician shot in the head

Alejo Vidal-Quadras headed the center-right People's Party (PP) in Catalonia during the 1990s.
PoliticsNovember 9, 2023
Unionist supporters protest against an amnesty of separatist leaders and activists involved in the 2017 failed independence drive in Barcelona, Spain, October 8, 2023

Spain: Protest against Catalan amnesty deal draws huge crowd

Acting PM Pedro Sanchez is planning to drop charges against Catalan separatists to help him secure a new term.
PoliticsOctober 8, 2023
Feijoo has the backing of 172 lawmakers, four short of the number he needs to form a governing majority

Spain: Conservative leader Feijoo loses first bid for PM

Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo's bid to become prime minister failed as not enough lawmakers supported him.
PoliticsSeptember 27, 2023
Protesters in Madrid

Spain: 40,000 protest possible amnesty for Catalan leaders

Protesters marched against a possible deal between acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and exiled Catalan separatists.
PoliticsSeptember 24, 2023
Catalan national and independence flags and amnesty symbol on balconies

Spain's Catalonia celebrates national day amid negotiations

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez needs the support of two secessionist parties to form government in Madrid.
PoliticsSeptember 11, 2023
Spanien Carles Puigdemont

Catalan leader sets high price in Spain political deadlock

The exiled former leader says amnesty for Catalan separatists would be his condition for supporting Pedro Sanchez.
PoliticsSeptember 5, 2023
A helicopter douses water on a forest fire near Portbou, Catalonia, Spain on August 5, 2023

Spain: Thousands left without power as Catalonia fire rages

Authorities started evacuating people from several Catalan villages as the forest fire spreads near the French border.
Nature and EnvironmentAugust 5, 2023
People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo applauds after casting his ballot in Madrid

Spain election: Conservatives win but fall short of majority

The center-right Popular Party has beaten PM Pedro Sanchez' Socialists but would need several junior parties to govern.
PoliticsJuly 24, 2023
Carles Puigdemont speaking at the European Parliament

EU court upholds decision to strip Catalan MEPs' immunity

Carlos Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatist MEPs had appealed a 2021 vote that stripped them of legal immunity.
Rule of LawJuly 5, 2023
A police car transits at the Emilio del Valle well part of the Santa Lucia coalmine in Llombera de Gordon northwestern Spain after a gas leak killed six people on October 28, 2013.

Spain: Three workers die after mine collapse

Firefighters were still trying to reach the bodies of the deceased, sources said.
CatastropheMarch 9, 2023
Carles Puigdemont raises thumb at press conference in Alguer, Sardinia, Italy

Spain: Top court drops sedition charges against Puigdemont

Secessionist leader Carles Puigdemont is still facing charges of embezzlement and disobedience.
PoliticsJanuary 12, 2023
A wounded person is helped by medical emergency after two trains collided in Montcada i Reixac, near Barcelona

Spain: 155 injured in train collision near Barcelona

Two trains collided near Barcelona in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia, injuring 155 people.
CatastropheDecember 7, 2022
A commuter train and a goods train are pictured after they collided, in Sant Boi de Llobregat, on the outskirts of Barcelona

Train driver dies, dozens injured in crash near Barcelona

The crash occurred as a freight train derailed and smashed into the front of a passenger train.
CatastropheMay 17, 2022
An Israeli woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group

Catalan separatists to sue Spain over spying

Catalan politicians and activists pledged legal action in several countries over claims that Madrid monitored them.
PoliticsApril 20, 2022
The Asco power plant in Spain

Spain: Worker dies from gas leak at nuclear plant

One person has died and others were injured after CO2 leaked at a nuclear power plant in Spain.
CatastropheNovember 25, 2021
Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont arrives at a courthouse in Sardinia, as a judge holds the first hearing on his European arrest warrant

Court suspends Catalan ex-leader Carles Puigdemont's hearing

An Italian court has suspended a case regarding the extradition of Catalonia's former separatist leader to Spain.
ConflictsOctober 4, 2021
Carles Puigdemont

Carles Puigdemont released after arrest in Sardinia

The Catalan independence leader must remain in Sardinia pending a decision on an extradition request from Spain.
Law and JusticeSeptember 24, 2021
Spanish and Catalan flags

Spain prime minister restarts talks with Catalan separatists

The meeting comes after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders.
PoliticsJune 30, 2021
DW Podcast | Inside Europe

Inside Europe 25.06.2021

Western governments hit Belarus with a raft of punitive sanctions - EU opens up its borders again to Americans - The German army inaugurates its first rabbi since before the Holocaust - How a Food Bank has sustained the holiday island of Ibiza - Pardons for Catalan separatists - Turkey’s opposition under pressure - Germany’s female gymnasts talk about their Olympics dreams, and dress - And more..
PoliticsJune 25, 202154:59 min
Masked Pere Aragones walks out of the Catalan parliament, surrounded by guards and reporters

Catalonia: Moderate separatist named new leader

Harvard-educated lawyer Pere Aragones pledged to keep pushing for a referendum, using Scotland as a positive example.
PoliticsMay 21, 2021
Salvador Illa, then Spanish health minister, announces anti-pandemic measures in 2020

Catalonia: Socialists win, separatists grow

The pro-union Socialist Party is set for a victory but will face a stronger separatist bloc in the Catalan parliament.
PoliticsFebruary 14, 2021
König Felipe VI von Spanien in Barcelona

Protests greet King Felipe VI in Barcelona

The Spanish king took part in the Barcelona New Economy Week in order to promote the country's ailing economy.
SocietyOctober 9, 2020
Quim Torra

Spain's top court suspends Catalan leader from office

Quim Torra has lost an appeal against his current conviction for disobedience and will have to step down.
PoliticsSeptember 28, 2020
Catalonians protest in favor of independence at the annual Diada

Catalans rally on annual regional holiday despite pandemic

Catalans wore masks and gathered in small, well-spaced rallies, to demand independence from Spain.
PoliticsSeptember 11, 2020
People on La Barceloneta beach in Barcelona early in the morning

Germany advises against travel to Barcelona, Costa Brava

Authorities are concerned Germans returning from holidays could cause a surge in new cases.
HealthJuly 28, 2020
A vendor selling face masks waits for customers at a stall in a market in Barcelona

Spain's Catalonia imposes strict mask regulation

The Spanish region of Catalonia has become the first to toughen a nationwide directive on wearing masks in public.
HealthJuly 9, 2020
A police checkpoint outside the city of Lleida

Catalonia: Lockdown and racism join forces

All access to the Catalonian region of Lleida has been closed again after a surge in COVID-19 clusters.
PoliticsJuly 8, 2020
A field hospital set up in Lleida

Spain puts area near Barcelona in new lockdown

Some 200,000 people living in the northeastern Catalonia region been given new stay-at-home orders.
HealthJuly 4, 2020
Catalan separatists gather in Perpignan, France

Catalan independence protesters gather in France

The rally was held near the Spanish border, allowing former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont to attend
PoliticsFebruary 29, 2020
Inside Europe Teaser

Inside Europe 24.01.2020

French police under fire amid allegations of brutality - Can the EU make a difference in the Libyan conflict? - Make or break talks on Spain's Catalan crisis - Holocaust Memorial Day: a special report from the Auschwitz Nazi death camp - Personal reflections on the Holocaust - Unexploded World War II bombs made safe in two German cities - The sexual mores of the Parisian intellectual elite.
PoliticsJanuary 24, 202054:59 min
Tarragona blast

Blast at Spanish factory triggers emergency

The authorities described it as a "chemical accident," advising the residents to preemptively close their windows.
CatastropheJanuary 14, 2020
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks

In fresh start, Spain's Sanchez pledges 'unity'

The Socialist partnership with hard-left Podemos will be the country's first coalition since democracy returned in 1975.
PoliticsJanuary 12, 2020
A woman holds a placard depecting a picture of jailed Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras

Spain refuses immunity for Catalan separatist MEP

The EU's top court had previously ruled that — as a member of the European Parliament — he should be entitled.
PoliticsJanuary 9, 2020
Pedro Sanchez

Spain: Sanchez wins narrow vote to become PM

Socialist Pedro Sanchez will become prime minister again in a minority government with far-left Podemos.
PoliticsJanuary 7, 2020
Spain's caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sanchez

Spain's Sanchez loses first bid to return as PM

The Socialist leader will make a second attempt on Tuesday.
PoliticsJanuary 5, 2020
Spanien Pedro Sanchez

Catalonia separatists end Spain's political deadlock

A Catalan separatist party has said it will abstain from a vote to confirm Socialist Pedro Sanchez as prime minister.
PoliticsJanuary 3, 2020
Carles Puigdemont

Belgium halts extradition of Puigdemont to Spain

A judge in Belgium suspended an arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont due to his immunity as an European lawmaker.
PoliticsJanuary 2, 2020
Toni Comin and Carles Puigdemont

Exiled Catalan separatists can take up EU seats

The Spanish judicial court had disqualified the two candidates despite their election in May.
PoliticsDecember 20, 2019
Oriol Junqueras

Jailed Catalan separatist has 'immunity'

Oriol Junqueras demanded his freedom after the EU's top court handed Spain a major legal defeat.
PoliticsDecember 19, 2019
Quim Torra, regional president of Catalonia, in court

Catalan president on trial for 'disobedience'

The trial comes one month after nine Catalan separatist leaders were sent to jail in October.
Law and JusticeNovember 18, 2019