BARCELONA: Catalan separatist party ERC agreed on Friday to support efforts by Spain´s Socialists to form a government in the wealthy northeastern region, a boost for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Securing the backing of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) is key for Sanchez´s Socialists, who won the most seats in a regional election in Catalonia in May but fell short of a majority.
The Socialists, led locally by former health minister Salvador Illa, took 42 seats in Catalonia´s 135-seat regional assembly. The party´s coalition partners at the national level, the far-left Sumar alliance, won six while the ERC got 20.
Being able to form a government in Catalonia will be seen as a vindication of Sanchez´s strategy of trying to tamp down support for separatism in the region by offering concessions, including a controversial amnesty for those involved in an illegal independence referendum in 2017 that triggered Spain´s worst political crisis in decades.
A firefiughter seen in fron of a building on fire. — AFP/File KYIV: A Russian ballistic missile strike on Ukrainian...
A placard is seen during a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Berlin,...
An EU offical seen in Samarkand. — AFP/File SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan: The EU proclaimed a “new era” in ties with...
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to reporters next to United States Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew...
83-year-old British missionary Huub Welters. X@BritMissh/File YAOUNDÉ: An 83-year-old British missionary and his...
Protestors march through the streets of Skopje during a protest for justice for the victims who lost their lives in...