www.coastridersl.com www.coastrider.net CoastRider - Edition 470 570 - March October 5th27th 20132015
Spanish king, eyeing Catalan independence bid, warns divisions 'impoverish' King Felipe VI of Spain on Friday warned against "walls" and divisions that "impoverish and isolate" as an independence drive in the northeast region of Catalonia gets into higher gear. "When divisions are promoted, something very deep breaks within us, in our very being, in our hearts. Let nobody use emotions to build walls," he said during a televised ceremony for the country's Princess of Asturias awards. The monarch did not mention Catalonia by name, but gave a clear indication of his fears that the country could split. "Divisions never make a people great, they only impoverish and isolate it. Let us avoid social fractures which cause so much harm," he said. His comments came just three days before a new regional parliament is due to be formed in Catalonia following elections last month in which proindependence parties won a majority of 72 seats in the 135-seat Catalan regional assembly. During the campaign the head of the Catalan government, Artur Mas, vowed to set Catalonia on a path toward independence within 18 months if he gets backing from the new parliament. But the pro-independence camp fell short of winning a majority of votes, capturing 48 percent of all ballots, handing its adversaries in the central government in Madrid a strong argument to resist the push for independence.
Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy argues the Spanish constitution does not allow any region to break away and he has vowed to ensure that the law is respected. "In a democratic society like ours, the defence of legality and constitutional principles is the guarantee of the rights and freedoms of all citizens," he said. "Let's continue to build Spain convinced and very conscious that a European nation with millennial roots and a universal vocation like ours, will remain united towards a future of greater cooperation and progress," he added. Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people which accounts for a fifth of Spain's economic output, has its own language, which was suppressed during the 1939-75 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. The region's independence drive has intensified over the recent years of economic crisis. Catalans complain about how much of their tax money is redistributed to the rest of Spain.
Spanish News
11
Spanish couple accused of murdering adopted Chinese daughter A Spanish couple accused of drugging and suffocating their 12-year-old adopted Chinese daughter reiterated their innocence on Friday on the last day of their trial, in a case that has drawn the attention of Beijing. Rosario Porto, a former lawyer, and her ex-husband, journalist Alfonso Basterra, are accused of murdering Asunta Yong Fang Basterra Porto, whom they adopted when she was a baby. The couple are accused of drugging Asunta with the sedative Orfidal periodically for three months and finally asphyxiating her in September 2013, when the child's body was found in a wood near northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela. Prosecutors on Thursday told the nine members of the jury that Porto, 46, suffocated Asunta on her own in a plan developed with her ex husband. Both accused declined their right to speak on the last day of their trial and denied the accusations against them through their lawyers.
"Nothing to say," said Basterra, 51, in an extract of the hearing broadcast on television. Porto's lawyer, Jose Luis Gutierrez Aranguren, asked the jurors if the goal was to sedate and kill the girl "what sense does it have" to give Asunta sedatives three months earlier. Dressed all in black, Porto bowed her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest as her lawyer spoke. During the trial Porto told the court that she had been suffering from depression that year and had herself been taking the sedative Orfidal. Basterra's lawyer Belen Hospido said her client had bought boxes of Orfidal but he thought they were for his ex-wife. "He had no reason to think that Mrs. Porto was not taking those pills...he had no reason to think that something strange was going on," she told the court. At the time of the girl's death, the couple were separated but were raising their adopted daughter together. Public prosecutors have asked that both Porto and Basterra each get prison sentences of 18 years. The nine-member jury will begin deliberations on Monday. Over 100 witnesses and experts testified at the trial, which got underway at the end of September. The case shocked Spain and drew international attention when it came to light, prompting a statement of concern by the Chinese foreign ministry.