"Stabilising Spain’s finances without tearing its social fabric apart is being made harder by a new wave of Catalan secessionism... Artur Mas [leader of the Convergència i Unió (CiU) party], who has been president of the Generalitat since 2010, called an election on November 25th, two years early. He wants a mandate to turn Catalonia into “a state within Europe” and to win it “the right to decide” on its own standing ... For a man whose normal manner is that of a rather grey and cautious economist it is something of a turnaround, and not entirely convincing. " (Quoted from article)