Catalan Separatists Have a New Plan to Defy Madrid's Authority
- Esquerra Republicana plans social policies to boost support
- Campaign to split from Spain aims to regroup for Dec. 21 vote
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The most popular party in Catalonia has a new strategy for wresting control away from the authorities in Madrid after a declaration of independence failed last month.
Esquerra Republicana is planning a raft of measures that will challenge restrictions imposed by the Spanish state as it fought to bring the rebel region to heel, secretary general Marta Rovira said in an interview Friday. The group is drawing up plans to help people struggling to pay fuel bills during the winter and wants to increase subsidies for entrepreneurs, Rovira said. But first the party needs to defend its majority in the regional assembly.