Ciaran Giles, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette

Pro-independence supporters celebrate at the ANC ( Catalan National Assembly ) headquarters after results of the regional elections in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. The pro-secession bloc won a majority but the anti-independence Ciutadans (Citizens), led by 36-year-old lawyer Ines Arrimadas, won the highest number of votes for a single party. ANC is Catalan pro independence platform promoting the political independence of Catalonia.(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Catalan separatists regain majority in regional election

by Aritz Parra Associated Press, and Ciaran Giles Associated PressDecember 22, 2017

BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s secessionist parties won enough votes Thursday to regain a slim majority in the regional parliament and give new momentum to their political struggle for independence from Spain.It was hardly an emphatic victory,…

Workers stand outside their work centre building as they stop working for five minutes to show their support for those appearing in court, in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017. Spain's National Court in Madrid was questioning ousted Catalan government members Thursday in an investigation into possible rebellion charges for having declared the region's independence, while a parallel Supreme Court session for six Catalan lawmakers was suspended for a week. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Spanish judge jails Catalan ministers, mulls leader’s arrest

by Ciaran Giles Associated Press, and Aritz Parra Associated PressNovember 2, 2017

People react as they celebrate the unilateral declaration of independence of Catalonia outside the Catalan Parliament, in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Catalonias' regional Parliament passed a motion Friday to establish an independent Catalan Republic. (AP Photo/ Emilio Morenatti)

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Catalonia declares independence

by Aritz Parra Associated Press, and Ciaran Giles Associated PressOctober 27, 2017

Pro independence supporters celebrate in the street in Barcelona, Spain, after Catalonia's regional parliament passed a motion with which they say they are establishing an independent Catalan Republic, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)SANTI PALACIOS

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Madrid eyes crackdown after Catalonia declares independence

by Aritz Parra Associated Press, and Ciaran Giles Associated PressOctober 27, 2017

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy listens to lawmakers during a parliamentary session at the parliament in Madrid, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. About 50 Spanish and Catalan party lawmakers held up posters in the parliament demanding the release of two pro-Catalonia independence movement leaders, describing them as political prisoners. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

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Spain set to strip Catalonia of powers over independence bid

by Aritz Parra Associated Press, and Ciaran Giles Associated PressOctober 19, 2017

People walk past a Spanish and an estelada, or independence flag, hanging up for sale in a shop in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. The Spanish Cabinet met in Madrid Wednesday to work out its response to an announcement from the head of the wealthy Catalonia region that he was proceeding with a declaration of independence, further fueling Spain's worst political crisis in decades. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Spain tells Catalonia: Back down or be punished

by Ciaran Giles Associated Press, and Aritz Parra Associated PressOctober 11, 2017

Catalan regional police chief Josep Luis Trapero, 2nd left, arrives at the national court in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. A Spanish judge is due to question Mossos d'Esquadra chief Trapero and two pro-independence campaigners about their role in an Oct. 1 referendum that the Spanish government declared as illegal. (AP Photo/Paul White)

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Spain: No dialogue until Catalonia drops independence bid

by Ciaran Giles Associated Press, and Aritz Parra Associated PressOctober 6, 2017

Pro independence supporters hold up ''esteleda'' or Catalan pro independence flags, in support of the Catalonia's secession referendum, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Catalan pro-referendum supporters vowed Saturday to ignore a police ultimatum to leave the schools they are occupying for use in a referendum vote on seeking independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

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Catalonia seeks mediation with Spain

by Aritz Parra Associated Press, and Ciaran Giles Associated PressOctober 2, 2017

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2013 file photo, FC Barcelona soccer player Lionel Messi, left, arrives at a court to answer questions in a tax fraud case in Gava, near Barcelona, Spain. A Barcelona court on Friday July 6, 2016 sentenced Lionel Messi and his father Jorge Horacio Messi to suspended sentences of 21 months in prison each for tax fraud. The court found them guilty of three counts of tax fraud each. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

Lionel Messi convicted of tax fraud

by Ciaran Giles Associated PressJuly 6, 2016