Catalonia has endeavoured for 40 years to become independent from Spain, but it had its autonomy suspended for around seven months in 2017 by Madrid after a failed independence bid.
Nationalists in the country have said the region sends too much money for poorer parts of Spain, as a result of taxes being governed by Madrid.
The region has also said changes to Spain’s autonomous status in 2010 undermined Catalan’s identity.
A referendum vote held on October 1, 2017, which was declared illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court, revealed 90 percent of Catalan’s voters backed independence – however, the turnout as only 43 percent.
source: express.co.uk