Sweeping powers

A banner calling for a mass demonstration hanging from the balcony of Vilafranca del Penedes City Hall in Spain, yesterday. The city council of Vilafranca del Penedes, near Barcelona, has approved a motion declaring the town "morally excluded from the Spanish Constitution" in response to the changes passed by the Constitutional Court of a charter that gave the regional government of Catalonia sweeping powers. Political parties in Catalonia called a mass demonstration for Saturday to protest the changes by the country's highest court to the charter. The Constitutional Court, responding to a legal challenge to Catalonia's "statute of autonomy" by Spain's conservative opposition Popular Party, upheld most of the charter but struck down a number of controversial points. The four-year-old statute expanded the already significant powers of self rule of the government of Catalonia, where a sizeable minority would like to see the wealthy northeastern region, which has its own language and distinct culture, break away from Spain.