"Spain threatens to cut the funds in Catalonia because of the referendum plan." With this headline, the prestigious newspaper The Financial Times made an impact by warning the Spanish government against suspending the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA), if expenses are used by the Catalan government for the referendum.
The article published this afternoon assured that the decision of the Spanish Government "will certainly increase the unrest" of the Catalans. The newspaper alerted about the "threat" to cut the funding arriving at a moment where the relationship between Barcelona and Madrid concerning the referendum have reached a "point of no return".
With the statement of Friday, the Spanish government "will control immediately", the newspaper explained, the expenses of the Catalan government, as all departments each week "will have to certify to the ministry of finances that they have not budgeted directly or indirectly for the referendum".
The FT quotes the minister, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, who stated that "not even a euro of the Catalans will be used for an illegal referendum". The newspaper also reviewed the latest events of the process, from the presentation of the laws of the referendum, until the changes of Government, passing through the decision of the National Audit office to reclaim 5 million euros from the organisers of the 9-N consultation.
The prestigious French newspaper Libération also made impact of the measure of the Spanish government, while informing "the pressure" of this decision "further increasing a little more about the Catalan separatist government".