Catalunya business giants fear independence bid
Friday, October 18, 2013 @ 10:38 AM
ONE of Catalunya's largest cava producers says it is 'extremely worried' about the possibility of the region becoming an independent nation.
José Luis Bonet Ferrer, chairman of Freixenet – among the most multinational manufacturers of Spain's answer to champagne – says Catalunya 'is an essential part' of the nation and 'must carrying on being so'.
Tensions created between Spain's central government and the Generalitat de Catalunya are not helping trade, he says.
“Business owners have the right to become worried if politicians seek to create tension instead of undertaking rational discussions,” stresses Bonet Ferrer.
He said he is 'deeply concerned' about the impact on business and the economy if Catalunya becomes a separate nation, since it would automatically cease to be a member of the EU, creating trade barriers, higher customs duties and a need to establish itself as a sound source of international commerce which the rest of the world had sufficient confidence to do business with.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com