Catalonia's regional President Pere Aragones gives a news conference at Palau de la Generalitat, following the arrest of former Catalan government head Carles Puigdemont in Sardinia on Thursday, in Barcelona, Spain, September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo
BARCELONA (Reuters) -Catalonia will hold an early election on May 12 after the separatist minority government of the Spanish region failed to approve its budget proposal in the regional parliament, Catalan government head Pere Aragones said on Wednesday.
The snap election could have implications for national politics as Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez relies on Catalan separatist parties Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and Junts to pass legislation.
Catalan separatism has been a dominant theme in Spanish politics in the past decade.
The election had originally been scheduled for February 2025 at the end of the current legislative term.
"On May 12, Catalan citizens will choose between responsibility or irresponsibility," Esquerra's Aragones said in a televised address, calling the parties that opposed his budget proposal earlier on Wednesday "irresponsible".
The announcement came on the eve of a lower house vote in Madrid on an amnesty bill for pro-independence activists and officials involved in Catalonia's separatist bid in the last decade. The bill is widely expected to be approved.
(Reporting by Joan Faus, editing by Andrei Khalip)
