50,000 Catalans protest against Madrid's plans for Ebro River
Tens of thousands of people in Catalonia have taken part in a rally to protest against an irrigation plan envisaged by the Spanish government.
Around 50,000 people demonstrated in the Catalan city of Amposta on Saturday to show their disapproval of the plan to transfer greater amounts of water from the Ebro River to other cities.
Amposta is the capital of the Montsia district in the province of Tarragona, located one hundred kilometers south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean Coast.
Catalan nationalists claim the Hydrological Plan for the Ebro River Basin is not only unsafe for the local environment, but also unfair for local farmers reliant on the river for irrigation.
During the protest demonstration, Catalan Minister of Planning and Sustainability Josep Rull slammed the Hydrological Plan for the Ebro River Basin, saying the plan was "bad for Catalonia, bad for the river delta and bad for irrigation farmers."
Catalan politicians have asked the European Union to intervene in the matter and take interceding measures to block the proposed plan.
Many Catalans believe Catalonia would be more prosperous if it were independent from Spain.
The Catalan parliament last November voted in favor of a resolution to split from Spain by 2017.
The Spanish government has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of independence for Catalonia, a resource-rich region that provides at least one-fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Many Catalans believe they are disproportionately taxed by the government in Madrid.
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