Freixenet's president says 'Catalonia is an essential part of Spain and will remain'
José Luis Bonet Ferrer, president of Freixenet, the largest company in sparkling wines of Catalonia, believes that this region "is an essential part of Spain, and will remain so." This was stated Bonet to 'The New York Times', although nuanced speaking in a personal capacity. Bonet, however, it has declared the newspaper that "employers have the right to worry when politicians create tensions rather than seeking dialogue".
For Toni de la Rosa Torello, the owner of the company since the fourteenth century family, the newspaper also states that "the fact that we make the most representative of Catalonia product does not mean we do not want to be represented in the political debate".
Statements by Bonet and de la Rosa are part of an article of 'The New York Times' in which the Catalan business fears of a possible independence of the territory are analyzed, and the financial difficulties of the Government are described.
"The Catalan businessmen say they are less concerned about what Mas think Madrid owes [Catalonia] and more about whether political instability could damage the prospects of Spain returned to the levels of pre-crisis growth," says the newspaper, signed by Raphael Minder, who has already signed numerous information from and about Spain.
Minder reminds that Catalonia has 16% of the Spanish population, 20% of GDP and over 25% of the regional debt. The reporter quoted the figures given by the president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, on the alleged plundering the rest of Spain to Catalonia, but also recalls that "Catalonia has also benefited from being part of Spain. For example, were the Olympics 1992, partly funded by the Government of Madrid which helped transform Barcelona in one of the most visited cities in Europe, with 7 million tourists a year, compared to just one before [the games]. "
The article explains the corruption scandal of the Generalitat with the Palau de la Música Catalana, where the builder Ferrovial has been accused "of paying bribes to local leaders Barcelona." 'The New York Times adds that "there is also concern about whether, despite having implemented an austerity and some unpopular cuts, [the Government] has struggled to clear their own public finances and a mountain of debt that has been doubled in the last three years to reach 52,000 million euros. "
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/10/17/barcelona/1382038119.html