(ATR) Internal political squabbles in Spain are likely to dominate the start of the 2018 Mediterranean Games.
Tarragona, Spain will welcome more than 3,600 athletes from 26 countries in the Mediterranean region for the 18th edition of the Games. It will be the third time Spain hosts the multi-sport event, and the first since 2005. Spain reportedly spent $113.8 million to stage the Games.
Spanish King Felipe VI is anticipated to open the Games, but his presence has reopened political wounds in the region. Tarragona is the seventh largest city in Catalonia and is just over 50 miles south of Barcelona on the coast.
Opening the Tarragona Games would be the first visit by King Felipe to Catalonia since police crackdowns on a referendum attempt by the province last October. The referendum had been declared illegal by the Spanish state, but Catalan officials went ahead with the vote. The day of voting was marred by police crackdowns, some of which turned violent.
Catalonia’s President Carles Puigdemont was removed from office by the Spanish government following the province’s declaration of independence as a result of the referendum. Puigdemont was forced into exile after Spain issued an arrest warrant for him. Following regional elections last December mandated by Spain, secessionists retained a slim majority in Catalonia’s government.
Puigdemont was arrested in Germany earlier this year, but was not extradited to Spain. His successor Quim Torra requested an audience with King Felipe, but was rebuffed by the monarch citing the Spanish constitution, according to a statement from Zarzuela Palace.
Torra was sworn in as Catalonia president earlier this week after the Spanish government approved his regional cabinet following modifications. In the interim the Spanish central government was administering the region.
Tarragona mayor Josep Fèlix Ballesteros told the ANSA news agency that ''all institutions have remained united to reach and organize the Games" through the political crisis.
"The president of the IOC has said that Tarragona 2018 will be the best edition in history, I hope that they will also be remembered as the games of peace, agreement and unity,'' Ballesteros said.
Kosovo and Syria will be participating in the Games, despite the former not being recognized as an independent country by Spain. However, neither Israel nor Palestine will be competing in Tarragona. Ballesteros said to ANSA that the IOC had attempted to mediate both countries’ participation, to no avail.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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