A fresh election for the regional parliament of the economically powerful Spanish region of Catalonia is now to be held in the midst of the heated discussion about an amnesty for Catalan separatists.
The head of the regional government, Pere Aragonès, scheduled the election for May 12 on Wednesday.
In a televised speech, the politician from the separatist Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) cited the rejection of his draft budget by the parliament in Barcelona as the reason.
The minority government's spending bill, which was also supported by the opposition Socialists as the largest parliamentary group, fell just one vote short of being passed.
The decisive factor was the opposition by the small, more left-wing alliance In Common We Can (ECP), which had been against the construction of a large Hard Rock casino near Tarragona for years.
Critics said that the project would only create insecure jobs and use too much water in the drought-stricken region. Although Arragonès had admitted that he did not like the large-scale project either, he said a revocation of the authorization could trigger high claims for damages.
The regular four-year legislative period would in fact have ended next year.
Now there is to be an election campaign while the central parliament in Madrid is still battling over the highly controversial amnesty for Catalan separatists. An amended draft is to be voted on again on Thursday after a first version failed to receive a majority at the end of January.