Town to deliver verdict in cannabis plantation referendum

The Catalan town of Rasquera will on Tuesday decide whether to go ahead with one of the most controversial projects planned in the region.

Mayor Bernat Pellisa, of the Catalan Republican Left party, is asking for the support of local residents to approve a scheme to boost the town hall coffers by creating a cannabis plantation on municipal land.

The marijuana plants harvested would be handed over to the Barcelona Personal Use Cannabis Association (ABCDA) for a sizeable sum.

The project is part of a package of crisis-busting measures being put to residents of the Tarragona town — a point of contention between the local government and members of the opposition CiU Catalan nationalist bloc, who want the decision to be focused solely on the plantation.

The CiU has also complained that up to 80 ABCDA members — nine percent of the population — have recently enrolled as local residents to vote in favor of the project. Pellisa denies the claim, saying the town population has only increased by five since January 31.