Politics

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, announced that his Government plans to invest €4.2 billion by 2020 to improve Catalonia’s infrastructures. The most important part would go to the short-distance train network, operated by Spanish Public Train operator, RENFE. Indeed, this piece of infrastructure has been one of the historic demands of Catalan citizens, after years of underinvestment and continuous incidents. According to Rajoy, €1.9 billion would be invested during this term of office and €2 billion more by 2025. In a speech he gave within the seminar ‘Connected to the future’, held this Tuesday in Barcelona, Rajoy expressed his “personal commitment” to turn the short-distance train network into a “realistic, viable and verifiable” piece of infrastructure. Earlier this week, the Catalan Government already expressed that they had “few expectations” regarding Rajoy’s promises and pointed out that previous investment plans haven’t been fulfilled for decades.

Catalonia’s aim for independence is related to the US civil rights movement. This is one of the main ideas which Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, set forth this Monday in a conference at Harvard University. “Our struggle is a reflection of the fight for American civil rights,” he said during the conference “Catalonia, Today, Tomorrow”, but lamented that, in contrast with American institutions which “have respected democracy and the will of its people to adapt over time”,  Spain's refuses to open a dialogue over Catalonia's pro-independence aspirations and the will of its citizens to hold a referendum. “We are convinced that this is the best option,” he said but pointed out that “up to now it has been impossible, due to the Spanish Government’s constant, absolute refusal to discuss it”. However, he warned, “Catalonia will hold the referendum in any case.”

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, will visit Catalonia this Tuesday “to discuss infrastructures”, Spanish governing People’s Party (PP) confirmed last week. However, left wing pro-independence ERC already admitted having “few expectations” regarding the visit and the measures Rajoy may announce. “If he expects to buy us off through promises that won't be kept, he better think twice,” said ERC’s spokesman, Sergi Sabrià. According to ERC, one of the main parties within the governing coalition ‘Junts Pel Sí’, the only solution to “the Catalan problem” will come by putting out the ballot boxes in a referendum. “There is no other option,” stated Sabrià. However, ERC’s spokesman insisted that they will listen to Rajoy’s offer, as they have “always done” but insisted that the party “won’t give up on anything” either.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont will travel to Boston, Washington DC, and New York to explain Catalonia’s pro-independence movement. On Monday evening, he will address the Center for European Studies (CES) at the Harvard Kennedy School and give the conference ‘Catalonia, Today and Tomorrow’, his analysis of Catalonia’s current political situation and its place within the EU. Together with Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva and the Delegate of the Catalan Government to the United States, Andrew Davis, Puigdemont will also visit the Cambridge Innovation Centre (CIC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Tecnhnology (MIT) and will take part in a meeting with entrepreneurs. He is also expected to meet with several think tanks throughout the week, including the Wilson Center and the American Enterprise Institute, and will visit the new factory of Catalan company, Europastry.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, responded angrily to the confirmation from former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo that the Spanish Government had pressured other governments to give statements against Catalonia’s pro-independence process. “It’s unacceptable,” he said and called for Margallo to explain which commitments he made, under whose authority and “what favors Spain owes” in exchange for these position statements. According to Puigdemont, Margallo’s confession proves the Catalan Government’s claims that the Spanish State “is doing everything in its power” so that Catalan representatives “are not received, listened to, or taken into account”. “I hope that the Spanish political system is democratically mature enough to demand an explanation from Mr. Margallo in Parliamentary session,” he added.

Former Catalan President Artur Mas’ right-hand man, Francesc Homs, has been sentenced to a 1 year and 6 months ban from holding public office for allowing a symbolic vote on Catalan independence to take place on November 9, 2014. The magistrates in the Spanish Supreme Court found Homs, who is currently a sitting MP and the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament, guilty of disobedience but absolved him from charges of perversion of justice. Earlier this month, Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) also banned Mas from public office for 2 years and fined him €36,000. Former Vice president Joana Ortega and former Education Minister Irene Rigau were banned from holding public office for a period of 1 year and 9 months and 1 year and 6 months. They will have to pay fines of €30,000 and €24,000, respectively.

Former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo, admitted that the Spanish Government pressured other governments to give statements against Catalonia’s pro-independence process. “Nobody knows all the favors we owe in exchange for the statements we got,” he said this Wednesday in an interview on Spanish TV. According to Margallo, the normal procedure when a public representative is asked about such a question is to demur, saying it is an “internal matter”.  Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, considered the facts “very serious” and urged the former Minister to give further explanations.

The pro-independence parties in the Catalan Chamber, governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP have passed the 2017 budget. The bill has been described as the last budget of the autonomic period, since it foresees calling a referendum on independence next September. Last June, CUP refused to pass the bill for 2016 which led to the vote of confidence promoted by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. They considered the numbers presented then to be “too autonomic” rather than responding to the pro-independence aspirations of Catalonia. After a new draft was presented last November, increasing the social expenditure and reinforcing the government’s commitment to call a referendum, CUP have accepted the bill. However, they have urged the Catalan Government to announce the date and the question of the referendum as quick as possible.

The sentences regarding the November 9th, 2014 vote on independence, including hefty fines and a ban from public office of the main political leaders responsible, may violate fundamental rights say the lawyers of former Catalan President, Artur Mas, Catalan VP Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau. They have appealed to Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC). Last week, Mas was sentenced to a two-year ban from holding public office and fined €36,500 for allowing the non-binding consultation to take place in 2014. Ortega and Rigau were also banned from taking public office for a period of 1 year and 9 months and 1 year and 6 months and fined €30,000 and €24,000, respectively.

‘Let dialogue win, let the ballot boxes decide,’ reas the title of the joint editorial this Sunday in Spain’s principal daily, El País, written by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan Vice President, Oriol Junqueras. The Catalan leaders lamented Madrid’s “direct opposition” to putting out the ballot boxes and warned Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, that the referendum will take place in 2017 no matter what. “We won’t give up on this right. We will do whatever it takes to allow the Catalans to vote on a referendum this year,” they state. “We are already at the negotiating table. Is anybody else coming?” they asked rhetorically. Puigdemont and Junqueras also invited the Spanish Government to learn from the United Kingdom’s example and praised its attitude towards the Scottish demand to hold a referendum.

Former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former Catalan Vice President Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau have received severe fines and have been banned from public office for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on Catalan independence in 2014. “It’s a matter of regret,” Scottish MEP Alyn Smith, from the Greens/European Free Alliance group told the CNA who lamented Spain “dealing with democracy through the court”. “I find it wrong,” said European Conservatives and Reformists Group MEP Ian Duncan and admitted he was “deeply troubled” by the decision. Co-Chair for the Greens/European Free Alliance, Philippe Lamberts, lamented “the stubbornness of the Spanish authorities toward Catalonia” and insisted that Madrid’s attitude “is making dialogue nearly impossible”.

An ‘Early Day Motion’ on Catalonia’s right to hold a referendum has been presented this Thursday to the House of Commons. Titled ‘Democracy in Catalonia’ the petition calls on the British Government “to declare its adherence” to the right of “democratically elected parliamentarians to hold a referendum” in accordance with “the needs and wishes of their people”. Moreover, the petition reports that former Catalan President, Artur Mas, former Vice President, Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education, Irene Rigau have been “levied heavy fines” and banned from public office for allowing the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014.  The signers, SNP MP George Kerevan, Northern Ireland SNDP MP Mark Durkan, and Plaid Cymru’s Hwyel Williams also note that 85% of Catalans, and 83 of the 135 Members of the Parliament of Catalonia support the option to vote democratically on Catalonia's constitutional future”.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) one of the legal bodies responsible for suspending the most initiatives aimed at executing Catalonia’s pro-independence roadmap in the last few years, replaced its president this Wednesday. Francisco Pérez de los Cobos stepped down after nearly four years in office and took the opportunity to call for “political dialogue” . He defended Spain’s unity but admitted that the Spanish Constitution “can’t tackle all the problems derived from the constitutional order, especially those which emerge from the desire of one part of the state to alter its legal status”.  In the presence of the Spanish Minister for Justice, Rafael Català and the four magistrates which took office this Wednesday, Pérez de los Cobos emphasized that dialogue is an “urgent and unavoidable necessity”.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) created in the British Parliament was officially inaugurated this Tuesday by the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva.  “This is what we would like other parliaments, such as the Spanish, to do,” Romeva told the press before entering the Committee Room. “Sometimes, there is more interest in discussing the Catalan question here than in Spain,” he added. SNP MP and Chairman of the APPG on Catalonia, George Kerevan admitted being “surprised” by the “large amount of people” who attended the presentation, including not only MPs and Peers but also “academics and many representatives from different sectors in the United Kingdom”. He lamented that the Catalan process hasn’t even “reached the negotiations table” and gave credit to the UK, which allowed the Scottish referendum “as a good example of dialogue”.

Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, referred this Tuesday to the Constitutional Court’s decision to ban from public office the political figures responsible for the 9-N symbolic vote on independence, which took place in 2014. According to Munté, sentencing former Catalan President Artur Mas, former Vice President Joana Ortega and former Catalan Minister for Education Irene Rigau for allowing the non-binding consultation “confirm the Spanish State’s absolute lack of willingness to find a political solution” to Catalonia’s aspirations. However, far from “disqualifying” them, Munté assured that the Government “counts on” the three summonsed “to explain” to the world “how weak democracy is in Spain".