Politics

Jordi Sánchez, the new President of the civil society organisation Catalan National Assembly (ANC), which co-organised the massive pro-independence rallies, has ruled out the possibility of unilaterally declaring independence the day after the next Catalan Parliament elections, should a clear majority of pro-independence parties win. These elections are presented by the Catalan Government and by the parties supporting independence as a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on this issue, since it is the only option left to hold a legal self-determination vote after the unilateral veto and no-to-everything attitude of the Spanish Government during the last two-and-a-half years. However, even though Sánchez completely supports such a plebiscite, he stated that a unilateral declaration of independence on the day after “would not be possible” and “it is not the road to take”. “I will not send signals about things I believe will not happen”, added Sánchez, who on Saturday was elected to lead the ANC.

The main Electoral Authority in Spain (Junta Electoral Central) has ordered on Thursday the removal of all Catalan independence flags from all "public buildings and polling stations" in Catalonia during the electoral campaign for the Municipal Elections, which take place on 24 May. The order comes after a request from the main pro-Spanish unity civil society group, Societat Civil Catalana (SCC). According to SCC, there are pro-independence flags located in public spaces in 323 municipalities throughout Catalonia and this "violates political neutrality" during the electoral campaign. 710 of the 947 existing town councils in Catalonia have democratically voted to support independence and join the Municipalities for Independence Association (AMI). Many of them have flown pro-independence flags from town hall balconies or in public spaces.

The Catalan Police force, called Mossos d'Esquadra, filed a complaint to the Audiencia Nacional court denouncing the Spanish Police for warning a group of alleged Islamic terrorists they were being watched by the Mossos. However, the Audiencia Nacional decided to close the case. According to the Mossos, such a warning provoked the group to immediately stop its activities for a few months. However, the alleged terrorists restarted their activities and the Catalan Police was finally able to arrest them on 9 April. On that day, the Spanish Home Affairs Minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, who is in charge of the Spanish Police, linked Jihadism and Catalan independence. This Thursday, after the accusation against the Spanish law enforcement corps was released, Fernández Díaz looked to discredit the Mossos. Referring to the Catalan Government's support to independence, Fernández Díaz stated that "those who do not have the least sense of state" should not be in charge of fighting terrorism.

7 of the 8 groups sitting in the Parliament of Denmark have supported on Tuesday evening "a peaceful and democratic dialogue between Catalonia and the Spanish Government in Madrid" to solve the current political conflict. For 45 minutes, the Danish Chamber debated Catalonia's right to self-determination, after Nikolaj Villumsen, an MP from the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) registered a question about this issue addressed to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Martin Lidegaard (from the Danish Social Liberal Party). Villumsen linked Catalonia's case to the peaceful resolution of conflicts within the European Union today through democratic referendums. All the parties sitting in the Parliament, except the extreme-right Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti), supported the Minister's answer, which put Catalonia and Spain at an equal level. The debate was held this Tuesday, but the vote on the motion will take place next week.

The Catalan Government has approved its 'Strategic Plan for the External Action 2015-2018', which foresees the opening of additional delegations abroad. The Spokesperson for the Catalan Executive and Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, who is in charge of External Relations, announced that some of these delegations may be opened in the coming weeks. Homs admitted that the Spanish Government may appeal against the new delegations and the plan, as it did with the delegations in Rome and Vienna, and the External Action Law. The Law was approved last November but was already foreseen in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy from 2006. In addition, Catalonia's own external action was validated by the Spanish Constitutional Court in 2010. With the independence debate on the table, the Spanish Government is insisting on reducing the number of delegations and controlling their activities.

The campaign for the municipal elections in Catalonia, which are to be held on 24May, officially started this Friday in extremely uncertain circumstances after years of economic crisis, budget cuts and corruption scandals. This has seriously damaged the credibility of the main traditional parties, provoking an increase in popularity of alternative groups and a great number of undecided voters. On top of this, there is the political clash regarding Catalonia's potential independence from Spain and the planned early elections for the Catalan Parliament on 27 September, which are expected to become a 'de facto' independence plebiscite. The Municipal Elections come first and they have been presented as a preliminary vote before that in September. Additionally, alternative parties will have to prove whether they are as strong as the polls suggest and are able to be part of local government. In this uncertain scenario, the battle for Barcelona stands out, where polls predict great changes.

Spain is home to around 300,000 registered British nationals, 20,000 of whom reside in Catalonia and retain the right to vote in the forthcoming general elections in the UK on the 7^th of May, according to date from the Spanish Statistics Institute given in 2014. The election this year is especially important as polls suggest that no combination of parties will win a stable majority which could be the end of the road for a strong government. Moreover, the election is more important than usual for British nationals living in Spain as in the rest of Europe as Cameron has promised that a Conservative victory will renegotiate Britain’s relations with the EU and put the result to an in/out referendum on membership by the end of 2017. A British exit from Europe could potentially lead to British nationals abroad facing several difficulties in regards to freedom of movement across Europe. On the other hand, May 7th could also mark the point of no return for the troubled union between England and Scotland, due to a surge in support for the secessionist Scottish National Party (SNP).

The Autonomous Community governments, such as the Catalan Executive, cannot meet the deficit objectives imposed by the Spanish Government because of the current inter-territorial fiscal scheme, according to a report from the Spanish banking giant BBVA. The bank has published two studies on two consecutive days that shed some light on this scheme and its consequences. In the first report, the BBVA states that spending per capita on basic Welfare State services, such as healthcare and education, varies by 60% among the Autonomous Communities. A second report highlights that the Spanish Executive reduced the funds for the Autonomous Community governments in 2014, despite the economic situation and the intake of public revenue improving. On top of this, it refuses to review a fiscal scheme that legally expired 16 months ago and that was designed before the financial crisis.

Ciutadans (C’s), the anti-Catalan nationalism party that could become Spain’s third-largest party according to many polls, stated on Monday that they will do everything in their power to stop the next massive pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona from happening. Since 2012, every 11^th of September (which is Catalonia’s National Day), the main pro-independence civil society associations have organised a massive rally, such as the 400 km-long human chain spanning Catalonia from north to south in 2013 and the V-shaped demonstration occupying more than 11 km of Barcelona’s two main avenues in 2014. More than 1.5 million people participated in each of the demonstrations, which have always been peaceful and cheerful, claiming Catalonia’s right to self-determination. This year, another massive demonstration is planned, which is to occupy all of Meridiana Avenue, symbolically going from the Catalan Parliament to outside the city.

"We have to fight the same evils as the Enlightenment: obscurantism, fanaticism and tyranny", stated Consuelo Madrigal, the Director of Spain's Public Prosecution office – directly appointed by the Spanish Government – when  referring to Catalonia's self-determination process on Thursday in Madrid. Madrigal also added that the Spanish institutions and "the rule of law" have also to fight against the "deviations and errors" of the Catalan self-determination process. However, despite these strong words, she nuanced her statement by stressing something which should be obvious in any democratic country: she "will not prosecute intentions" such as the road map that pro-independence parties have agreed upon. Madrigal also referred to the prosecution launched against the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, for the symbolic consultation vote on independence held on 9 November last.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has not ruled out the possibility of holding the Spanish General Elections – which should normally be held in late November or early December – at the same time as the Catalan Elections, which are to take place on 27 September. The Catalan Elections are to be transformed into a 'de facto' plebiscite on independence and have been called a year early, as the only option left in order to hold a self-determination vote, after Rajoy's total opposition to any such vote and his failing to even talk about it. During the last few weeks, the possibility of Rajoy calling the Spanish Elections early in order to ensure that they coincide with the Catalan vote (with the aim of partially neutralising the plebiscite effect) has been widely discussed. However, Rajoy also said that he would like to hold them "at the end of the year".

Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), which is the Liberal party within the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, has announced the sale of its headquarters, based in Barcelona. CDC, whose leader chairs the Catalan Government since 2010, has justified the decision in order "to save money", as they will relocate their activities in a smaller building, better adapted to the party's current needs, they said. However, the Córcega building is famous for being CDC's warranty before the judge investigating a corruption case (known as the Palau case) that could affect the party's funding scheme. The judge asked the CDC to pay a bailout or present assets as warranty for the payment, if the party was finally found guilty of illegal funding. No trial has taken place yet. The CDC explained they have replaced the headquarters by a group of other properties as warranty, in order to sell the main building.

The Catalan Government President and leader of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, complained on Wednesday that his ally, the left-wing pro-independence party ERC, is not fully honouring their agreement to call elections on 27 September, which should become a 'de facto' vote on independence. According to Mas, the ERC is not offering its full parliamentary support to the Government. "There is an agreement signed in January, and it is also an agreement that talks about stability until elections are called" and "some [parliamentary] votes are being lost, which harm such a stability agreement", he said. Furthermore, he stated that elections will be "expectedly" held on 27 September and did not rule out the option of running in a cross-party list yet. The leader of the left-wing party, Oriol Junqueras, replied that the ERC is honouring the agreement and that Catalans will vote on 27 September.

The governments of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Asturias, which are the only Autonomous Communities that are not run by the governing People's Party (PP), have protested once again against yet another recentralising measure of the Spanish Executive that violates their exclusive powers on Education. The representatives of these 5 Autonomous Communities, which together represent almost 50% of Spain's population, left a meeting organised by the Spanish Minister for Education, José Ignacio Wert, held to present a new centralist and imposed measure in this field: from now on, the final exams of the obligatory education cycle and the baccalaureate (A-levels) will be drafted by the Spanish Government, which will make sure they are "homogenous" for the whole of Spain, as Wert said. Far from being anecdotal, the measure means subjects such as History of Catalonia, Catalan Geography and Catalan Language and Literature will not be included in the exams or will be treated as second-class subjects. 

CataloniaVotes.eu provides an international audience with basic information on Catalonia as well as its self-determination process. On Thursday 22 April, the website will celebrate its 1^st anniversary with almost 150,000 hits. According to its traffic statistics, people based in the USA, the UK and France were its top followers in these first 12 months. The website is an initiative of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), an organisation backed by the Catalan Government, the 4 Provincial Councils, universities, chambers of commerce, the main business-owner associations, trade unions and FC Barcelona, among other public and private institutions. CataloniaVotes is available in English, German and French.