Politics

Puigdemont received the visit of Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’ leader this Friday amid the Spanish investiture deadlock. Rivera called for Puigdemont’s “government and his party to take part in the reform process that Spain needs”, especially regarding the negotiation of “a new funding system”. “Catalans can’t remain apart from this” warned Rivera. In response, Puigdemont stressed that “Catalonia would be there” but insisted on the government’s roadmap towards independence, a path which according to Rivera is “a dead end, full of political tension and with few solutions for Catalans”. Rivera also emphasised that he will “never support a pro-independence process” as he doesn’t wish “for Catalonia to remain outside of Spain and Europe”, and transmitted this to the Catalan President.

The Spanish Police’s division for Economic and Fiscal crimes (UDEF) arrested this Friday Miguel Bernard, the leader of Spanish extreme right organisation Manos Limpias, for having allegedly extorted several banks and companies, asking them for money in exchange for not promoting legal actions against them. Luis Pineda, the president of the Association of Banking Users, Ausbanc, has also been arrested for the same crime and the investigation is still ongoing. Manos Limpias is a trade union of public employees, which has promoted several investigations and judicial procedures concerning different public figures and renowned companies in Spain. In 2014 they presented a criminal complaint against former Catalan President Artur Mas for charges of rebellion and sedition and also sued pro-independence grassroots organisation Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and its former President, Carme Forcadell.

The European Parliament will ask for the domestic energy supply not to be cut off during winter and resume the supply to those who are currently without it. The decision coincides with the recent suspension by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) of the Catalan law against energy poverty, which guaranteed energy supply to those families who couldn’t pay their bills. The TC considered the Catalan decree “unconstitutional” as it “invaded competences” of the Spanish State. In an interview with CNA, Green MEP Tamás Meszerics, who promoted the moratorium, stressed “the role of the local authorities in fighting against energy poverty”. “If a regional government is able to finance, at least partly, this policy, I don’t see why it shouldn’t go forward”, he added.

The time for the main Spanish parties to continue negotiating and agree to form new government appears to be coming to an end. To explore if any of the candidates is likely to obtain the necessary support to be invested as new Spanish President, Philip VI announced a new round of meetings to take place on the 25^th and 26^th of April. If the formations fail to reach an agreement and the investiture deadlock continues, the Royal Household will “procced to the dissolution of both chambers”, the Spanish Parliament and the Senate, “and call for new elections within the terms established by the Spanish Constitution”. Conservative People’s Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy, has been acting as Spanish President since the 20^th of December 2015, as elections showed a fragmented scenario, where none of the parties obtained an absolute majority nor achieved any agreement to form government.

Spain’s justice has “room for improvement” especially regarding the “number of administrative cases pending” and the “clearance rate” for civil and commercial litigation. This is what the EU’s Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, stated this Monday at the presentation of the 2016 EU Justice Scoreboard, a document which gives a comparative overview of the efficiency, quality and independence of justice systems in the EU Member States. “Perceived judicial independence” of Spain’s courts and its magistrates is the sixth lowest of the 28 Member States and 56% of the citizens and companies surveyed considered it “fairly bad” or “very bad”. Only Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Bulgaria and Slovakia got worse marks. “Interference or pressure from government and politicians” is the main cause of this bad perception of judicial independence.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Spanish alternative left ‘Podemos’Secretary General, Pablo Iglesias, met this Friday at Palau de la Generalitat. Iglesias assured before the media that he transmitted to Puigdemont his “compromise regarding the celebration of a referendum in Catalonia” which is “the best solution to the current deadlock”. “Catalan society has to decide and the vast majority of Catalans want to do so”, he stated. The Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, explained the content of the meeting to the media and emphasised “Puigdemont’s intention to keep the roadmap”towards independence “which will continue to be developed”regardless of the negotiations to form a new government in Spain. The meeting comes one day after the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’and Podemos met to discuss a possible triple agreement to form an alternative government to that currently ruling in Spain, composed by the conservative People’s Party (PP). 

The pro-independence forces in the Catalan Parliament, governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, reaffirmed this Thursday the agreement to start building the Catalan Republic, which was approved by the Catalan Chamber on the 9th of November and later suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC). Both parties have supported the motion presented by CUP which aimed to relight the proposal. Thus, 71 MPs of the 135 sitting in the Parliament voted in favour, while the 11 MPs from alternative left ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ have abstained. Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) and Catalan People’s Party (PPC), which is the Catalan branch of the conservative and current governing party in Spain PP, voted against the motion. “We are here to do what we said we would do” stated ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP, songwriter and anti-Franco activist, Lluís Llach. On the other hand, PPC’s Xavier García Albiol stated that the vote didn’t mean anything as “Catalonia will continue to be Spain, whether you like it or not”.

Pro-independence radical left CUP presented a document analysing the recent political strategy regarding Catalonia’s push for independence and the steps to be taken in the near future. The document sets an ultimatum to Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his government to keep the commitment in relation to the agreed roadmap towards independence. CUP urge pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’to make a clear step “on the way towards the rupture”by the 10^th of January, when the government will celebrate its first year in office. Otherwise, CUP will consider these 12 months “a fraud”and will therefore promote “a change of paradigm”. The document also nuances that this step has to “turn”the “contention”expressed so far in the government’s political and public discourse.

The Government has announced that within three months it will promote a new plan of action to implement electronic voting. The plan of action includes tests for the novel system to be carried out before the end of the year, and the Government hopes for it to be implemented by the next Parliamentary elections. Catalan Minister for Public Administration Meritxell Borràs explained that the objective is to avoid a repetition of the “shame”of the elections held on the 27^th of September, during which a large number of Catalans residing abroad who were registered to vote did not have their ballots counted, although the documents were mailed on time. While Borràs, noted that she has not yet communicated the decision to promote the electronic voting system with Madrid, she has no doubt that the plan of action will be met with “maximum collaboration”. 

Barcelona’s Mayor, Ada Colau, travelled to Brussels this Tuesday to report Spain’s “immoral”management regarding the refugee crisis, which she described as “deeply shaming”. According to Colau, citizens in Barcelona “are asking to be a host city”and “die of shame and outrage when they see images of Lesbos and Idomeni”. “We are part of the solution, we have expertise and are willing to help”she stated, but regretted that sometimes local governments “are not taken into account”. Together with other European mayors, Colau met the EU's migration Commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, and asked them to “listen to the local governments”. Avramopoulos assured that he “took note”of Colau’s demands but emphasised that EU support to local authorities is always “through the Member States”.

Spain’s executive position in relation to Catalonia’s push for independence and its “refusal to budge” concerns the international community. Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, former MEP Raül Romeva, explained this Friday that none of the diplomats he has talked to so far understand why “there is no one at the other end of the table”to discuss the situation in Catalonia. According to him, the international community rejects Spain’s executive campaign to confront both “politically and judicially”and tackle the situation in Catalonia through the court. Romeva also added that the perception that Catalonia’s push for independence and its future relationship with Spain is an internal matter is changing, and the international community is becoming aware that it is a topic which may also affect them.

Three new Catalan government delegations will be opened during this term of office. According to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Jordi Solé, the new delegation in Lisbon will be in full operation “in the following months” while those planned for the Vatican City and Morocco are still pending deployment by the Government. Although these three new delegations have already been appealed by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC), Solé insisted on the “key role” that these institutions play in Catalonia’s foreign affairs strategy and emphasised the government’s will to “continue deploying Catalonia’s institutional representation in the world”. The Catalan government already has seven delegations abroad, as well as three more projected in the short-term and some others to be opened in the near future.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and current Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy presided over the tribute to the victims of the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps one year ago, on its way from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, with 150 on board. Both presidents exchanged “cordial” words during the institutional event but avoided commenting on any political issue, sources from the government stated. This Wednesday’s coincidence was the first meeting between Puigdemont and Rajoy since the Catalan President took office, on the 12^th of January. The Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, noted that Rajoy didn’t call Puigdemont when he was instated as President or to “show condolence” after the coach crash which killed 13 international students this past Sunday in the south of Catalonia.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont condemned the terrorist attacks which killed at least 34 people this Tuesday in Brussels and stated that terrorism “won’t bend the democratic will to build a Europe based on values such as peace and coexistence”. He also called the Belgian consul in Catalonia to offer his help and support. The Catalan anti-terrorist coordination cabinet met this Tuesday and decided to keep the level for terrorist attacks at level 4 (out of 5). However, extra security measures have been taken at the Catalan airports and throughout Barcelona’s metro network. The Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, urged the Spanish executive to convene the National Security Board in order to set in place “the maximum coordination possible”. “When it comes to security and anti-terrorism the government cannot act provisonally”, she stated. 

11 MEPs from different parties, amongst them Catalan liberal party CDC MEP Ramon Tremosa, have sent a parliamentary question to the EC’s vice president, Federica Mogherini, regarding the repeated use of the Spanish port of Ceuta by Russian military ships. According to Ceuta’s local press, this port, located in North Africa, was used by Russia’s fleet at least 57 times between 2011 and 2015 along the ships’ route towards the Black Sea. The fleet included frigates, destroyers and attack submarines. The use of this port by Russian ships coincided with the European fines against Moscow due to its participation through third parties in the civil conflict in Ukraine. Thus, MEPs have asked Mogherini to clarify whether this support from the Spanish authorities contravened ­­­­the European fines and why.