Catalans should vote on remaining in EU or not, argues Puigdemont

Carles Puigdemont has argued that Catalans should vote on whether they want to remain a part of the European Union or not, although he himself is in favour of remaining in the EU.

In an interview with Israeli TV channel 1 Kan, received by newspaper La Vanguardia, he said that “Spaniards and Europeans do not stop saying that we will remain outside the EU, but it is up to the citizens of Catalonia to make this decision”

In the interview, Puigdemont described the EU as a "club of decadent and obsolete countries” which are increasingly tied to “debatable economic interests."

According to the information collected by La Vanguardia, Puigdemont, who declared himself as a supporter of the EU, stated that "maybe there are not many people who want to be part" of it,” and that the it is “so insensitive to the abuses of human rights, of the democratic rights of a part of the territory, only because a post-Franco right wishes it as such.”

Puigemont's statement has been criticized by PPC leader Xavier Garcia Albiol."He wants a referendum to leave the EU (...) a referendum so that these farmers who have received 265 million euros in 2016 will lose out and no longer receive funds, he said. 

The Secretary General of the PP, María Dolores de Cospedal, has accused Puigdemont of having caused a "stop" in the economy and said that the European Medicines Agency has not come to Barcelona because they have Asked: "How should we go to a place where there are lords who want us to stop being part of the European Union?"

The leader of Cs, Albert Rivera, has compared Puigdemont to the leader of the French far-right Marine Le Pen, for saying Catalans should vote on whether they want to remain in the EU.

“At last Puigdemont’s true colours are shown. It is the lifelong populism that has always wanted to destroy Europe,” he said, pointing out that Le Pen had promised a similar referendum if she became French president.

“Populism and nationalism are two sides of the same currency,” Rivera said, adding that the coming election is “also the battle of Europe,” and not just Catalonia.