Declaration of independence was 'legitimate' but insufficient, says former parliament speaker 

Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence in 2017 was "legitimate" but insufficient, as "it did not serve to make the republic effective," the former parliament speaker, Carme Forcadell, has said.  

The declaration of independence should now be "renewed", Forcadell said, as "the basis for making another one that can be implemented." 

In an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN) six years on from the parliament's vote to declare independence, the Esquerra Republicana politician argued that "we must go one step further" and that this step is "international recognition and implementation." 

With pro-independence parties Esquerra and Junts locked in negotiations with Spain's Socialists over the potential re-election of Pedro Sánchez as prime minister, Forcadell said that she "would not understand" support for Sánchez without a "commitment" from Spain to start talking about the right to self-determination. 

Independence not implemented 

While parliament voted in favor of independence on October 27, 2017, it was not implemented, with the then president Carles Puigdemont immediately suspending it. The Spanish government reacted by sacking the Catalan cabinet and imposing direct rule. 

Looking back, Forcadell says that she "respects" the vote, that it "has legitimacy," because it was approved by a democratically elected parliamentary majority chosen by Catalans. 

But the declaration "could not be implemented" and "it has had no international recognition." Therefore, she believes in a new declaration of independence, which "will be as legitimate as the other one." 

In contrast, the group Forcadell used to lead, the Catalan National Assembly, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the declaration is still "valid" today. "It only needs to be applied and made effective." 

Forcadell, who was jailed for her role in the independence push and subsequently pardoned, admitted that the pro-independence movement "underestimated the power of the Spanish state and overestimated the European Union." 

"We didn't think that practically the next day we would have 155," she says, referring to the article of the Spanish constitution used to impose direct rule. "We didn't think that the state would use violence." 

The most important thing that stands out, however, is that "when we have come together, parties, institutions and citizens, we are very strong, we achieve things and the country moves forward," she says. 

Puigdemont: "We won't give up" 

Former president Puigdemont has revindicated the independence declaration of six years ago with a post on X. 

"We are keeping it alive for when the independence movement as a whole knows how to come together in a single strategy, overcoming partisan temptations," he wrote. 

"We haven't given up on it and we won't give up on it, no matter how difficult it is and no matter how hard some try to get rid of it," he said. 

The Catalan parliament is the "legitimate representative" of the people of Catalonia and "all peoples have the right to self-determination," he added. 

Puigdemont, now a Junts MEP, has lived in exile in Belgium since 2017. A return to Catalonia could be on the cards if an amnesty is agreed as part of the ongoing post-electoral talks.