Millo takes over as delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia “willing to dialogue”

Barcelona (CNA).- Enric Millo, the new delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, took office this Monday promising to “reduce distances” between the Catalan and Spanish institutions and aiming “to ease” the political atmosphere. The former MP and spokesman of the Catalan branch of the conservative People’s Party (PPC) in the Parliament assured that he is “willing to dialogue” but insisted that the Spanish Constitution has to be respected and if it is to be “modernised” this would have to be done “through dialogue and consensus rather than through imposition”. The Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who is also in charge of the recently created Ministry for Territorial Administrations, attended the event and assured that the delegation will be “the communication channel” between Catalonia and Spain.  

During his first speech as delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, Millo assured that he will work “without stridency, with an honest predisposition to dialogue, without impositions, but respecting the legality”. In this vein, he called for respect for the Spanish Constitution and added that although it can be “modernised” this would have to be done “through dialogue and consensus rather than through imposition”.

Millo insisted on his aim to make the delegation of the Spanish Government in Catalonia “the home of all Catalans” and emphasised his commitment to opening a new era and turning the delegation into “a real channel of communication” between the Spanish and the Catalan administrations and a “meeting point to dialogue”. The former PPC MP assured that in this new era he will try to position Catalonia as one of Spain’s driving forces again.

Millo also insisted on the need to dialogue with the Catalan Government and with the entire local administration, since dialogue “is the best way to guarantee welfare and coexistence”. He also called everyone to “overcome the discriminatory attitudes” and “restore tranquillity” so that citizens’ “real problems” can be tackled.

Millo took office in an institutional event which wasn’t attended by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. Representing the Catalan executive was Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva. Barcelona’s Mayor, Ada Colau also attended the event, together with the Catalan Socialists’ leader, Miquel Iceta, and several members of the PPC, such as its president, Alícia Sánchez Camacho and general coordinator, Xavier García Albiol.

Representing the Spanish Government were the Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, who is also in charge of the recently created Ministry for Territorial Administrations, the Spanish Minister for Health and former PPC MP, Dolors Montserrat, former Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz and Millo’s predecessor as delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, María de los Llanos de Luna.

Munté trusts in Millo’s knowledge of the “Catalan reality”

The Catalan Government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, described Millo as a person “who is well aware of the Catalan reality” and admitted that “it wouldn’t be difficult” to find changes compared to Millo’s predecessor, María de los Llanos de Luna, regarding the predisposition to dialogue.

Although both Millo and Sáenz de Santamaría praised the work of Llanos de Luna at the head of the Spanish delegation in Catalonia and insisted that she “set the bar high”, the relationship between the two bodies have reportedly been difficult. In this vein, Sáenz de Santamaría admitted that Llanos de Luna’s work was carried out “during complex and difficult times”.

Spanish Government considers it a “new era”

Sáenz de Santamaría insisted that the delegation represents “the Spanish Government in Catalonia” and insisted on the need to have “institutional respect” between Catalan and Spanish institutions in this “new era”. Indeed, the Spanish Vice President herself committed to setting up her own office in the delegation and visiting Catalonia regularly.

She also stressed the need to respect the “constitutional framework to guarantee coexistence” in Catalonia and her willingness to address the future as “being part of the solution rather than looking for problems”.