Montilla asks Zapatero for an ?attitude change? regarding Catalonia?s autonomy

Madrid (CNA).- The Catalan President, José Montilla, met this morning in La Moncloa with Spanish Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero to talk about the recent Spanish Constitutional Court sentence on the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. The meeting followed a week of intense debate and, in particular, the massive reaction against the sentence by Catalan citizens, which gathered more than a million people on the streets of Barcelona. The meeting between both presidents was more than 2 hours long and, according to Montilla, they discussed the current scenario and “politics”, rather than concrete future measures and a calendar. Montilla has claimed the right of the Catalan people to define Catalonia as a nation. He also demanded a “change of attitude” towards Catalonia, which should be shown with “political gestures” and not only with transfers of powers. The Spanish Vice President, María Teresa Fernández De la Vega, said that the Spanish Government has listened to Montilla and the Catalan people and that all these claims fit into the “plural and common project” of Spain. The meeting comes one day after Catalan parties showed their lack of a common position regarding the trimming of the Catalan top law and the colossal citizen demonstration that followed the day after in Barcelona.
Montilla met Zapatero in Madrid at the palace of La Moncloa (the Spanish PM’s office and residence). After the meeting in La Moncloa’s pressroom, Catalan President José Montilla stressed that “Catalonia’s mouth cannot be shut up” and that “Spanish society cannot cover its eyes” and has to face this reality. Montilla claimed in front of the press that Catalonia is a nation and that the current political problem is a problem of both Catalonia and Spain. He said to be “reasonably satisfied” regarding the meeting with Zapatero, who did not talk afterwards. Instead, the Spanish Vice President and spokesperson of the Government faced the press, saying that Catalonia’s claims are legitimate and that they can perfectly fit into the Spanish “common project”. She also added that the Spanish government is willing to do these “political gestures”.

Montilla also asked about “the common project”, stressing the need for plurality. Montilla insisted that Spain must recognise its plurality. He has explained the Catalan position to Zapatero in hopes that he will understand that the trimming has not only a material but immaterial effects, which is even more worrying. According to Montilla, “the intangible elements are worse” because “they affect the trust, the moral of a people such as the Catalan”.

The background

The Spanish Constitutional Court issued 2 weeks ago the sentence on the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. After an extremely controversial process which lasted 4 years long and had a clear political intention, the Court decided to declare 14 articles unconstitutional and reinterpret 27 of them. The decision was satisfactory for the ruling Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and PM Zapatero, who voted for the law 4 years ago, arguing that “95% of the text” was kept. The conservative and Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP) was pleased with the sentence, as they were the ones who appealed the law. However, Catalan society is angry, offended even. The most represented parties in the Catalan Parliament, which have 90% of the seats, have strongly protested. Civil society has also reacted, with a demonstration of 1.1 million people according to the police or 1.5 million according to the demonstration’s organisers. The Court’s sentence has not cut out a lot of content from a quantity point of view, but it has been perceived as an attack from a quality point of view. The Court ran over the Catalan people’s will expressed in a binding referendum that approved the law, which was already in place for about 4 years. In addition, it trimmed the most important points from a Catalan point of view, removing the reasons why the Statute of Autonomy had been renewed.

Lack of unity

For all of these reasons, today’s meeting was extremely important, as it was the institutional answer of the two executive powers involved. Legislative powers reacted throughout this week, showing a lack of unity between Catalan political parties. The demonstration in Barcelona claimed that Catalonia is a nation and asked Spain for respect and Catalan politicians for unity. In these first 10 days following the demonstration, with Catalan elections coming up in about 3 months, Catalan parties have not been able to push for a united position in the Catalan and Spanish Parliaments.

The Catalan parties tried to push for 4 different resolutions in the Spanish Parliament. They were coming from the Catalan Centre-Right Nationalist Party (CiU), the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) and the Catalan Eco-Socialist Party (ICV). However, due to the lack of unity, none of them were approved. The PSC voted with its federated ruling Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and not with the rest of the Catalan parties, breaking the unity. In response, the rest of the Catalan parties did not vote for the PSC’s resolution, which was too soft according to them and not respectful enough to the will of Catalan citizens.