Spain’s King refuses to receive Parliament’s President

Barcelona (CNA).- . Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, requested an audience with Spain’s King to personally communicate the investiture of Carles Puigdemont as the new Catalan President. However, the Royal Household refused to receive her and asked Forcadell to do so in writing. Traditionally, the presidents of the Catalan, Basque and Galician Parliaments travel to Madrid to communicate to the monarch the decision of their respective chambers and thus this historic procedure hasn’t been followed. According to Philip VI’s secretary’s letter, the Parliament should communicate the investiture “complying with the procedures established by the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy”. The Parliament has confirmed that the official communication has been made by email, as the Royal Household requested.

Philip VI already expressed his unconformity with the pro-independence proposal approved by the Catalan Chamber in November. Moreover, the Royal family is this Monday in the spotlight as former king Juan Carlos I’s daughter Cristina is being put on trial for allegedly appropriating public money for her own profit, through setting up a non-profit foundation, Institute Nóos, together with her husband Iñaki Urdangarín.

Indeed, this is not the first time that the formal procedure of travelling to Madrid to personally communicate the decision of the Parliament hasn’t been followed. In 2012, the Catalan chamber had to communicate its decision in writing to the monarch at that time, Juan Carlos I, because he was hunting in Botswana.

Besides this modification, the calendar to formalise Puigdemont’s investiture continues as scheduled. The King’s official validation will be published this Tuesday in the Spanish State's Official Journal (BOE) and Puigdemont will take office tomorrow.