catalan way

The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, admitted on Friday that “all democrats should be scared” at the tone that the current Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, is using with Catalonia. After Rajoy and other members of his cabinet accused the Catalans of planning a “coup d’état” for organizing an independence referendum, Iglesias said that the Spanish conservatives “are capable of anything”. “It would be counter-productive to use force” against the Catalan Government, warned Iglesias, who accused the PP of not being “up to the task” of leading Spain and facing its “multinational reality”. In an interview with radio RAC1, Iglesias said that calling a unilateral referendum on independence in Catalonia is a “legitimate” option but insisted that only a “legal” vote with “international recognition” would allow the Catalans to really become independent.

The high speed railway line that connects Girona to Barcelona registered 1.01 million travelers throughout 2016. That is the same volume of passengers that went from Catalonia’s capital city to Tarragona over the last nine years according to statistics provided by Renfe, the Spanish train operator. Barcelona is not only connected to Girona and Tarragona; Avant trains also travel to Lleida. This route has also been a great success in 2016, used by 4.03 million passengers. Altogether 10.7 million people have traveled from the four Catalan provincial capitals since 2008. 2016 was the most successful year with 2.05 million travelers.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, admitted on Thursday that he was disappointed by the Spanish President's negative answer to his invitation to begin negotiations about an independence referendum. “It is not the answer that we were hoping for, and it won’t help solve the conflict,” said Puigdemont during the inauguration of an economic conference in Sitges. Mariano Rajoy warned the Catalan President that negotiations on the referendum are “impossible” and that he will “not allow” him to “unilaterally liquidate the Spanish Constitution, Spain’s unity and national sovereignty”. Rajoy suggested to Puigdemont that he present his referendum plans before Congress. The Catalan President insisted that Catalans have already done so on “numerous occasions”, always to find their proposals turned down. The leader of the opposition in Catalonia, unionist Inés Arrimadas, said that the Catalan Government is “trapped” and cannot continue with its independence plans.

The Spanish Minister of Defense and Secretary General of the ruling People’s Party, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, warned on Thursday that the Spanish government will use “all of the tools” at its disposal to avoid the celebration of an independence referendum in Catalonia. De Cospedal said that the Catalans’ plan to hold a self-determination vote is an “assault on the Constitutional system” and “the law”. According to the minister, the Spanish Government will not “bow to threats or blackmail” and will act “intelligently but with determination” if Catalonia goes ahead with a vote. “We are determined to stop ballot boxes being put out there,” she insisted, warning that anyone who “collaborates” with the organization of the referendum will “have to face the consequences and criminal charges”. “Everyone should respect the law,” she pointed out, warning that those who “manufacture ballot boxes, put out ballot boxes, or offer spaces as polling stations” will logically have to face the consequences.

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, needed less than 24 hours to reject his Catalan counterpart’s petition to start discussions for the celebration of an independence referendum. “It is impossible,” Rajoy warned Carles Puigdemont, urging him to present his petition before the Spanish Congress instead. “It is not possible to seek to negotiate against the true democratic mechanisms and against the law,” added the Spanish President. Despite saying that he has a “total and sincere” willingness to “reach agreements” with Catalonia, Rajoy pointed out there are “limits” on the issues he can discuss. “Neither you nor I have the authority to negotiate what we do not have the power to negotiate,” he insisted, adding that doing so would “mean hijacking the rights of the Spanish people”. Rajoy said that the Spanish rule of law “foresees mechanisms for presenting all kinds of political aspirations” if they follow “democratic channels” and “obtain the required parliamentary support”. The Spanish President also warned Puigdemont that his plans to go ahead with a vote or even a hypothetical declaration of independence are “a serious threat to coexistence and the constitutional order”.

Sinn Féin’s leader, Gerry Adams, praised “the peaceful and democratic nature” of Catalonia’s pro-independence aspirations and applauded the “positivity of the campaign” to call a referendum. “That’s a matter of the people there to strategize on, but certainly the right to a referendum is a very modest and very simple demand and it's one which the parties in government have been mandated to do,” he told the CNA. Thus, he called on the Spanish Government “to do the right thing” and lamented some of their recent actions, especially the prosecution of the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell and other Catalan officials “for doing their job”. Adams met with Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, this Wednesday in the Irish Parliament and reaffirmed his “sympathy” for Catalonia’s political aspirations and praised the “bonds” between the two communities.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, sent a letter on Wednesday to his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, to formally seek the start of negotiations for an independence referendum. “As I have told you personally, and publicly said on numerous occasions, the Catalan Government has expressed its utmost willingness to find a political and negotiated solution to the demands of the Catalan people to decide their own future,” reads the letter, seen by the CNA. Puigdemont said to Rajoy that they should discuss the “terms and conditions” of an independence vote “as soon as possible” and warned that now is a “decisive moment” for both governments. According to the Catalan President, the Catalan issue demands the “utmost attention” from the Spanish government, which he urged should come sit at the negotiating table. Puigdemont explained to Rajoy in his letter that the Catalan Parliament approved a resolution on the May 18 which expressed “the will of the Government to organize a referendum in accordance with the Spanish government and in line with the standards set by the Venice Commission”.

Catalonia shows commitment to fight climate change. Coinciding with the inauguration of the Barcelona ‘Innovate4Climate’ conference, the Catalan Minister of Territory and Sustainability, Josep Rull, confirmed on Wednesday that the Catalan Parliament will approve a law before summer to fight climate change. In declarations to the press after opening the conference, the minister highlighted that this law “will be the first one in this field in the south of Europe” and that the Catalan government’s aim is to guarantee a "minimum impact" of climate change on people and the environment. Rull also highlighted that it is an "ethical commitment" for companies and administrations to fight climate change, and stressed that is also actually a “profitable business”.

The Spanish Minister of Health, Dolors Montserrat, defended on Wednesday that the current political debate in Catalonia, where the government plans to hold an independence referendum in autumn, does not damage Barcelona's candidacy to host the European Medicines Agency. In comments to the press from Brussels, where she held meetings with the Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis and the Secretary-Generals of the Commission and the Council, Montserrat said that “no one” had raised the issue of independence. “We are the government of all Catalans and we want the EMA in Barcelona. I am strongly convinced that (the independence debate) does not affect this at all. No one has asked me about it,” she insisted. Montserrat said that the Catalan capital is already “ready” to host the 900 EMA staff members at the iconic Torre Agbar building and said that Barcelona “fulfills” all the criteria.

The Spanish president, Mariano Rajoy, intensified the tone against Catalonia in the Senate on Tuesday, where he accused the Catalans of planning a “coup d’état”. He blamed Catalonia for wanting to “liquidate” Spanish unity, comparing their conduct with the “worst dictatorships”. Puigdemont’s referendum proposal is “one of the most arbitrary actions the democracy has seen”, he said. Rajoy insisted that currently “Spain is a democracy and a State governed by the rule of law”, which his government “will preserve”. The Spanish President also complained that the Catalan government had changed the Parliament’s Set of Rules and was planning to move forward with the Law on Transitional Jurisprudence “in 24 hours”, “without a debate, without the opposition being able to have its say”. Neus Munté, spokesperson for the Catalan Government and Minister of Presidency, said that the fact that “members of the Spanish government use a harsh term like “coup d’état” is very “unfortunate”. She assured that the Catalan government’s aim is to talk about “speaking with each other”, and therefore it is completely inappropriate to call “such an offer to the President of the Spanish Government a ‘coup d’état’”.

The Catalan Government decided on Tuesday to formally request negotiations with the Spanish government on the terms and conditions for carrying out the independence referendum. After the meeting of the Executive Council, the Catalan Minister of Presidency and Government Spokesperson, Neus Munté, explained in declarations to the press that the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will send a letter during the next few days to the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, explaining this position. The Catalan Government avoided setting a deadline for getting a response from the Spanish government and expects a “clear” answer “reflecting the same civilized attitude as the Catalan government” and “an open mind and statesmanship,” Munté added. The Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said that Madrid “will prevent the referendum” because the Spanish state has the “power” to do so, as it represents, she argued, “democracy”.

The independence process “won't be a problem” for investing in Catalonia, said Paul Cartuyvels, Director for European Affairs of the French multinational Bouygues, a company with more than 125,000 employees and delegations in 19 countries. Cartuyvels participated in a meeting on foreign investment with entrepreneurs and companies from Europe, the U.S. and Asia, organized by the Catalan government during the “European Business Summit”. Bouygues is interested in Catalonia’s Global 3D Priniting Hub and considers the country “a natural partner for high level innovation”. The Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget, who explained Catalonia’s business assets during the meeting, said that the political debate is not negatively affecting foreign investment: in fact, in the last 5 years Catalonia has seen a 36% increase in foreign investment.

Catalonia will celebrate an independence referendum no matter what happens. This is the message that Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, Vice President, Oriol Junqueras, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Raül Romeva, defended during their conference in Madrid on Monday. “We won’t leave the negotiating table without an agreement and we will wait until the last minute” to achieve one, promised Puigdemont, urging the Spanish government to engage in discussions. “I invite you to address this issue seriously and meaningfully,” the Catalan President asked his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, adding that it would be “irresponsible” not to offer a “serious, real, and sincere” solution to the Catalans’ demands. Puigdemont also warned that his government “will never” give up the Catalans’ democratic right to self-determination. Vice President Oriol Junqueras also stressed that the referendum will take place even if the members of government face “prosecution, are banned from office or are convicted”.

The Catalan Vice President, Oriol Junqueras, on his way to Madrid to give a conference with Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Raül Romeva, explained in declarations to the press: “We are going to Madrid like we go to any other place in the world: to explain ourselves, but not to ask anyone's permission. The only permission we want and need is the permission of the Catalan people.” “We never miss an opportunity to explain our full commitment to democracy and the referendum,” Junqueras added. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy raised the tone and demanded that the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, “have the guts to defend the referendum before Congress”.

Ireland’s ‘Houses of the Oireachtas’ will create a friendship group on Catalonia in order to get a deeper understanding of its political situation, as well as enhancing trade relationships and promoting cultural exchange. The initiative gathers together members of the Irish Assembly and the Senate representing Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Sinn Féin, the main parties in the bicameral parliament. Thus, Ireland is following the example of other countries such as the United Kingdom, Finland, Switzerland, and Estonia, who also have discussion groups on Catalonia. Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will travel to Dublin on Wednesday to attend the presentation of the cross-party group and explain Catalonia’s referendum roadmap to the participants.