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In the annual Debate on the State of the Union in the Spanish Parliament, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy repeated that he will “never” accept putting Spain’s unity in question. He said that the next Catalan Parliament elections, scheduled for 27 September, are not a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence, as pro-independence parties are claiming. However, Rajoy said he is willing to talk but only if “the law is always respected”. The Spokesperson of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, emphasised that “not making any proposal” to address Catalonia’s claims is “political negligence”. Furthermore, he regretted that the Spanish Government is not respecting the law when it is recentralising powers and not respecting Catalonia’s self-rule. The Spokesperson for the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC, Alfred Bosch, told Rajoy that “the sooner he acknowledges” that there is an independence referendum in September, “the sooner we will find solutions”.

Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the eldest son of former Catalan President Jordi Pujol, has testified before the Catalan Parliament’s commission investigating fraud and corruption. He did so after the testimonies of his father and mother, while all 3 have been indicted and are in the middle of judicial processes for alleged fraud. Unlike his parents, Pujol Jr answered most of the questions posed - except those related to money the family had kept in Andorra for 34 years without informing the Spanish tax authorities. Pujol Jr said he will explain this directly to the judge in his testimony scheduled for the 26^th of March. However, he did speak before the parliamentary commission for 4.5 hours about some of his business activities and his accumulated wealth. He also denied having operated from fiscal havens (besides the family money in Andorra) and having practiced influence peddling or any corrupt activity profiting from his father’s position. Besides this, he also emphasised he is an “intimate friend” of the current Catalan President, Artur Mas, despite the latter having denied this a few days ago.

Before the Catalan Parliament's commission investigating fraud and corruption, former President of the Catalan Government Jordi Pujol has testified in order to address his family's alleged fiscal fraud. Pujol was asked to talk before the parliamentary committee despite having been indicted by the judge and having already testified in front of her in January. Pujol, who ran the Executive between 1980 and 2003, did not add any new information and refused to answer many questions, referring to his previous statement before the judge and the previous hearing before the Catalan Parliament in September. He criticised the current parliamentary commission for not sufficiently proving their accusations., Pujol's wife, Marta Ferrusola, who is also indicted and who has previously testified before the judge, also spoke before the parliamentary commission. Ferrusola did not answer many questions but stressed that she "never" travelled to Andorra to manage funds.

A day after the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, announced his plan to further develop the so-called state structures before the 27 September elections, the leader of the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has once again requested to be part of the Executive and sit in Cabinet. Junqueras justified his request in order “to guarantee the indispensable state structures”, such as Catalonia’s own tax administration and Social Security system. The embryonic frame of such structures should be created before the next Catalan elections, which will be called early and will be transformed into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence from Spain. On Tuesday, Mas had already ruled out the possibility of the ERC sitting in Government and, on Wednesday, the Catalan President stressed that the current Cabinet will only be in office for the next 6 months.

On Monday, the National Executive Commission of the centre-right pro-Catalan State Coalition CiU, which is its leading committee, has explicitly referred to last week's crisis. Last Tuesday, the CiU MPs in the Spanish Parliament voted differently, showing a split within the coalition, coinciding with the two integrated parties: the Liberal and pro-independence force CDC (the largest one) on one side and the Christian-Democrat and pro-Spanish unity party UDC on the other. The CiU's Spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament and leader of the UDC, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, believed the CDC MPs had not obeyed his voting instructions to support the Penal Code's reform, while the Liberal MPs were insisting that the CiU group had previously agreed on abstaining. Now, the CiU leadership considers the crisis to be over and highlighted their "full support" for Duran i Lleida.

Some roads have been blocked for a few hours and thousands of children had their schools shut down for the day. These have been the main effects of a small snowstorm that covered most of Catalonia during Wednesday morning. Catalonia has a wide diversity of landscapes, combining alpine mountains with river deltas, flat agricultural plains with rocky coasts, hills covered by forests with sandy beaches. This diversity is concentrated in an area the size of Belgium, which results in a wide diversity of climates. In the Pyrenees, snow is present for most of the winter, but this is not the case for the rest of Catalonia. In the flatlands around Lleida or in hilly areas of Girona or the northern part of Barcelona Province, it tends to snow at least once per year, but not in the rest of the country, where it only snows once every 4 or 5 years. Therefore, when snow arrives, transport problems and other issues tend to be also present.

The conservative Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, has appealed against the Catalan Executive’s 2015 budget bill, which will delay its definitive approval and implementation by up to one month. The new budget was supposed to be approved this week by the Catalan Parliament, after months of negotiations between the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC. The new bill will increase social spending and also increase funds for Catalonia’s own tax administration and for the launch of a Catalan Social Security agency. The Catalan Government accused the PP of “parliamentary filibusterism” and warned them that the appeal “will not stop the [self-determination] process” nor the creation of “state structures”. However, it will damage families in need, as it will delay the implementation of new social programmes.

After confessing that his family had kept a fortune in Andorra without informing tax authorities for 34 years, the President of the Catalan Government between 1980 and 2003 and founder of the centre-right Catalan nationalist coalition CiU, Jordi Pujol, his wife Marta Ferrussola and 3 of their 7 children (Marta, Mireia and Pere) testified before the judge investigating the case. They are indicted for alleged fiscal fraud and money laundering. During more than 2 hours, Pujol (aged 84) answered the judge’s and the anti-corruption public prosecutor’s questions. He insisted that his father had left a hand-written letter with instructions about 140 million pesetas secretly left in Andorra in 1980 for his wife and children, but not him, coming from his “illegal” activities selling currencies during the dictatorship. However, the defence has not yet presented any supporting documents. Besides this, 3 of Pujol’s other sons are indicted for other fiscal fraud and corruption cases.

The current President of the Catalan Government and leader of the centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, will have to testify as a witness before the Catalan Parliament’s committee investigating the alleged fiscal fraud and possible corruption committed by the former Catalan President and CiU’s leader until 2003, Jordi Pujol. Artur Mas is Pujol’s political heir and was the ‘number 2’ in his last cabinet. Pujol, who uninterruptedly chaired the Catalan Executive between 1980 and 2003, confessed last July that his family had kept a fortune in Andorra for the last 34 years without informing tax authorities. The confession shocked Catalan society, since the historical leader of the conservative Catalan nationalists was a crucial figure in the fight against Franco’s dictatorship, the transition to democracy and the recovery of Catalonia’s self-government. Now, Pujol, his wife and 6 of their 7 children are being investigated by the judiciary for alleged fiscal fraud and several corruption scandals. 

The governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU and the left-wing Catalan independence party ERC have reached an agreement to approve the Catalan Government’s budget for the current year. After the President of the Catalan Government and CiU leader, Artur Mas, and the ERC’s President, Oriol Junqueras, reached an agreement on holding early elections on 27 September as a plebiscite on Catalonia’s independence, both parties reopened the budget talks. After 10 days of negotiations, they have reached a definitive agreement, which includes a €100 million fund that will bring more resources for social programmes. They have also agreed to stop paying some allowances to senior officials. Furthermore, they will add €10 million to the development of Catalonia’s own tax administration and they will also create the Agency of Social Protection, which is to manage Catalonia’s Social Security system.

The Constitutional Court has accepted to debate the Spanish Government's last appeal against the Catalan Executive's tax on bank deposits, which has to be paid by financial entities. Such a decision represents the automatic cancellation of the tax for an initial period of 5 months. Catalonia approved such a measure in December 2012 and two weeks later, the Spanish Government approved its own tax with a 0% rate, so it was 'de facto' cancelling the regional taxes. However, instead of compensating Catalonia for having cancelled the tax – as it is legally obliged to do – the Spanish Government refused to do so, since it argued that the tax had not entered into force yet and took the issue to the Constitutional Court. The Court initially accepted the Spanish Executive's appeal and the tax was temporarily suspended, but in May 2013 it was lifted. In July 2014, the Spanish Government modified the tax with a 0.03% rate and in December it presented a new appeal against the Catalan tax, which brought in some €680 million in 2014.

Following the agreement reached last week between the President of the Catalan Government and leader of the governing centre-right pro-Catalan State coalition CiU, Artur Mas, and the President of the left-wing pro-independence party ERC, Oriol Junqueras, on calling early elections in September as a plebiscite on Catalonia’s independence from Spain, the Catalan Executive’s budget for 2015 is now closer to definitive approval. On Monday, the ERC MPs started to withdraw their full amendments to the different sections of the Catalan Government’s budget. Now, the ERC is asking the CiU and the Government to debate their specific amendments on precise programmes in order to have “a fairer budget” which is less regional and more that of a country in its “national transition”, they said.

The Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, strongly criticised the calling of early elections in Catalonia, announced by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, for 27 September as a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence. Sáenz de Santamaría stated that such a call shows Mas’ “failure” and his “incapacity” to run a government. She also said that the Catalan President is announcing elections 8 months in advance “to hide his ineffectiveness”. Besides this, the Spanish Deputy PM warned Catalan authorities that any measures adopted in the coming months that exceed Catalonia’s self-rule powers will be taken to the Constitutional Court. 

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, insisted on Friday that “a clear absolute majority” will be needed for the pro-independence parties in the early elections scheduled for 27 September to make the world understand that the creation of a new independent state must be negotiated. In a radio interview, Mas explained that the road map towards independence - if there is an electoral majority - is still being negotiated among the different parties and organisations, in order to run separately but with a shared road map in case of victory. This road map would include demanding the start of immediate negotiations with the Spanish Authorities to reach an agreement on Catalonia’s independence from Spain if a majority of citizens vote for this scenario on the 27^th of September. 

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is also leader of the conservative and Spanish nationalist People’s Party (PP), strongly criticised the announcement of early elections made by the Catalan President, Artur Mas, the evening before. Mas announced elections in Catalonia for 27 September this year, transformed into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. These elections are the only way Catalans can vote on this issue, taking into account the Spanish Government’s total opposition to even talking about self-determination demands, which were backed by an absolute majority of citizens in the last Catalan elections (held in November 2012) which themselves were already a plebiscite on having a legal vote on independence. However, as opposed to the British Government, Rajoy refused to even discuss these demands, has not made any concessions, and has showed total opposition, which has even involved the criminal prosecution of the Catalan President.