independence

The Catalan President asked Madrid to “pay attention to” the massive demonstration held in Barcelona and to stop being “politically short-sighted”. “Leave behind your imperial vanity, stop threatening us with the law as if we were criminals. We are normal, peaceful people”, he said to the Spanish government, in a short speech after 1.4 million people took to the streets of Barcelona in another big rally in favour of independence. Mas urged the central government to modify the law to allow a referendum because “that would not mean the end of the world”. “We have the right to be listened to, and not only that. We have the right to be helped in order to implement our democratic mandate”, he added. Addressing the Catalans that took part in the rally, he said that while they can be “influential” by taking to the streets, it’s really when they vote at the ballot box that they “decide”. Catalans are going to the polls on the 27th of September in a vote that many consider a de facto referendum on independence.

Catalonia has once again organised one of the largest demonstrations in Europe on its National Day. 1.4 million people formed a 5.2 km line in Barcelona to show their support for the creation of an independent state for Catalonia, according to local police. The organisers from the grass-roots Catalan National Assembly (ANC) put the figure at 2 million. Its president, Jordi Sánchez, urged politicians to go ahead with independence if Yes parties win a majority in the 27th of September election. “They should not let us down. They need to know that they’ve got hundreds of thousands of people behind them. Today we are on the street, tomorrow we will be in the polling station”, he said. According to Sánchez, this year's demonstration has been a “success”.

Yes supporters in Catalonia hit the streets Friday in a new historic rally organised two weeks before a crucial election that is being framed as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (Gateway to the Catalan Republic) covered a 5.2-kilometre stretch of one of Barcelona’s main avenues, the Meridiana. People poured into the city waving the independence flag, known in Catalan as ‘estelada’. Today’s rally is the fourth huge demonstration in support of independence that Catalans have organised on 11 September, their National Day. In previous years, up to 1.5 million people demonstrated in the streets.

A gigantic demonstration is being prepared by the two civil society associations supporting the independence process, the Catalan National Assembly and Òmnium Cultural, for Catalonia’s National Day. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (‘Gateway to the Catalan Republic’) arrives after three years in a row of historic pro-independence rallies that have gathered more than 1.5 million people each. This time the demonstration will take place along Meridiana Avenue in Barcelona and there are already 360,000 people registered to participate. The rally will make its way along a 5.2-kilometre-stretch, from the ‘Parc de la Ciutadella’ – where the Catalan Parliament is located – to the outskirts of the Catalan capital, symbolically linking the institution that represents Catalonia's sovereignty with the streets of Barcelona and the rest of the country. 

The Spanish Defence Minister, Pedro Morenés, warned that the army won’t intervene in Catalonia during the 27-S upcoming elections as long as “everybody fulfils their duty”. Morenés said this referring to a possible unilateral declaration of independence, in the event that pro-independence forces win the Catalan elections. In an interview on Spanish National Radio (RNE) he underlined that the army “is an absolutely and perfectly democratic” institution and its members “will strictly obey the law”. The Minister also spoke in support of the application of Article 115 of the Spanish Constitution, which allows the central government to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy if the “rules aren’t adhered to”.

The pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ gave details about its roadmap towards independence, which was first presented last week after a massive rally in Barcelona. The cross-party coalition brings together members of Catalan civil society and politicians from both right and left that favour independence, including Catalan President Artur Mas, who is fourth on the coalition’s candidate list. The Commissioner for National Transition, solicitor Carles Viver Pi-Sunyer, assured this Friday during the presentation that there won’t be any “leap into the void” as everything is planned “rigorously”. He also detailed the steps to follow after the 27^th of September elections and, if the results show clear support for Catalan independence, the last stage would be the composition of a Catalan Constitution.

Since 2012, the demonstrations on Catalonia’s National Day, on the 11^th of September, have grown exponentially. Nearly two million pro-independence supporters have shown their demands regarding Catalonia’s political future at each of the different manifestations that have filled the streets of Barcelona and towns all over the territory. Two organisations, Òmnium Cultural, which is a civil society organisation promoting Catalan culture and language, and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a grassroots association demanding Catalonia's independence from Spain, have played a key role in turning these three demonstrations into massive, historic rallies. 

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, has stated that the 27-S Catalan elections are not an “improvised event” but “the last resort” for Catalans to decide their political future. He justified the elections by saying that up until now all attempts have “crashed into the granite wall that is Spain”. At his appearance before Parliament this Wednesday, Mas admitted that calling elections hadn’t been his first choice but that it was “the only option left”. He added that the upcoming elections “are exceptional” and mentioned the pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ as an example of this. The gathering together of “so many people with different ideologies but a common purpose has no precedents” and should at least “be respected”, he said. Mas also gave explanations for the search that the Spanish Guardia Civil carried out on the headquarters of his party CDC and those of the party’s foundation CatDem.

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, recognised that he is the target of the law reform that the conservative People’s Party (PP) announced on Tuesday, which he described as a threat to the rule of law. The project aims at the Court being able to suspend or fine politicians who disobey Constitutional Court rulings. According to the PP, it is unconstitutional to ask Catalans if they want to separate from Spain, let alone to declare independence. Mas stated that the PP “wants to destroy the rule of law” with this decision that he regarded as an old-fashioned way of doing politics more proper of “the Inquisition” than of a democratic country. President Mas will appear before the Parliament this afternoon to defend his decision to call elections on the 27th of September. The Catalan President will answer questions from members of parliament about the poll, which pro-independence groups consider as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The PP has also warned that it will ask Mas about the Spanish Guardia Civil search that took place last week in the headquarters of his party CDC and the President’s party Foundation CatDem.

Felipe González said that the situation in Catalonia “resembles the German and Italian ventures of the 1930s”. The former Socialist leader and Spanish President between 1982 and 1996 accused Catalan President Artur Mas of placing “himself in a position above the law” and of “losing democratic legitimacy”. According to González, the coalition ‘Junts pel Sí’ (Together for Yes) “could be the start of a real dead end for Catalonia”. “How can they want to take the Catalan people into isolation, into a kind of 21st-century version of what Albania once was?”, he said in an article published by the El País newspaper on Sunday. His comments outraged independence supporters in Catalonia. Josep Rull, from ruling party CDC, described González attitude as “very sad”, regretting that his only recipe for solving the Catalan issue was to warn of an imminent “apocalypse”.

“Catalonia is not divided and it won’t be”, said Catalan President Artur Mas during the first big event of the cross-party coalition ‘Junts pel Sí’ (Together for Yes), which brings together members of the civil society and politicians from both right and left that favour independence. In a rally attended by 40,000 people, Mas defended that ‘Junts pel Sí’ is an example of the determination of the Catalan people, which have put ideological differences aside to achieve independence from Spain. The event in Barcelona was the official presentation of the candidates of the ‘Junts pel Sí’ ticket. The cross-party coalition led by former Green MEP Raül Romeva has already achieved support from up to 57.000 citizens that have signed up as symbolic “candidates” for the 27-S election. The poll is considered by many as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence.

The Vicepresident of the Spanish Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, confirmed on Friday that the People’s Party won’t include constitutional reform in its electoral manifesto. Her words shut down a debate started by her own Minister of Justice, Rafael Catalá, who suggested that Constitutional Reform could be studied. Sáenz de Santamaría said that the PP will not present any initiative to reform the Constitution because that would require a “clear objective” and “consensus” amongst political parties. The Spanish Vicepresident also warned that no constitutional reform would ever satisfy the demands of pro-independence parties in Catalonia. “It is very difficult to satisfy someone who is not willing to be satisfied”, she warned.

Spanish officers have searched the headquarters of the Catalan President’s Liberal Party CDC and those of the party’s foundation, CatDem. Investigators have also searched the local councils of Figueres, Lloret de Mar, Sant Celoni and Sant Cugat del Vallès, all towns in which the party is currently or has previously been in power. The searches are part of an ongoing investigation into alleged irregular financing of the party. The general coordinator of CDC, Josep Rull, denied the accusation of irregular financing, saying that all donations to the foundation CatDem have always been “legal and public”. In a press conference in Barcelona, Rull accused the Spanish government of trying to “influence” the electoral campaign. Catalonia is going to the polls on the 27th of September in what many consider a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence from Spain.

Roger Albinyana was invited to attend a meeting of the Commission of International Affairs of the Latin American country to discuss the independence process in Catalonia, the reasons behind it and what could happen after the 27th of September election. The Catalan Foreign Affairs Secretary appeared before the Commission, despite reported “pressure” from Spanish diplomats to cancel the event. The spokesperson for Liberal CDC in the Spanish Senate, Josep-Lluís Cleries, urged Spanish Minister José Manuel García-Margallo to clarify whether his embassy in Montevideo had tried to cancel the appearance. It’s the third time that a foreign country has convened a debate about the independence process in Catalonia, following similar events in Denmark and Ireland.

Opposition parties have accused the Catalan President of trying to use the chamber for “electoral purposes”, and the PPC has already rejected attending the debate. Artur Mas will address Parliament “probably” on the 2nd of September, just one week before the electoral campaign kicks off, according to the President of the Catalan Chamber, Nuria de Gispert. His aim is to explain why he called early elections for the 27th of September, which are considered by supporters of independence as a ‘de facto’ referendum on separation from Spain. Mas’ appearance before Parliament has the support of his Liberal CDC and the left-wing pro-independence ERC, but has been criticised by all the other opposition parties.