Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Saturday that his government was seeking to remove the leaders of Catalonia’s regional government from power and call new elections as soon as possible.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks during a press conference after an extraordinary cabinet meeting at Moncloa Palace on October 21, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
The unprecedented measures — intended to end Catalan leaders’ independence bid — would be taken under Article 155 of the Spanish constitution and must be sent to the Spanish Senate for approval. This would happen within the next week, Rajoy said.
The Madrid government announced Thursday that it would invoke Article 155, a provision that allows the central government to suspend the autonomy of the Catalan regional administration.
The move follows weeks of division triggered by a banned independence referendum on October 1.
On Thursday, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont threatened that the wealthy northeastern region could formally declare independence if the Spanish government did not engage in dialogue.
Under the measures proposed by Rajoy on Saturday, Puigdemont, his vice-president and ministers would be suspended and replaced by the administration in Madrid where necessary.
“The government had to enforce Article 155. It wasn’t our desire, nor our intention. It never was,” Rajoy said. “But in this situation, no government of any democratic country can accept that the law is ignored.”
In undertaking these steps, the government has four goals, Rajoy said. These are: to return to legality; to restore normality and coexistence in Catalonia; to continue the region’s economic recovery; and to hold elections in conditions of normality.
“The autonomy is not suspended, nor the government,” he said. “People are removed who put the government outside the law, outside the constitution and outside statutes.”
Rajoy said new elections should be called for Catalonia within six months but that he wanted it to happen as soon as possible.
“The only way for Article 155 to be stopped is if the Senate votes it down,” he said.
Rajoy’s Popular Party has a majority in the Senate. Two Spanish opposition parties, PSOE and Ciudadanos, have also said they will back the Article 155 measures, Rajoy said.
Protesters to rally
The crisis threatens to fracture Spain, one of the European Union’s principal members, and has prompted mass public protests in Catalonia and elsewhere.
Pro-independence protesters are expected to hold another demonstration in the center of Barcelona, Catalonia’s regional capital, later Saturday.
A spokesman for the Catalan regional government said Puigdemont would attend the rally and was expected to deliver a message Saturday evening.
Students gather as they demonstrate against the position of the Spanish government to ban the self-determination referendum of Catalonia during a strike by university students on September 28, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. (Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Speaking Thursday, Puigdemont said that if Madrid “persists in blocking dialogue and the repression continues,” the Catalan parliament reserved the right to formalize a declaration of independence that was suspended on October 10.
At that session, Puigdemont said that Catalonia had “earned the right” to become an independent republic in its October 1 referendum, which was banned by Spain’s Constitutional Court. But he suspended the effects of the declaration to allow for talks.
Puigdemont also demanded Spain end its “repression” of Catalan separatist leaders, two of whom were taken into custody on suspicion of sedition earlier in the week.
More than 2.25 million people turned out to vote on October 1, with the regional government reporting that 90% of voters were in favor of a split from Madrid. But the turnout was low — around 43% of the voter roll — which Catalan officials blamed on the central government’s efforts to stop the referendum.
Violent scenes unfolded as national police sought to prevent people from casting their ballots.
Political crisis is scaring away tourists from Barcelona
Rajoy urges unity
In his address Saturday, Rajoy said Puigdemont had repeatedly rejected opportunities to talk to Madrid before calling the banned referendum and insisted his own government was acting to protect the interests of all Spaniards, especially Catalans.
“I am fully aware this moment is difficult but all together we are going to overcome (it), as we have previously overcome very complicated events throughout our history,” he said.
Rajoy also warned that an independent Catalonia would be outside the European Union and the World Trade Organization, with dire consequences for the region’s economic health.
A combination of higher tariffs, lack of access to credit and “disproportionate” inflation would lead to “impoverishment of the Catalan economy of between 25 and 30%,” he said.
Amid the uncertainty, businesses have already started to move their legal headquarters out of Catalonia, Spain’s economic powerhouse. According to a tweet Friday by the National Association of Registers, 1,185 companies began that process between October 2 and 19.
Spain’s King Felipe VI said Friday that Spain was facing an “unacceptable” attempt at secession and that Catalonia must continue to be a central part of the nation.
EU leaders have backed the Madrid government in its handling of the crisis, which Rajoy insists is an internal matter.
European Council President Donald Tusk described the Catalonia situation as “concerning” but said there was “no space for EU intervention,” in remarks Thursday in Brussels.
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