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17 bodies found in common burial in Pyrenees to be genetically analyzed and identified

Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté, complained about the Spanish Government's “gross ignorance” of the reality of the situation in Catalonia and considered its “lack of responses” to be the reason why Catalans are calling for a referendum on independence. “We are here as a result of the Spanish Government’s lack of responses and its lack of a project for Catalonia,” said Munté, lamenting Spain’s repeated refusal to negotiate on a referendum. The Catalan Government spokeswoman also emphasized the need to "set the date and the question of the referendum". She made these statements on Monday, after attending the cross-party meeting to assess Spain’s refusal to negotiate a referendum with Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont.

The Catalan Government will guard geographer and journalist Gonzalo de Reparaz Rodríguez-Báez’ legacy, which was seized in 1939 and has been stored at the Spanish Civil War Archives since then. The Catalan Minister for Territory and Sustainability, Josep Rull, thanked Reparaz’s family for trusting the Catalan Government and praised their years of “judicial struggle” to recover the documents, and therefore part of its family’s history. Rull emphasized Reparaz’s contribution “to explaining the Catalan cause to Europe” and his “commitment to freedom and democracy”. Reparaz established himself in Barcelona in 1921 and came into contact with many representatives of Catalonia’s political and cultural life.

The two main Spanish parties are frontally opposed to the celebration of an independence referendum in Catalonia and their leaders will fight together against the Catalan government plans’ to hold one. In a phone conversation on Monday, the Spanish President and leader of the People’s Party (PP), Mariano Rajoy, and the re-elected leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), Pedro Sánchez, discussed their united front against a self-determination vote in Catalonia. “The PSOE will defend the legality and the Constitution,” confirmed the Spanish Vice President, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, in a press conference in Madrid, where she briefed journalists about the two leaders’ conversation. According to her, the Socialists are “against the illegal referendum being planned by the Catalan Government” and will block “any attempt” to “violate” the Spanish Constitution. Sáenz de Santamaría also insisted that a self-determination referendum is “unnegotiable” but again urged the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, to present his plans in the Spanish Congress.

The Catalan Minister of Economy and Finance, Oriol Junqueras, defended the good health of the Catalan economy on Friday and insisted on the Catalan executive’s commitment to continue within the European Union in case of independence. At the 33th Annual Meeting of the Economy Circle in Sitges, Junqueras confirmed that his executive expects to surpass 2.7% of annual economic growth and highlighted the fact that Catalonia account for 85% of the deficit reduction of all administrations in Spain. The Catalan minister also used the opportunity to communicate a message of calm to the economic sector, guaranteeing that “Catalonia will not leave the EU in case of independence” since there is “absolutely no legal mechanism that foresees this case”. Along this line, Junqueras stressed the “firm pro-European commitment” of the Catalan government and its determination of “strengthening” a common project and creating “excellent relationships” with neighbors, “especially Spain”. In this case, however, like “two states with the same powers”.

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 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 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 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”.

Barcelona and London, the capital cities of Catalonia and the United Kingdom, suffered sustained bombardments by fascist air forces during the first half of the 20th century. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the aerial bombing of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) together with the European Observatory on Memories (Eurom) and in collaboration with the University of Brighton organized a conference at London’s Imperial War Museum to share Catalonia and United Kingdom’s history under the fascist bombs. The commemorative event gathered together representatives from the Catalan Government, mayors of some of the cities who suffered the most under the fascist aviation attacks, British politicians, such as Chris Bambery, former spokesman for the APPG on Catalonia, and researchers and historians from both the UK and Catalonia specialized in the Great World Wars.

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.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, replied on Friday to the Spanish Vice President’s invitation to present his referendum plans in the Spanish Congress. Puigdemont said to Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría that he would be happy to do so if an agreement between the Catalan Government and the Spanish government is previously reached. In other words, he suggested that the two executives, following the example set by the UK and Scotland in 2014, should agree on the “conditions” for an independence referendum and then submit that agreement to a vote in the Spanish chamber and the Catalan Parliament. In a brief press conference, Puigdemont celebrated what he considered as a “change in tone” coming from the Spanish government. According to him, the offer to debate the referendum in Congress is a recognition by the Spanish executive of the possibility of such a vote happening.

The Spanish government’s vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, urged the Catalan government’s president, Carles Puigdemont, to outline the proposal of celebrating an agreed referendum before the Spanish Congress. She said it was an “invitation” for the “dialogue and debate to be carried out in parliament”, which, according to the Spanish vice president, would allow addressing the celebration of the referendum “where it belongs, in the chamber”. According to Sáenz de Santamaría, her proposal makes sense because, “as of today, only Parliament can decide a matter of this nature”, whereas the Spanish government “cannot authorize nor negociate” the celebration of a referendum. Sáenz de Santamaría also stated that no member of her executive will be present at the conference that the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont; the vice president, Oriol Jnqueras; and the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will hold in Madrid on Monday.