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Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will promote a common front with other Autonomous Communities in Spain to report to the EU that the Spanish government is failing to fulfil its promises regarding the construction of the Mediterranean corridor. This long-awaited railway corridor is set to transport freight and passengers non-stop from Gibraltar to Central Europe and would connect the Spanish Mediterranean ports, which are a gateway to North Africa and represent 50% of the Spanish population and wealth. According to Puigdemont, the Spanish State “is failing to fulfil” their promises and “Europe as a whole” will have to “pay the price for it”. Thus, he announced the constitution of a strategic board with Autonomic governments, chambers of commerce, trade unions and businesspersons associations to unblock the situation.  

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) says the plans are “illegal and unilateral” but that he could offer a better fiscal settlement to Catalonia. The Catalan President and the Spanish presidential hopeful met on Tuesday in Barcelona in the first of what they hope could be a series of meetings to restart the dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. The Catalan President thanked Sánchez for his willingness to talk to him, but regretted his comments about a potential “coexistence crisis” in Catalonia.

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and Spanish president hopeful Pedro Sánchez asked the Catalan President to meet in Barcelona to discuss his investiture. The talks will include issues such as the Catalan and the Spanish political situation, a source from the Catalan Government has revealed to CNA. The Socialist leader, who was twice defeated in Congress, wants to present to Puigdemont his government proposal, which includes an agreement with unionist Ciutadans. The Catalan President will defend during the meeting the belief that allowing a referendum in Catalonia is essential to passing the investiture vote. Ciutadans has already warned Sánchez that they will walk away if he grants a referendum to Catalonia.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez has failed in his effort to be invested in the first round of the Spanish Investiture debate. He only obtained the support 130 MPs in the 350-seats Spanish Parliament. The 90 MPs from Sánchez’s own party, Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and the 40 from Unionist Ciutadans voted in favour, the MP from Canary Coalition (CC) abstained from voting and all the other parties, including the current governing party, conservative People’s Party, alternative left Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties ERC and ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ voted against his investiture. The next round in voting will take place on Friday. During the investiture debate, Sánchez invited PP and Podemos to join his alliance with Ciutadans and assured that he will “never” accept a referendum in Catalonia as it would be “the worst way” to break Spain apart. For his part, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont stated that Sánchez’s failure confirms that there is no alternatSive for Catalonia other than to push for independence.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, emphasised Catalonia’s “key role” in the formation of a new government in Madrid and stressed the need to “have serious dialogue between Catalonia and the Spanish State on a referendum, on independence” and ona potential separation from Spain rather than “having to continually deal with a government in denial on the issue, and using the Spanish constitutional court to throw obstacles in the way of proper democratic politics in Spain”. Puigdemont made this statement in an article published this Tuesday in ‘The Guardian’ and has also admitted to being frustrated about there not being a government in Madrid “able to engage in the negotiations Catalonia has been seeking”.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, received a representation from the Association of Liberal and Democrats of Europe (ALDE) group amid the controversy surrounding the recent suspension of the Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs by the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC). ALDE President and MEP Hans Van Baalen, who has repeatedly defended Catalonia’s right to decide its political future, was joined by ALDE’s general secretary, Jacob Moroza-Rasmussen and political adviser, Laura Laussade. They met President Puigdemont and the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, former MEP Raül Romeva. Liberal party CDC’s spokeswoman and ALDE vice president, Marta Pascal, also attended the meeting, together with Spanish Parliament MP and the President of the Catalan foundation ‘Llibertat i Democràcia’, Jordi Xuclà.

The Catalan chamber wished to pay tribute to pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MP Muriel Casals, who passed away on Sunday. Casals was president of the civil association promoting Catalan language and culture Òmnium Cultural and was regarded as a central figure of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The institutional event gathered together representatives from all the authorities in Catalonia and combined protocol speeches with live music and poetry. Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stated that the best way to honour Casals’ memory will be by “fulfilling her dream” and said that “the new country will also carry her name”. “We will keep on working for our dream, sadder, but firm as a rock”, stated the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who was, together with Casals, one of the main people responsible for the pro-independence massive rallies which have taken place in Barcelona for the past six years.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) has accepted the appeal presented by the Spanish executive to suspend the new Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Thus, the department lead by pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ top member, Raül Romeva will be suspended at first for five months, which is the period that the TC has to study whether the new Ministry is in line with the Spanish Constitution. Earlier this month, the current Spanish vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and current Spanish Minister for Justice, Rafael Catalá claimed that the Catalan government had exceeded the competences in matters of foreign action specified in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. For his part, the Catalan President Carles Puigdemont assured that Catalonia “will continue to do foreign action”and defended the legitimacy of the new department. 

Almost two months after the 20-D Spanish Elections, current Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader, Pedro Sánchez, have met. After the encounter, which lasted less than half an hour, Rajoy announced that he may still put himself forward for investiture. “The most reasonable thing, in democratic terms, would be a government led by the People’s Party” he stated and added that PP won the 20-D elections and obtained “more than one million votes more” than PSOE. Regarding the approach towards Catalonia’s push for independence, Rajoy said they hadn’t talked about it but emphasised the commitment of both leaders to “complying with the Spanish Constitution”. Rajoy also referred to Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s statement to Barcelona’s diplomats, considering it “lamentable and unconstitutional” to have told the consuls that “Catalonia walks towards independence”.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont warned diplomats stationed in the Catalan capital that they “will be busy in the coming months” even more than usual, since Catalonia “is walking towards independence”. Puigdemont made this statement during the traditional reception of the Barcelona-based consuls, together with the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, and Catalan Minister for Business and Knowledge, Jordi Baiget. The Catalan President also asked the diplomatic community “to explain [Catalonia’s process] properly” to their countries and assured that he is at their disposal to address any concerns they may have. In the same vein, Romeva called on those present to find a “suitable framework” to deal with all their possible doubts in an in-depth manner. 

Hard Rock’s president Hamish Dodds and the company’s vice president, Nelson Parker, met this Wednesday with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and the Catalan government’s vice president, Oriol Junqueras, in order to outline to them the multinational’s aim to set up a Tourist Integrated Centre in BCN World which would represent a 2.5-billion-euro investment. However, the BCN World project, which is set to be built on the 800 hectares surrounding the Port Aventura theme park (on the Costa Daurada, near Tarragona), is currently on ‘stand-by’. The government is trying to find the greatest consensus possible amongst the different parties and institutions involved and President Puigdemont announced this week that a consultation may be set up to get to know the locals’ opinions. 

The new Catalan Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be taken before the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) after Spain’s executive considered it to be in a “conflict of jurisdiction” and beyond the competences in matters of foreign action specified in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy.Thus, the Spanish government aims to stop the “internationalisation of the Catalan process”, the launching of which the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, defended  during his investiture ceremony. For his part, the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, assured that Catalonia “has done, does and will continue to do foreign action”. Former MEP and pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ leader Romeva also insisted on the “legitimacy” of the new department. In the same vein, the Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, assessed Spain’s announcement as typical of a “decadent” government.

“Catalonia’s push for independence is for real and you have realised too late” stated Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, addressing the future Spanish government. During the first session of control in the Parliament, Puigdemont criticised the difficulty of the Spanish government in reaching an agreement. The Parliament has also approved this Wednesday an extension of the public budget for 2015,thanks to 5 votes in favour and 4 abstentions from radical left pro-independence CUP. Cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP described this extension as “fundamental” to launching the social action plan. The pro-independence parties also lodged this Wednesday the request to start creating the legal framework which would allow the disconnection process from Spain to be started.

New Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and the recently named Leader of the Opposition Inés Arrimadas held this Wednesday their first official meeting. At a press conference directly after the meeting, the Catalan government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, expressed her hope that the differences regarding the roadmap towards independence, which is “a priority of the new government”, won’t obstruct “the daily management” of the citizens’ needs. Arrimadas described the meeting as “cordial and full of constructive proposals” but lamented that Puigdemont wouldn’t make “any move” to reform Catalonia’s funding system, one of Ciutadans’ core proposals. “If the government renounces negotiation, we will do so in the Spanish Parliament” she stated. 

The law will first charge those vehicles emitting more than 160 grams of CO2 per kilometre and in 2020 the bar will be set at a lower level. “This is a law of a country which is committed to the global challenge that humanity is facing” stated the new Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, Josep Rull. The aim is to reduce the level of emissions registered in 2005 by 25% before 2020 and “by 80% or even more” by 2050. Also this Tuesday, the 29 committees in the Catalan chamber for this term of office have been assigned presidents. 15 of them will be led by members of pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’, including the Committee for the Constitutive Process. Muriel Casals, former president of the cultural association promoting the Catalan language and culture, Òmnium Cultural, will be head of this committee set up to design the roadmap towards independence.