Politics

Lord Norman Tebbit, who served in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet from 1981 to 1987, criticised Spain’s lobbing over Gibraltar and warned the Spanish executive  “is playing with fire”. On an article published this Sunday at the ‘Daily Telegraph’, Tebbit opposes “Spain’s vanity” with Catalans attitude, which he described as “an outward-looking Atlanticist people who were trading with Cornwall and Wales a thousand years ago”. “Were I in No 10 I think I would let it be known in Madrid that I was thinking of inviting leaders of the Catalan independence movement to London, or even to raising their desire for independence at the United Nations”, he added. Under the title ‘Spain's vanity has led politicians to play with fire and they must learn its dangers’, Lord Tebbit remembers that Gibraltar “is not a colony” but “a British Overseas Territory” and noted that “96% of its 30,000 citizens voted recently in favour of staying that way”.

The Catalan budget for 2017, which includes an allocation of €5.8 million to carry out the referendum on independence which the Government committed to call next September, has been taken before the court. The Parliament’s legal services already warned on the day the bill was passed that by doing so the chamber could be ignoring the TC. Indeed, the Spanish body called to impede or block any initiative emerged from the pro-independence declaration of the 9-N, which was already suspended.  The pro-independence parties in the Parliament, governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP backed the bill, which besides considering the referendum, it allocates €17.8 billion to social expenditure. The main parties in the opposition, Spanish Unionist Ciutadans, Catalan People’s Party (PP) and Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) announced this Friday that they will join the Spanish Government’s initiative and present an appeal to the bill.

Latest polls say 50.3% of Catalans want to call a referendum on independence regardless of whether the Spanish Government agrees. Indeed, if both parts fail to reach an agreement and the consultation takes place anyway, 43.3% would vote ‘yes’ to Catalonia’s independence. Another 22.2% would vote ‘no’ and 20.7% would abstain, according to the latest poll by the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO). In response to whether they would like to simply like referendum to be held in Catalonia, 73.3% of the surveyed answered ‘yes’. The CEO also noted that governing coalition Junts Pel Sí would win the Catalan elections again if they were held today. However, their influence in the parliament would decline from the 62 current MPs to 58 or 60. The other main pro-independence party in the chamber, the radical-left CUP, would also lose 2 MPS.

US congressman, Carlos Curbelo, expressed his interest in Catalonia’s political situation and met this Wednesday with Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, in Washington DC. Shortly afterwards, the Republican representative for Florida stressed the importance of the “right to self-determination” and drew parallels with Cuba, where he is originally from. “I call for dialogue. It is fundamental in all countries in the world and this is what all governments do,” he said. “Dialogue is the only way to tackle differences and reach common agreements”. On Tuesday, Puigdemont met with three other congressional representatives to discuss Catalonia’s independence during his official trip to the United States. On Monday, he addressed the Center for European Studies (CES) at the Harvard Kennedy School and gave the conference ‘Catalonia, Today and Tomorrow’, his analysis of Catalonia’s current political situation and its place within the EU.

Former Catalan Minister for Presidency and Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), Francesc Homs, left his seat in the Spanish Parliament this Wednesday in compliance with the Spanish Supreme Court sentence which bans himfrom public office for 18 months. The magistrates found him guilty of disobedience for allowing a symbolic vote on independence to take place on November 9, 2014, despite a Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) suspension. On a press conference right after having received the notice, Homs said that it was not only and MP who was banned from the Spanish Parliament “but thousands of citizens who trust a person through democratic means”. Former Catalan President, Artur Mas and former Catalan Ministers Irene Rigau and Joana Ortega were also fined and banned from public office for the same case.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, held informal meetings with three US congressmen this Tuesday in Washington DC, during his official trip to the East Coast. Although Puigdemont refused to give details on the content of the conversations, he admitted being “satisfied” with having the chance to “explain himself” and “answer the congressmen’s questions and doubts. He denied having asked for their support in the event of Catalonia’s independence but he assured that the information he gave them will allow them to “take a stance” in the conflict between Catalonia and Spain. Earlier this week, Puigdemont addressed the Center for European Studies (CES) at the Harvard Kennedy School and gave the conference ‘Catalonia, Today and Tomorrow’, his analysis of Catalonia’s current political situation and its place within the EU.

The Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, has commented on the promise by Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy to invest €4.2 billion in infrastructures in Catalonia. She expressed the Government’s “immense skepticism” regarding Rajoy’s promises and advised him to add a “clause to avoid its breach”, bearing in mind previous experiences. “If there is anybody who believes that what happens in Catalonia is only an economic problem, then he is really confused,” she added. Moreover, Munté considered Rajoy’s announcement a strategy “to hide the fact that the so-called ‘operation dialogue’ never existed at all”.

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, announced that his Government plans to invest €4.2 billion by 2020 to improve Catalonia’s infrastructures. The most important part would go to the short-distance train network, operated by Spanish Public Train operator, RENFE. Indeed, this piece of infrastructure has been one of the historic demands of Catalan citizens, after years of underinvestment and continuous incidents. According to Rajoy, €1.9 billion would be invested during this term of office and €2 billion more by 2025. In a speech he gave within the seminar ‘Connected to the future’, held this Tuesday in Barcelona, Rajoy expressed his “personal commitment” to turn the short-distance train network into a “realistic, viable and verifiable” piece of infrastructure. Earlier this week, the Catalan Government already expressed that they had “few expectations” regarding Rajoy’s promises and pointed out that previous investment plans haven’t been fulfilled for decades.

Catalonia’s aim for independence is related to the US civil rights movement. This is one of the main ideas which Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, set forth this Monday in a conference at Harvard University. “Our struggle is a reflection of the fight for American civil rights,” he said during the conference “Catalonia, Today, Tomorrow”, but lamented that, in contrast with American institutions which “have respected democracy and the will of its people to adapt over time”,  Spain's refuses to open a dialogue over Catalonia's pro-independence aspirations and the will of its citizens to hold a referendum. “We are convinced that this is the best option,” he said but pointed out that “up to now it has been impossible, due to the Spanish Government’s constant, absolute refusal to discuss it”. However, he warned, “Catalonia will hold the referendum in any case.”

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, will visit Catalonia this Tuesday “to discuss infrastructures”, Spanish governing People’s Party (PP) confirmed last week. However, left wing pro-independence ERC already admitted having “few expectations” regarding the visit and the measures Rajoy may announce. “If he expects to buy us off through promises that won't be kept, he better think twice,” said ERC’s spokesman, Sergi Sabrià. According to ERC, one of the main parties within the governing coalition ‘Junts Pel Sí’, the only solution to “the Catalan problem” will come by putting out the ballot boxes in a referendum. “There is no other option,” stated Sabrià. However, ERC’s spokesman insisted that they will listen to Rajoy’s offer, as they have “always done” but insisted that the party “won’t give up on anything” either.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont will travel to Boston, Washington DC, and New York to explain Catalonia’s pro-independence movement. On Monday evening, he will address the Center for European Studies (CES) at the Harvard Kennedy School and give the conference ‘Catalonia, Today and Tomorrow’, his analysis of Catalonia’s current political situation and its place within the EU. Together with Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva and the Delegate of the Catalan Government to the United States, Andrew Davis, Puigdemont will also visit the Cambridge Innovation Centre (CIC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Tecnhnology (MIT) and will take part in a meeting with entrepreneurs. He is also expected to meet with several think tanks throughout the week, including the Wilson Center and the American Enterprise Institute, and will visit the new factory of Catalan company, Europastry.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, responded angrily to the confirmation from former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo that the Spanish Government had pressured other governments to give statements against Catalonia’s pro-independence process. “It’s unacceptable,” he said and called for Margallo to explain which commitments he made, under whose authority and “what favors Spain owes” in exchange for these position statements. According to Puigdemont, Margallo’s confession proves the Catalan Government’s claims that the Spanish State “is doing everything in its power” so that Catalan representatives “are not received, listened to, or taken into account”. “I hope that the Spanish political system is democratically mature enough to demand an explanation from Mr. Margallo in Parliamentary session,” he added.

Former Catalan President Artur Mas’ right-hand man, Francesc Homs, has been sentenced to a 1 year and 6 months ban from holding public office for allowing a symbolic vote on Catalan independence to take place on November 9, 2014. The magistrates in the Spanish Supreme Court found Homs, who is currently a sitting MP and the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament, guilty of disobedience but absolved him from charges of perversion of justice. Earlier this month, Catalonia’s Supreme Court (TSJC) also banned Mas from public office for 2 years and fined him €36,000. Former Vice president Joana Ortega and former Education Minister Irene Rigau were banned from holding public office for a period of 1 year and 9 months and 1 year and 6 months. They will have to pay fines of €30,000 and €24,000, respectively.

Former Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo, admitted that the Spanish Government pressured other governments to give statements against Catalonia’s pro-independence process. “Nobody knows all the favors we owe in exchange for the statements we got,” he said this Wednesday in an interview on Spanish TV. According to Margallo, the normal procedure when a public representative is asked about such a question is to demur, saying it is an “internal matter”.  Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, considered the facts “very serious” and urged the former Minister to give further explanations.

The pro-independence parties in the Catalan Chamber, governing cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP have passed the 2017 budget. The bill has been described as the last budget of the autonomic period, since it foresees calling a referendum on independence next September. Last June, CUP refused to pass the bill for 2016 which led to the vote of confidence promoted by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. They considered the numbers presented then to be “too autonomic” rather than responding to the pro-independence aspirations of Catalonia. After a new draft was presented last November, increasing the social expenditure and reinforcing the government’s commitment to call a referendum, CUP have accepted the bill. However, they have urged the Catalan Government to announce the date and the question of the referendum as quick as possible.