Politics

The Catalan Parliament will formally ask the Spanish Parliament to transfer the powers to organise referendums to the Catalan Government, following Article 150.2 of the Spanish Constitution on devolution. This procedure is similar to the one used for Scotland’s referendum, when Westminster Parliament transferred such powers to Edinburgh. On Friday, the 4 parliamentary groups that reached an agreement on an exact question wording and date for Catalonia’s self-determination vote have drafted a bill at the Catalan Parliament to start this petition’s process. Since they hold 64.5% of the seats, the bill should be approved in the coming weeks. In addition, after its weekly Cabinet Meeting, the Spanish Government insisted once again it “will not negotiate”. However, the Spanish Constitution has already been changed and the constitutional consensus from 1978 is broken.

The referendum in Catalonia was on everyone’s mind at this Friday’s European Commission press conference in Brussels. 20 minutes of the conference were devoted entirely to the Catalan issue. The EC Spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde confirmed that Catalonia’s self-determination vote remained “an internal matter for Spain”. Ahrenkilde did not wish to stray away from the official EU stand on the issue, despite the persistence of Catalan, Spanish and foreign journalists. Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, also addressed the Catalan referendum issue this Friday. She explained that even though “it is true […] that the Spanish Constitution does not allow one region to break out”, she “hoped common sense imposes itself in Spain, in order to solve that problem”.

“I want to tell you with all clarity that this consultation will not take place”, emphasised the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. “It goes radically against the Constitution and the law” and “it frontally clashes against the indissoluble unity of Spain”, he insisted. The “unity of Spain and the sovereignty belonging to the Spanish people as a whole are not debatable and are out of any negotiation”, he added. Therefore, the Spanish Government, run by People’s Party (PP), completely rejects authorising a self-determination vote in Catalonia, whose exact question and date had been agreed on this Thursday amongst a majority of Catalan parties. The parties had decided to hold the vote on November 9, 2014 in order for the Spanish institutions to have time to negotiate the procedures. Meanwhile, the main civil society organisations pushing for Catalonia’s independence announced they were accepting the question.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), led by Mas and running the Catalan Government, emphasised that “today we are writing history”. In addition, the Christian-Democrat force within the two-party coalition CiU, UDC, highlighted that having an “inclusive and clear” question was possible. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) recognised it was not their preferred question but it is now theirs it directly asks about independence. The Catalan Green Socialist and Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) pointed out that the question also suits those defending a Catalan State within a federal Spain. The radical left-wing and independence party CUP accepts the question in order to have the widest possible pact. The parties appeared together before the press to present the pact and answer questions, joined by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, who announced the question and date.

“Do you want Catalonia to become a state? If yes, do you want this state to be independent?” This is the “inclusive” and “clear” question that the parties supporting Catalonia’s self-determination vote have agreed on this Thursday. The parties also agreed on holding the vote on November 9, 2014, “giving the Spanish institutions time to negotiate with the Catalan institutions within the legal frameworks, which are numerous”. The agreement was explained by the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, in a solemn appearance, joined by the leaders of the parliamentary groups supporting the vote. The question is “a compromise”, as “it allows voting for a change of the status quo” and “also allows voting on independence”. It is backed by 4 parliamentary groups, representing 64.5% of the Catalan Parliament’s seats.

An enormous controversy has been raised around the academic symposium ‘Spain against Catalonia: An historical overview (1714-2014)’ that kicks off this Thursday in Barcelona. At the opening session, the Catalan Minister for the Presidency highlighted the “great affection” that Catalan people feel “towards Spanish society and its plurality and richness”, but not towards “the Spanish State and its institutions”. Furthermore he pointed out that the symposium does not aim “to impose anything”, but “to offer arguments” while “knowing that one single truth” does not exist. The event aims to reflect on the political, economic, social and cultural repression that the Spanish State has inflicted on Catalan people and institutions over the last 300 years. Prestigious university experts will give lectures on specific issues. However, the People’s Party, which runs the Spanish Government, and two other Spanish nationalist parties took actions aimed at cancelling the event.

With the title ‘Spain against Catalonia: an historical overview (1714-2014)’, this academic symposium aims to discuss the political, economic, social and cultural repression the Spanish State has carried out against Catalan institutions and people throughout the last 300 years. The event will offer more than 20 lectures given by prestigious university chairs. It is organised by Catalonia’s Science and Language Academy (IEC) and by the Centre of Contemporary History of Catalonia, which is linked to the Catalan Government. The symposium has raised controversy with its title. The People’s Party (PP), which runs the Spanish Government, has made cancelling the event a condition for holding a dialogue with the Catalan Executive. Furthermore, the PP, the anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans (C’s) and the Spanish nationalist and populist UPyD have filed a complaint against the symposium for “spreading hate”. Paradoxically, UPyD compared the symposium with “Nazism”.

Trade unions and the two associations of municipalities in Catalonia have issued a joint manifesto to protest against the Spanish Government’s Local Administration Reform. This reform recentralises powers and services, reducing the municipalities’ capacities and transferring resources to the Provincial Councils, political bodies associated to Spanish centralism and whose members are not directly-elected. The manifesto criticises the Spanish Government “for not having faced any significant reform of its heavy structure”, despite managing 53% of Spain’s public expenditure. The Spanish Government is also forcing the Autonomous Communities to reduce their services and structures.

The Spanish Minister for Justice allowed the legal procedure regarding the extradition to Argentina of two Franco torturers to continue. This decision occurred after a letter written by a group of MEPs, led by Catalan and Spanish representatives, had asked the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for the two men’s extradition. In their letter, the MEPs urged Spain to stop “hampering the progress of the Argentine justice”, which is currently investigating Franco crimes. Indeed a first unsuccessful request for the two men’s extradition had been made in 2010. Spanish High Court Judge Pablo Ruz is in charge of making the next move. For now, he has interrogated the two alleged torturers and confiscated their passports as a precautionary measure. However, there still are many steps to go before the extradition. In their letter to Rajoy, the MEPs had also demanded the repeal of the 1977 Spanish Amnesty Law which is used to prohibit Franco criminals from being prosecuted.

Barcelona’s High Court has decided to close the case since the leader of the People’s Party (PP) in Catalonia, Alícia Sánchez-Camacho, reached an extra-judiciary deal with the espionage agency Método 3. The agency had recorded a private conversation with the former girlfriend of the eldest son of Jordi Pujol, the historical leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). Parts of the alleged recorded conversation involving the Pujol family were leaked, as well as information about their own intimate lives and other PP leader’s private life. Speculations about who ordered the recording pointed towards the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), CiU and even the PP or Sánchez-Camacho herself. Now one of the shadiest political scandals in Catalonia will end without any public conclusions. This contradicts Sánchez-Camacho’s initial statement, when the story was first made public. At the time, she had stated that she would go “until the end” to shed light on the issue.

The People’s Party (PP) – running the Spanish Government, the anti-Catalan nationalism party Ciutadans (C’s) and the Spanish-nationalist party UPyD – with no MPs in Catalonia – participated in a march to support the current Constitution and the unity of Spain. The demonstration was organised by the alliance ‘Som Catalunya, Somos España’ (We are Catalonia [in Catalan], we are Spain [in Spanish]), chaired by the former C’s MP José Domingo. It aimed to be a massive march, as an answer to the demonstrations in favour of Catalan independence that gathered around 1.5 million people each. It was also the second part of the demonstration organised for Spain’s National Day, almost two months ago. Back then, 30,000 people demonstrated for Spanish unity while this Friday there were 5,000 demonstrators according to Barcelona Local Police.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said that he is “convinced” that parties will be able to agree on a “clear” question for the self-determination vote. Before the Catalan Parliament, Mas added he believes the question’s formulation will be supported by “a wide majority” of parties. He highlighted the need for a clear question, as in Scotland’s referendum, in order not to “allow different interpretations on the following day”.  Mas pledged the parties to reach a wide consensus on the exact question, date and legal way to organise the self-determination vote, because “a part of Catalonia’s strength lies here”. Parties supporting the organisation of such a vote have publicly stated they were committed to reach an agreement before the end of the year. Mas ratified this announcement last week.

The Spanish Executive has presented a 720-page report in which it proposes 120 measures “to eliminate duplications” and “improve the coordination” between government levels in order to “rationalise” and “increase the efficiency” of the public sector. However, the initiative proposes a true recentralisation of Spain, since almost all the measures point towards transferring powers and services back to the Spanish Government. The Catalan Executive and the non-Spanish-nationalist parties have announced a common front to stop “the pruning” of Catalonia’s self-government. Madrid’s document proposes the direct elimination of several institutions that are defined in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, approved by citizens through a binding referendum. Furthermore, it cancels pending power devolutions, which had been planned for years but whose effective transfer has been constantly delayed.

The Catalan President explains in a new book how his determination to let the people of Catalonia decide their future in an independence referendum has affected his personal life. In a very human account, Mas admits he has become “a hated person in some parts of Spain, particularly Madrid”. The leader of Convergència i Unió also rejects in the book the idea of a unilateral declaration of independence, saying that the process should not be “rushed” into and that politicians should trust the people of Catalonia to hold a vote. “If we really believe in the project, it will go ahead”, he says.

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (DIPLOCAT) organized on Friday in Barcelona a conference on the Responsibility to Protect. This UN-backed principle claims that all countries have the responsibility to protect their citizens from human rights violations. The Executive Director of the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy, William Pace, argued that “the EU has in its DNA the responsibility to protect” and added that the attitude of the Catalan society is “also fundamental” in order to fight against “impunity for serious crimes”. The Secretary General of the DIPLOCAT, Albert Royo, said that “it is especially important” for Catalonia to “be able to explain which role it wants to play” in the international arena, now that is considering becoming an independent country.