artur mas

The President of the US, Barack Obama, called for a “strong and unified Spain” during a brief meeting held this Tuesday with Spain’s monarch Felipe VI. The Spanish King described Spain as “one of the most ancient nations in Europe” and Obama stated that Spain’s presence is important “not only for Europe but also for the US”. Catalan President Artur Mas declared that he didn’t feel the target of Obama’s statement, as Spain could be unified “with or without Catalonia” and lamented that the Spanish Government discusses Catalonia’s case with everybody “except with the Catalan institutions”.

The Catalan President asked Madrid to “pay attention to” the massive demonstration held in Barcelona and to stop being “politically short-sighted”. “Leave behind your imperial vanity, stop threatening us with the law as if we were criminals. We are normal, peaceful people”, he said to the Spanish government, in a short speech after 1.4 million people took to the streets of Barcelona in another big rally in favour of independence. Mas urged the central government to modify the law to allow a referendum because “that would not mean the end of the world”. “We have the right to be listened to, and not only that. We have the right to be helped in order to implement our democratic mandate”, he added. Addressing the Catalans that took part in the rally, he said that while they can be “influential” by taking to the streets, it’s really when they vote at the ballot box that they “decide”. Catalans are going to the polls on the 27th of September in a vote that many consider a de facto referendum on independence.

Yes supporters in Catalonia hit the streets Friday in a new historic rally organised two weeks before a crucial election that is being framed as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The ‘Via Lliure cap a la República Catalana’ (Gateway to the Catalan Republic) covered a 5.2-kilometre stretch of one of Barcelona’s main avenues, the Meridiana. People poured into the city waving the independence flag, known in Catalan as ‘estelada’. Today’s rally is the fourth huge demonstration in support of independence that Catalans have organised on 11 September, their National Day. In previous years, up to 1.5 million people demonstrated in the streets.

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, has stated that the 27-S Catalan elections are not an “improvised event” but “the last resort” for Catalans to decide their political future. He justified the elections by saying that up until now all attempts have “crashed into the granite wall that is Spain”. At his appearance before Parliament this Wednesday, Mas admitted that calling elections hadn’t been his first choice but that it was “the only option left”. He added that the upcoming elections “are exceptional” and mentioned the pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ as an example of this. The gathering together of “so many people with different ideologies but a common purpose has no precedents” and should at least “be respected”, he said. Mas also gave explanations for the search that the Spanish Guardia Civil carried out on the headquarters of his party CDC and those of the party’s foundation CatDem.

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, recognised that he is the target of the law reform that the conservative People’s Party (PP) announced on Tuesday, which he described as a threat to the rule of law. The project aims at the Court being able to suspend or fine politicians who disobey Constitutional Court rulings. According to the PP, it is unconstitutional to ask Catalans if they want to separate from Spain, let alone to declare independence. Mas stated that the PP “wants to destroy the rule of law” with this decision that he regarded as an old-fashioned way of doing politics more proper of “the Inquisition” than of a democratic country. President Mas will appear before the Parliament this afternoon to defend his decision to call elections on the 27th of September. The Catalan President will answer questions from members of parliament about the poll, which pro-independence groups consider as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. The PP has also warned that it will ask Mas about the Spanish Guardia Civil search that took place last week in the headquarters of his party CDC and the President’s party Foundation CatDem.

The candidate for the conservative People's Party (PP) in the upcoming Catalan elections, Xavier García Albiol, presented on Tuesday a proposal to reform the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) Law and make sure that its rulings are adhered to by civil servants and politicians. García Albiol admitted that the plan is especially designed to stop Catalan President Artur Mas’ push for independence, which unionists say is unconstitutional. “It’s a clear message to those who want to break Catalonia away from the rest of Spain: the joke is over”, he warned. The reform will be passed urgently by the Spanish Parliament this month, and will set in place the mechanisms and resources needed to take action against those who don’t obey the Constitutional Court’s decisions. Civil servants or politicians that ignore rulings may face fines or even suspension from office. The Catalan Government spokeswoman described the TC’s reform plan as a decision taken because of the election on the 27^th of September, and regretted that it only adds more “repression, threats and fear” to the political debate.

Felipe González said that the situation in Catalonia “resembles the German and Italian ventures of the 1930s”. The former Socialist leader and Spanish President between 1982 and 1996 accused Catalan President Artur Mas of placing “himself in a position above the law” and of “losing democratic legitimacy”. According to González, the coalition ‘Junts pel Sí’ (Together for Yes) “could be the start of a real dead end for Catalonia”. “How can they want to take the Catalan people into isolation, into a kind of 21st-century version of what Albania once was?”, he said in an article published by the El País newspaper on Sunday. His comments outraged independence supporters in Catalonia. Josep Rull, from ruling party CDC, described González attitude as “very sad”, regretting that his only recipe for solving the Catalan issue was to warn of an imminent “apocalypse”.

“Catalonia is not divided and it won’t be”, said Catalan President Artur Mas during the first big event of the cross-party coalition ‘Junts pel Sí’ (Together for Yes), which brings together members of the civil society and politicians from both right and left that favour independence. In a rally attended by 40,000 people, Mas defended that ‘Junts pel Sí’ is an example of the determination of the Catalan people, which have put ideological differences aside to achieve independence from Spain. The event in Barcelona was the official presentation of the candidates of the ‘Junts pel Sí’ ticket. The cross-party coalition led by former Green MEP Raül Romeva has already achieved support from up to 57.000 citizens that have signed up as symbolic “candidates” for the 27-S election. The poll is considered by many as a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence.

Opposition parties have accused the Catalan President of trying to use the chamber for “electoral purposes”, and the PPC has already rejected attending the debate. Artur Mas will address Parliament “probably” on the 2nd of September, just one week before the electoral campaign kicks off, according to the President of the Catalan Chamber, Nuria de Gispert. His aim is to explain why he called early elections for the 27th of September, which are considered by supporters of independence as a ‘de facto’ referendum on separation from Spain. Mas’ appearance before Parliament has the support of his Liberal CDC and the left-wing pro-independence ERC, but has been criticised by all the other opposition parties.

The Catalan Minister for the Presidency, Francesc Homs, has stated that they are "sceptical" about the constitutional reform that the Spanish Prime Minister and leader of the People's Party (PP), Mariano Rajoy, is starting to consider. The Spanish Justice Minister, Rafael Català, said 10 days ago that his department would "study a constitutional reform" which would not make any concession to Catalonia's demands. For the last 3 years, Rajoy and the PP have been unilaterally blocking any attempt to launch a constitutional reform debate. Now, with Catalonia's independence being a distinct possibility if pro-independence parties win the forthcoming 'de facto' referendum scheduled for 27 September, the Spanish Government has started to say it would consider a limited reform, particularly to strengthen its own powers. This Monday, the Catalan President's 'right-hand man', Frances Homs, said that they will not even consider such a constitutional reform if it does not include Catalonia's right to self-determination.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has stated that the independence process will be officially launched if pro-independence parties obtain an absolute majority of the MPs elected in the forthcoming Catalan Parliament elections, to be transformed into a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence from Spain. Mas emphasised that during the last 3 years, Catalan parties have been trying to organise a legal and mutually-agreed vote but that the Spanish Government has not wanted to talk even about it, despite more than 1.5 million citizens demonstrating each year on the streets and the results of the previous Catalan elections of November 2012. However, Mas stated he would still “exchange the forthcoming elections for a mutually-agreed referendum”, but highlighted that the Spanish Government has only left the transformation of regular elections into a plebiscite for Catalans to freely and democratically vote on their future as a country, an option that Mas already identified as the last resort in 2013. Therefore, according to him, “in elections, MPs are counted”, “if we were having a referendum we would be counting votes, but this is not the case”, he stressed.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, has signed this Monday evening a decree officially calling Catalan Parliament elections for this coming 27 September. These elections are expected to be transformed into a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence from Spain, after the Spanish Government has rejected for the last 3 years any negotiation over organising a mutually-agreed self-determination vote, ignoring the clear democratic mandate from the previous Catalan elections that took place in November 2012. The signing of the decree calling the 27 September elections has been surrounded by an unusual level of discretion about its exact content, as there has been significant speculation over whether the Spanish authorities could appeal against the decree and stop the Catalan elections from happening if they were becoming a plebiscite on independence. In fact, in the past few weeks, and increasingly in the past few days, Spanish authorities have been warning Mas that he can only call “elections to the Autonomous Community Parliament”.

The British primatologist Jane Goodall, whose work with chimpanzees revolutionised the understanding of animals and the definition of being a human being, has received the 27^th Premi Internacional Catalunya award, which is Catalonia's most prestigious award given each year to a world leading personality for his or her contribution to humankind. The independent jury awarded Goodall the recognition for her scientific work but also for her work as an activist, protecting nature and raising awareness worldwide about the need to do so. "We have to learn to live in peace and harmony among each other and with nature", said the English primatologist in her acceptance speech during a solemn ceremony held at the Generalitat Palace in Barcelona. The award comes with a copy of a sculpture designed by Catalan artist Antoni Tàpies called 'La clau i la lletra' (The key and the letter) and an €80,000 prize, which Goodall will donate to one of her foundations.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, presented on Monday the model for Catalonia's own Treasury, which will be developed should "the political conditions" be there, he stated. "This is the most serious attempt to build our own Treasury in the last 300 years", stressed Mas. "After two years of work, we are ready" to launch and Catalans should not waste "this great opportunity", he stressed. "Without our own Treasury, there is no real self-government", the Catalan President stated. The system would include Catalonia's own Tax Agency and  is inspired by the taxation authorities in countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Australia, which prioritise cooperation with taxpayers over controlling them. In these models, efforts are concentrated on severely persecuting tax evaders and underground economy, while the vast majority of tax-payers who deal correctly with their fiscal obligations receive assistance and have unlimited access to their fiscal data.

Lluís Llach, one of the most famous Catalan musicians and one of the main voices against Franco's dictatorship, will  top the pro-independence unitary list running in the Girona Province in the forthcoming Catalan elections, which should become a 'de facto' referendum on independence. In the Tarragona Province, the 'Junts pel Sí' pro-independence list ('Together for the Yes') will be topped by economics professor Germà Bel, an expert on infrastructure. The list groups together Liberal, Social-Democrat, Green, and Christian-Democrat politicians, as well as many independents and representatives from civil society. It will officially start the independence process if they win the elections and pro-independence parties obtain an absolute majority in the Catalan Parliament. The list is topped by former Eco-Socialist Member of the European Parliament, Raül Romeva, who is running in Barcelona Province.