carles puigdemont

The Catalan president is committed to holding a referendum with all democratic guarantees

Puigdemont offers to explain referendum plan in Congress, Madrid says 'no'

They will be accompanied by governing cross-party pro-independence ‘Junts Pel Sí’, the radical left-wing party ‘CUP’ and the ministers at the Government building in Barcelona

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.

Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, needed less than 24 hours to reject his Catalan counterpart’s petition to start discussions for the celebration of an independence referendum. “It is impossible,” Rajoy warned Carles Puigdemont, urging him to present his petition before the Spanish Congress instead. “It is not possible to seek to negotiate against the true democratic mechanisms and against the law,” added the Spanish President. Despite saying that he has a “total and sincere” willingness to “reach agreements” with Catalonia, Rajoy pointed out there are “limits” on the issues he can discuss. “Neither you nor I have the authority to negotiate what we do not have the power to negotiate,” he insisted, adding that doing so would “mean hijacking the rights of the Spanish people”. Rajoy said that the Spanish rule of law “foresees mechanisms for presenting all kinds of political aspirations” if they follow “democratic channels” and “obtain the required parliamentary support”. The Spanish President also warned Puigdemont that his plans to go ahead with a vote or even a hypothetical declaration of independence are “a serious threat to coexistence and the constitutional order”.

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, will explain the final proposal for negotiating an independence referendum with the Spanish Government on Monday at Madrid’s town hall. Under the title “A referendum for Catalonia: an invitation to a democratic agreement” the Catalan president, the Vice president, Oriol Junqueras, and the Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will give a conference, which will be a formal offer to the Spanish government for an “accorded democratic vote”. The conference will take place shortly after the presentation of the signatures for the National Pact for the Referendum, which includes several international personalities. The initial proposal by the Catalan president to discuss the issue in the Senate was declined by the Spanish chamber.

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.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has invited his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, and his whole team to attend the conference he will give in Madrid on May 22nd. The talk  ‘A referendum for Catalonia: Invitation to a democratic agreement’ has been presented by the Catalan executive as the last chance to negotiate an agreed-upon referendum with the Spanish Government. At the same time, Catalan Government spokeswoman, Neus Munté, dismissed the reports by some media outlets that said Puigdemont will announce the date of the referendum at the conference. “We won’t announce any date or any question until we have a response from the Spanish State,” emphasized Munté. Both the Catalan VP and Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs will join Puigdemont at his talk, which is the same one given by the three Catalan leaders in Brussels in front of some 500 people.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, together with Catalan VP and Catalan Minister for Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will travel to Madrid on May 22nd to give the conference ‘A referendum for Catalonia. Invitation to a democratic agreement’. The conference is the same one that the three Catalan leaders gave in Brussels last January for nearly 500 people. Although the Catalan Government initially asked to hold the event in the Spanish Senate, that request was dismissed by the Spanish Government. So instead, the event will be held in the Caja de la Música auditorium, which has a capacity of about 250 people. The conference will be the Catalan Government’s last attempt to negotiate an agreed-upon referendum with the Spanish Government.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, said that the Government will ask for the international community’s support in order to implement the referendum result if the people vote ‘yes’ to Catalonia’s independence. In particular, he emphasized the need to get the EU’s attention and pointed out that if Catalonia’s moves towards independence, Europe will stop being Spain’s “errand boy”. Puigdemont admitted that no international recognition has been requested so far. Instead, the Government has just organized a campaign to explain the Catalans’ demands to the world. The Catalan President insisted that the ballot boxes will be put out in September and added that the only way for the Spanish Government to prevent the referendum from happening is “by opening a dialogue and agreeing on an alternative date”. 

The entire Executive, led by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Catalan VP, Oriol Junqueras, reiterated its commitment to “organize, call, and celebrate” a referendum on Catalonia’s independence and apply its results, despite Spain’s “threats and attempts to limit Catalonia’s self-government,” said Puigdemont. In a symbolic event held in the iconic ‘Pati dels Tarongers’ courtyard, at the Catalan Government headquarters, the executive aimed to send a clear message of unity regarding its determination to fulfill the democratic mandate of the 2015 27-S Catalan elections, which led to a pro-independence majority in the Parliament. The celebration of a referendum is one of the Parliament's main goals.

The Catalan Government believes that the communiqué published by the US Embassy in Spain in relation to Catalonia was “a request of the Spanish Government motivated by the success of Puigdemont’s recent meetings with US representatives”. Puigdemont’s agenda in the US included a private meeting with former US President, Jimmy Carter, after which the institution said in a memo that “neither he nor The Carter Center could be involved” in the negotiations for the referendum. The Catalan executive told the CNA that the US Embassy's statement, published only in Spanish, which described Catalonia’s push for independence as an internal matter of Spain, “shows that the Catalan question is part of the political and diplomatic agenda and therefore is not an internal matter”.

The Catalan branch of the Conservative People’s Party (PPC) accused the Catalan Government of having paid for the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont to meet with former US President, Jimmy Carter, last Friday in Atlanta. “This is not only false but indecent,” said Puigdemont in an interview with Catalunya Ràdiothis Monday. Such accusations, made by PPC’s leader Xavier García Albiol and supported by the main opposition party in the Catalan Parliament, Spanish unionist ‘Ciutadans’, prove Spain’s mindset, which “insists on treating Catalonia as a colony,” he added. Puigdemont also criticized the aim of the PP and Spanish Government to spread the idea that the Catalan executive “does not have the right”to explain its situation abroad. He said that some Spanish diplomats “feel uncomfortable”with the Spanish executive’s directions, which include “having to criticize”the Catalan Government and “blocking”events and meetings.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, traveled to Atlanta on Thursday to meet former US President and Nobel Peace Laureate, Jimmy Carter. During the meeting, Puigdemont explained the current political situation in Catalonia and the pro-independence aspirations, a topic which “raises interest” beyond Catalonia’s borders, said the Catalan President in an interview with TV3 earlier this morning. Puigdemont’s trip was not on his official agenda and was carried out with utmost discretion in order to possible interference from the Spanish government. On Thursday, Puigdemont attended the ambassadors’ meeting at the Carter Center.

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.