garcía-albiol

Justice Minister Ester Capella says images “undermine right to intimacy”; Spanish government opens investigation

Spanish Foreign Affairs minister condemn comments as "unfortunate"

While Cs wants investiture debate called off, Spanish justice minister admits it is valid and “will go ahead”

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría boasted that it’s thanks to ‘Mariano Rajoy and the PP’ that pro-independence forces are ‘headless’

France would have “done the same,” Manuel Valls says referring to Article 155

"We’ll turn sadness into energy, and we won’t stop until you’re free," says Catalan Parliament president Carme Forcadell

‘Diàleg Republicà’ is Junqueras’ backup plan after recent People’s Party calls to ban pro-independence manifestos

During the pre-campaign inaugural event, the head of PP in Catalonia also "thanked" Rajoy for implementing Article 155

The PP leader in Catalonia, Xavier García Albiol, says they seek to ‘destroy Spain’

Catalan Parliament Bureau expected to decide on August 16 whether to allow the bill to be discussed in plenary session

Latest developments over the October 1 independence referendum draw further attention from top international media

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, is suspicious regarding Spain’s executive willingness to dialogue. During this Wednesday’s session of control in the Parliament, Puigdemont stated that Catalonia deserves a bilateral negotiation with the Government in Madrid and that he considers anything other than this a way to “dilute and disguise what is really going on” in Catalonia and therefore “confuse public opinion”. Pro-independence radical left CUP MP, Mireia Boya, went a bit further and urged Puigdemont not to go along with Spain’s “siren calls” in relation to its supposed openness to dialogue. On the other hand, Xavier García Albiol, the leader of the Catalan branch of Spain’s governing party PP, called for Puigdemont not to be like “a statue” before the “signals” sent by the Spanish Government. 

The Spanish Government appointed this Friday former spokesman of the Catalan branch of the governing People’s Party, Enric Millo, as the new delegate of the Spanish executive in Catalonia. Millo will substitute Maria de los Llanos de Luna after a term of office which has been defined by tensions between the two governments. According to the Spanish Government’s Spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, the replacement aims to show the “negotiating disposition” of the new Spanish executive. “People are important, but disposition and willingness are even more so”, stated Méndez de Vigo before the press. Millo started his career in the Parliament in 1995 representing Christian Democrat ‘Unió’. In 2003 he joined PPC and since 2010 he has been the party’s spokesman in the Catalan Chamber.

The magistrates of the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) have unanimously declared the Parliament's declaration of independence unconstitutional and, therefore, invalid. The TC has considered that the agreed pro-independence proposal approved by the Parliament on the 9^th of November violates core articles of the Spanish Constitution, such as "the indivisible unity of Spain" and "the subjection of the public powers to the law" and also "attacks the Rule of Law". The TC has made its decision only 22 days after the appeal presented by the Spanish executive was accepted, which makes this resolution the fastest in the TC's history. On the other hand, the appeals against Spanish Government's abortion reform, led by People's Party (PP), are waiting for a resolution since 2010.  

For the first time in the Parliament's history, a candidate for President hasn't obtained a majority in the second round. This Thursday, 73 MPs from the 135 in the Catalan chamber refused to re-elect current President Artur Mas, which is exactly the same result that the candidate got in the first round of the investiture debate. The only MPs who supported Mas' candidacy were the 62 of the pro-independence cross-party list, 'Junts Pel Sí'. Their partner in the roadmap towards independence, radical left CUP, repeated their 'no' to Mas, as they repeatedly announced they would. In the following weeks, the parliamentary groups will hold meetings to choose an alternative candidate, but if one is not chosen before the 10^th of January, the Parliament will have to call elections again.