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The boss of all public prosecutors in Spain, Eduardo Torres-Dulce – appointed by the Spanish Government – announced on Monday that he is starting the process to dismiss his subordinate, Martín Rodríguez Sol, for having said in an interview on Sunday it was “legitimate” that a majority of citizens ask to vote on Catalonia’s political future, although “within the legal framework”. Rodríguez Sol believes that it is not possible to organise an independence referendum as such although he said that with the appropriate question, a legal self-determination vote could be held. He also stated that the legal framework should be adapted to social changes. The Catalan President, Artur Mas, has accused the Spanish Government “of having little democratic sensibility”. In addition, Mas reminded everybody that last week another army general threatened with a military intervention in Catalonia “and nothing happened” but if an attorney general says that people should “express themselves within the legal framework”, he is fired.

For the first time since 1982, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) has voted differently to the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), to which is federated. The PSOE is opposing Catalonia’s self-determination right and voted against the petitions urging the Spanish Government to engage in talks with the Catalan Executive in order to allow the organisation of a self-determination referendum in Catalonia. The Catalan Socialists oppose Catalonia’s independence from Spain but they back Catalonia’s right to self-determination and thus they supported the petitions. As an anecdote, the PSC MP Carme Chacón refused to back the petitions, as she is in the running as a candidate to lead the PSOE. The petitions were finally rejected by 78% of the Spanish Parliament, mostly from the People’s Party – which runs the Spanish Government and holds an absolute majority in the Chamber – and the PSOE, apart from the PSC.

The latest political poll issued by the Catalan Survey Centre (CEO), published every three months, shows that 54.7% of those interviewed would vote “yes” in an independence referendum, while 20.7% would vote “no” and 17.0% would abstain. Three months ago, the “yes” option was backed by 57% of the interviewees while in February 2012 it was only backed by 44%. Besides, 46.4% of citizens would support an independent Catalan state as their first choice, which represents an increase of 2.1 percentage points in three months and a 17.4 point increase in one year. 22.4% would prefer a federal Spain, 20.7% the current situation and 4.4% Catalonia being a region within a more centralised Spain.

Pere Navarro, the Secretary General of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), has publicly asked Juan Carlos “to resign” and ensure “a quiet replacement” in favour of the Crown Prince Felipe. According to Navarro, “a dedicated Republican”, the abdication is “necessary” and would “answer the needs of our times”. Navarro is aiming for Felipe to play “a relevant role to mediate the deep changes required in our country”. Immediately after this, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) – which the PSC is part of as a federated member – rejected Navarro’s proposal and said they considered it to be “totally inadequate”. In the last few months, due to corruption scandals and other incidents, popular support of the monarchy has fallen in Spain.

Following a report by its own legal services, the Spanish Government is considering appealing against the ‘Declaration of sovereignty and the right to self-determination by the people of Catalonia’, approved by the Catalan Parliament two weeks ago. This declaration states that, following the historical rights and the free self-determination of the people, the people of Catalonia are sovereign and therefore able decide on their own future and organise a self-determination vote to decide on Catalonia’s hypothetical independence from Spain. The Catalan President stated that, before the self-determination right of the people, “there are no rules, laws, constitutions or possible interpretations”.

The Cercle d’Economia, the main Catalan economic forum open to businesspeople and academics, has published an opinion note on the political context following the last Catalan elections. In the note, the Cercle asks the Spanish Government “to talk” about the Catalan self-determination and “to reform” the Constitution accordingly. The Cercle does not explicitly back an independent Catalonia but it supports a deep reform of Spain’s territorial organisation and the finding of a negotiated solution for both parties, which may be reached through a legal referendum. In addition, the Cercle asks for a review of Spain’s internal distribution of the deficit targets among government levels and to increase those of the Autonomous Communities.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, met on Thursday for the first time since Mas was re-elected president and the Catalan Parliament approved a Declaration of Sovereignty of the People of Catalonia. The meeting lasted 45 minutes and none of the participants officially commented afterwards. However, Mas, once in Barcelona, referred to it during a literary prize ceremony. The Catalan President underlined that “we will always have to go and explain ourselves” regarding Catalonia’s self-determination process. According to him, this proves Catalonia’s “willingness to always talk”. Besides, Mas also explained to the monarch that the current deficit targets imposed on the Autonomous Communities are not allowing them to guarantee the Welfare State.

The Catalan Government criticised the Spanish Executive’s obstacles to Catalonia’s own external relations action, as “in a globalised world” this “is not a caprice”, but essential to be recognised at an international level and to attract foreign investment. The Catalan Minister for the Presidency, in charge of External Relations, Francesc Homs, criticised the Spanish Government’s “old-fashioned” way of understanding diplomacy and gave the example of spending in 2012 “€330,000 on cutlery and table cloths”. Homs emphasised the main commercial focus of Catalonia’s external offices and their “modesty”. The Catalan Government has a total of 5 political representation offices – including for the European Union – and 34 commercial offices.

Barcelona’s reign as host to the Handball World Championship came to an end on Sunday evening as Spain destroyed Denmark by no less than sixteen goals at a sold-out Palau Sant Jordi (35-19). Seven Catalan players, most of them on the books of FC Barcelona Intersport, were part of the sixteen-strong world championship winning team. Last night, Croatia beat Slovenia 31-26 to take the bronze medal on the podium.

Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi played host on Friday evening to two riveting semi-finals in the World Handball Championship as Spain beat surprise package Slovenia 26-22 thanks largely to a strong defence while Denmark made it through to tomorrow’s final after defeating Croatia by a wider margin: 30-24.

The Parliament of Catalonia has approved an historical declaration of sovereignty claiming the right to self-determination by the Catalan people. The full text is included in this news item. The declaration paves the way for the organisation of a self-determination referendum on Catalonia’s future within Spain and its hypothetical independence. It was supported by 66.4% of the MPs who voted, representing 63% of the total parliament. These supporters came from 4 different groups. 2 MPs abstained because the declaration does not include other Catalan-speaking territories and five Socialist MPs did not vote as a protest because their party is officially opposed to the declaration. Those opposing the declaration included 32% of the MPs who voted, representing 30.4% of the total chamber.

The association’s People’s Rights Commission defends the celebration of a referendum and the unilateral independence declaration if the Spanish Government insists in not allowing a citizen vote on the issue. While is it true that the current Spanish Constitution does not allow for a self-determination referendum, the Barcelona lawyers' association argues that “in a democratic society, the law should be the expression of the people’s choice”, and therefore it should be modified accordingly to allow the referendum. It also highlights that 20 of these states are the result of secession, such as Norway, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia or Montenegro.

The Catalan Government has created a Treasury Secretariat within its Finance Ministry, which will be in charge of managing revenue, with the objective of developing Catalonia’s own tax office. The creation of a treasury of its own would allow the Catalan Executive to collect all the taxes generated in Catalonia, as Navarra and the Basque Country have been doing for decades. It is one of the electoral promises of the governing Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) and is also part of the parliamentary stability agreement reached with the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). A Catalan tax office collecting all the taxes is an historical claim of a large part of the Catalan society. However the Secretariat created is in line with the CiU’s strategy of creating state structures and it has been criticised by the pro-Spanish unity parties.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has accepted the offer sent by the new Catalan President to talk about Catalonia’s claims, while keeping them “always within the Constitution”. Furthermore, he has rejected the possibility of modifying the 0.7% deficit target imposed on the Autonomous Communities for 2013. The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, explained that, if the payment of financial interest is excluded, meeting next year’s 0.7% deficit target represents a budget surplus, which “makes no sense from an economic point of view in a context of recession”. Mas-Colell proposed that the Autonomous Communities meet a 1.5% deficit target in 2013, as they represent more than a third of Spain’s total public expenditure and Spain has been authorised a total deficit target of 4.5%.

Artur Mas, the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), and Oriol Junqueras, President of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC), have signed the parliamentary stability agreement, which includes the call for a self-determination vote by citizens and the modification of taxation in order to increase revenue. Mas will be re-elected President of the Catalan Government and the ERC will not sit in the Executive but will offer parliamentary support on the agreed issues. The CiU and the ERC are asking for other parties to add their support to the self-determination vote. In addition, they have stated that the taxes created with the sole aim of collecting more money will be temporary. Despite the electoral mandate, the Spanish Government totally opposes the referendum and is threatening the Catalan Executive with economic asphyxia.