Spain can stop Catalan independence says Spain's prime minister

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 6 years ago

Spain can stop Catalan independence says Spain's prime minister

Updated

Madrid: The Spanish government could use its constitutional powers to suspend Catalonia's autonomy and prevent the region from splitting from Spain, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says.

In an interview with newspaper El Pais published late on Saturday he was asked if he was ready to trigger the article 155 of the constitution, which enables him to sack the regional government and call a fresh local election.

"I don't rule out absolutely anything that is within the law ... Ideally, it shouldn't be necessary to implement extreme solutions but for that not to happen things would have to be changed," he said.

Rajoy also said he planned to leave in Catalonia the extra 4,000 police officers the government had shipped in to region for an independence vote on October 1 until the crisis was over.

Demonstrators gather in Colon Square during a protest for Spanish unity in Madrid on Saturday.

Demonstrators gather in Colon Square during a protest for Spanish unity in Madrid on Saturday.Credit: Bloomberg

The conservative prime minister added he would not call a snap national election as a result of the political crisis and ruled out using mediation to resolve it.

Street rallies on all sides

Meanwhile on Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets for rallies in Madrid and Barcelona as Catalan leaders appeared on the verge of announcing a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain, setting up a potential showdown with the national government.

One group of demonstrators in Madrid gathered in a central square to support a united Spain, with many waving Spanish flags. Elsewhere in Madrid, other demonstrators, mostly dressed in white and some carrying white flags, called for greater dialogue between the Catalan and Spanish governments – as did several thousand people in Barcelona, the Catalan capital.

Advertisement
A man holds up sign reading in Spanish and Catalan language, ''We Talk'', as he takes part in a rally calling to find a solution for the crisis with Catalonia's secession at Plaza Espana square, in the Basque city of Vitoria in northern Spain.

A man holds up sign reading in Spanish and Catalan language, ''We Talk'', as he takes part in a rally calling to find a solution for the crisis with Catalonia's secession at Plaza Espana square, in the Basque city of Vitoria in northern Spain.Credit: AP

"What they need is couples therapy!" said Fabian Vazquez, 48, a graphic designer, who stood under a large dove-shaped cardboard display outside Barcelona City Hall.

The demonstrations Saturday followed a week of increasing polarisation in Spain, spurred by an independence referendum last Sunday that was held across Catalonia, a region in northeast Spain.

Demonstrators call for unity in Madrid.

Demonstrators call for unity in Madrid.Credit: Bloomberg

The vote, which had been declared illegal by the Spanish constitutional court, devolved into violent clashes between Spanish national police, who attempted to stop it, and voters. Hundreds were injured, including police officers.

More than 40 percent of Catalan voters took part, with 90 percent casting ballots backing independence.

Demonstrators in Madrid hoist Spanish national flags in support of unity between Spain and Catalonia.

Demonstrators in Madrid hoist Spanish national flags in support of unity between Spain and Catalonia.Credit: Bloomberg

That led the Catalan regional president, Carles Puigdemont, to announce that he had a mandate to unilaterally declare independence in the coming days.

In response, the constitutional court has barred the Catalan parliament from meeting Monday, in an apparent effort to stop regional lawmakers from debating the issue.

Another demonstration is set for Barcelona on Sunday to express direct opposition to the Catalan drive for independence.

After the referendum vote and clashes, the Spanish king, Felipe VI, made a rare televised speech to condemn the Catalan leaders. Three Catalan businesses – banks Sabadell and Caixabank, as well as energy company Gas Natural – also announced that they were moving their head offices to other parts of Spain.

Throughout the past week, people in Barcelona have held demonstrations in support of independence, while those in Madrid have gathered in opposition. But Rita Maestre, a spokeswoman for the local government in Madrid, said most of the rallies Saturday were "proof that between the noise of the polarised extremes there is a large part of the population that wants dialogue."

Demonstrators in Barcelona carried banners with handwritten slogans such as "Let's talk!" It was written in both Spanish and Catalan. One called on Puigdemont and Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, "to go for a beer."

"I don't believe in flags or nationalism because it makes hate and wars," said Reyes Rodriguez, 25, a publicist in Barcelona. "So I'm here to call for dialogue."

Rodriguez said Catalans should be able to hold a legal referendum in the future, but argued that the turnout for the Oct. 1 vote had not given Puigdemont a mandate to declare independence.

"A lot of people stayed at home because they felt the vote was illegal and they didn't believe in it," Rodriguez said.

Sergi Miquel, a lawmaker from Puigdemont's center-right party, the Catalan European Democratic Party, said the turnout at the referendum would have been far higher had the police not acted so violently against voters.

"Some people were afraid, I'm sure, and some people could not vote" because the police would not let them, Miquel said.

Loading

Representatives of the independence movement said they hoped Puigdemont would follow through with his promise to secede.

Reuters, New York Times

Most Viewed in World

Loading