Spain is open to dialogue

Re Spain and Catalonia: Talk, don’t fight, Editorial, Oct. 20 I am somewhat disappointed by some inaccuracies in your editorial. A more balanced and well-informed view has been offered by other Western media.

I would like to clarify that the Spanish prime minister has called an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday not “to begin the process of suspending the region’s self-governing powers,” but to restore the constitutional order because the Catalan regional president has not accepted to put an end to his actions against the legality established in the Spanish Constitution and in Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy.

The door of dialogue has always been open. But political dialogue, in any democracy, can only be implemented within the framework of the law.

No dialogue can be offered by someone resorting to blackmail and faits accomplis in breach of the law.

I missed in your editorial a more thorough knowledge of reality on what actually happened on Oct. 1.

Let me add that there has been a great profusion of fake news. The police acted in their defence against those who sought to obstruct the actions ordered by the courts. Only four people were hospitalized.

Also, with respect to your reference of “region’s limited selfrule,” please take into account that Spain is one of the most decentralized countries in the world. Enrique Ruiz Molero, Ambassador of Spain, Ottawa