Spain threatens ‘nuclear option’ against Catalonia

THE Spanish government yesterday warned Carles Puigdemont he faced his final chance to relinquish independence within three days or it would trigger Article 155, the so-called ‘nuclear option’ which would override Catalonia’s autonomy.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had set a deadline of 10am local time yesterday for the Catalan leader to clarify whether the autonomous region had made a unilateral declaration of independence last week.

The Catalan president responded with a four-page letter that did not directly answer the question but instead stressed a mandate for independence and called for urgent dialogue.

The Spanish government had made clear that anything less than a clear “No” would set in motion Article 155, a never-used constitutional tool allowing it to effectively suspend autonomous powers and rule directly from Madrid. That is now set to be applied on Friday, if Mr Puigdemont does not reverse his position.

Maria Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, the Spanish deputy prime minister, insisted it was “in his hands to avoid the next steps”.

Mr Puigdemont, who had been under heavy pressure from independence hardliners to confirm an abrupt split from Spain, had called for an urgent meeting with Mr Rajoy in his letter. He said the banned independence referendum had returned a mandate for an independent state but insisted the regional government’s priority was a negotiated solution, eyeing a two-month period for dialogue.

Mr Rajoy responded with a letter of his own, in which he told Mr Puigdemont he still had a chance to respond in a “clear and simple way” to Madrid’s request. If he did not do so, he “will be the only one responsible for the application of the constitution,” he said.

The Spanish High Court, meanwhile, banned the Catalan police chief from leaving the country while he is investigated on suspicion of sedition.

The Catalan government’s campaign to break away from Spain has pushed the country into its worst political crisis since a failed coup attempt in 1981.

Thousands of people have demonstrated in the Catalan capital Barcelona and other Spanish cities both for and against independence in recent weeks, although so far the crisis has been largely free of violence, with the exception of the October 1 independence referendum called by the Catalan government, when national police assaulted voters with batons and rubber bullets in a bid to stop the ballot.

That incident highlighted distrust between national and regional forces.

A High Court judge ruled yesterday that Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero would have his passport withdrawn but rejected a request from the state prosecutor for him to be held in custody while the investigation continues.

Mr Trapero is a hero to the secessionists after his force took a much softer stance than national police in enforcing the ban on the referendum.

He has yet to be formally charged with sedition but prosecutors say he failed to order his force to rescue national police trapped last month inside a Barcelona building ringed by independence protesters.

Judge Carmen Lamela said in a written ruling that there was not sufficient evidence to detain Mr Trapero.