Re claim Catalonia from ‘separatist havoc’, urges Rajoy

SPAIN’S prime minister urged Catalans yesterday to “reclaim Catalonia from the havoc of separatism” and vote against pro-independence parties as he made his first visit to the region since declaring direct rule.

Mariano Rajoy said Catalans should “vote massively to launch a new political era” in elections on December 21, in response to the unsanctioned independence referendum held on October 1.

Presenting Xavier Garcia Albiol, his Popular Party’s (PP) candidate for the presidency of Catalonia, Mr Rajoy scotched suggestions by the deposed leaders of the region that the election would be a de facto plebiscite on independence.

But he nevertheless asked the region’s “silent majority” who favour union with Spain to “reclaim Catalonia from the havoc of separatism”.

Led by Mr Garcia Albiol, the conservative PP took just 8.5pc of the vote in the last regional elections, in 2015. By contrast, Mr Rajoy’s party has won three national elections since 2011.

Opinion polls suggest the new election will be a tight race between the combined votes for pro-independence parties and pro-union parties, with a strong possibility that a left-wing coalition including Podemos will hold the balance of power in Catalonia.

Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s ousted president who fled to Brussels to avoid being jailed like eight of his former colleagues, said a win for pro-independence forces must have political consequences and advance the possibility of secession from Spain. After Catalonia’s parliament voted on October 27 in favour of declaring independence, Mr Rajoy responded by firing top government officials, dissolving the parliament and ordering the early election.

Apart from the government takeover, 10 Catalan separatist leaders have been jailed while their roles in promoting secession are under investigation.

“It’s urgent to return a sense of normality to Catalonia and do so as soon as possible to lower the social and economic tensions,” Mr Rajoy said. “The threat of the separatists is destructive, sad and agonising. Secessionism has created insecurity and uncertainty.”

The far-left separatist CUP party decided yesterday to participate in December’s elections. The CUP is one of three pro-secession parties in the region.

Mr Rajoy linked the continued economic recovery of Spain, and especially Catalonia, to the removal of pro-independence parties from power. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

It’s urgent to return a sense of normality to Catalonia as soon as possible