Spain marks nat’l day with show of unity
Spain celebrated its national day Thursday with a show of unity in the face of Catalan independence efforts, a day after the central government gave the region’s separatist leader a deadline to abandon his secession bid.
But events were overshadowed when a Eurofighter jet crashed about 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of Madrid while returning to base after taking part in a traditional military display, killing the pilot.
To mark the national holiday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and King Felipe VI attended the parade in central Madrid as the country struggles with its worst political crisis in a generation.
Armed forces marched along Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana boulevard to commemorate the day that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.
Separate pro-unity rallies, including one by members of a far-right movement, were organized in the Catalan capital Barcelona.
In Madrid, cheering crowds lined the streets, waving red and yellow Spanish flags and some crying “Viva Espana!” as air force jets and helicopters swooped overhead.
Some teenagers climbed trees to get a better look as thousands of troops, vehicles — and even a khakicapped brown billy goat — paraded through central Madrid.
“I love to see people waving our national flag,” said Beatriz Trapero, who was watching with her husband. “There used to be a certain shyness in showing it but now it seems not so much.”
Rajoy’s government says it is ready to take control of the region after Catalan president Carles Puigdemont’s announcement Tuesday that he accepted a mandate for “Catalonia to become an independent state.”
But he immediately suspended the declaration, calling for more time for talks with Madrid.
Rajoy responded that Puigdemont had until next Monday to decide if he planned to push ahead with secession and then until next Thursday to reconsider, otherwise Madrid would trigger constitutional steps that could suspend Catalonia’s regional autonomy.
An influential pro-independence group, the Catalan National Assembly which has staged massive demonstrations in favor of secession in the past, called on Puigdemont to lift the suspension of the independence declaration, saying in a statement Thursday that it made no sense to keep it “given Spain’s rejection of any dialogue.”
World leaders are watching closely and uncertainty over the fate of the northeast region of 7.5 million people has damaged business confidence, with several listed firms already moving their legal headquarters out of Catalonia.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said the region’s economy risked sliding into recession if the crisis dragged on long term.
Catalonia is deeply divided on the issue, with polls suggesting Catalans are roughly evenly split on whether to go it alone.
While Puigdemont insists the Oct. 1 referendum gave him a mandate for independence and has said he still wants dialogue with Madrid, Rajoy has rejected calls for mediation and refuses to negotiate on anything until the separatists abandon their independence drive.
“It is not peaceful, it is not free, it will not be recognized by Europe and now everyone knows it will have costs,” he told lawmakers.
Rajoy’s announcement of the deadline was a preliminary step towards invoking article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows Madrid to impose control over its devolved regions — an unprecedented move that some fear could lead to unrest.