King Felipe has ‘disappointed many Catalans’

Spanish king accused of following Madrid’s ‘catastrophic’ policies

The leader of Catalonia has accused King Felipe VI of following Spain’s central government’s “catastrophic” policies towards the region.

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, called the central government “irresponsible” for not accepting mediation in the political crisis.

Mr Puigdemont’s government is considering when it will declare independence from Spain in the wake of a disputed referendum which triggered the country’s worst national crisis in decades.

He has said an independence declaration will come within a few days, but Spain, which declared Sunday’s referendum illegal and invalid, is bitterly opposed to any such move.

In a televised speech late yesterday, Mr Puigdemont condemned violence by police who tried to halt Sunday’s referendum. “We held the referendum amid an unprecedented repression and in the following days we will show our best face to apply the results of the referendum,” he said.

The separatist leader told the king: “You have disappointed many Catalans.”

In a nationally televised address on Tuesday, King Felipe came out strongly against the Catalan authorities, criticising their “irresponsible conduct”.

He said the Spanish state needed to ensure constitutional order and the rule of law in Catalonia, the richest region of Spain.

Mr Puigdemont will address the regional parliament on Monday to review the disputed vote. His parliamentary supporters in the radical CUP group say they will consider the independence declaration during the session.

Politicians in other parts of Spain and a handful of civil groups have offered to try to bridge the divide between the two sides, but Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says no dialogue can take place outside of the country’s constitution, which does not include provisions for a region to secede.

“Mr Puigdemont has been outside of the law for way too long,” Mr Rajoy’s deputy, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, said, responding to the Catalan president’s remarks in his televised address.

European leaders have sided with Spain and, amid fears that Catalonia’s secession bid could find echoes elsewhere on the continent, the EU has so far refused to step in.

European Commission vicepresident Frans Timmermans stressed yesterday the need for Spain and Catalonia to talk, but said there is a “general consensus that regional government of Catalonia has chosen to ignore the law when organising the referendum”.

Sir, - I read with some amusement those who attempted to justify the Spanish Government’s response to the Catalan independence vote.

I have to say that it matters not a jiff now whether the referendum was legal or illegal – the independence movement in Catalonia has won the argument.

The pictures that flashed round the world saw a police force using violence to stop people voting and that is how the vast majority of citizens around the world will view it.

You can spout all the

mealy mouthed rhetoric you like about it being illegal but in the final analysis images speak much louder than words.

Constitutions are written to fit circumstances at the time but they have to be able to adapt to changing circumstances.

After all, they are written by men and not handed down from some God on tablets of stone.

Whatever happens now is very much in the hands of Catalonians and the Spanish Government need to adapt or risk looking like Franco. Bryan Auchterlonie. Bluebell Cottage, Perth.

Picture: AP. A woman carries an independence flag as people demonstrate in Barcelona.