The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
King condemns ‘irresponsible conduct’ of Catalonia’s leaders
Address to the nation as Catalans take to the streets in protest
The Catalan authorities deliberately bent the law with their “irresponsible conduct”, King Felipe VI of Spain has said.
Addressing the nation, he said the bid by authorities in Catalonia to push ahead with independence has “undermined coexistence”.
He said the state needs to ensure Spain’s constitutional order and the correct functioning of Catalan institutions and rule of law.
The king was speaking as hundreds of thousands of people in Catalonia protested Spanish police violence during Sunday’s vote, during which nearly 900 people were hurt, and as Catalonia’s leader Carles Puigdemont said his government will declare independence in a matter of days.
The government in Madrid, which has said it will respond with “all necessary measures” to counter Catalan defiance, is holding talks with national opposition leaders to try to find consensus on the response, which could include suspending the region’s self-government.
Pro-independence groups and trade unions had called for strikes in support of Catalan leaders yesterday.
In Catalonia and University squares in Barcelona, a sea of demonstrators waved the Catalan flag.
One of the biggest groups concentrated around the Spanish national police headquarters in the city, where protesters called them “occupying forces” and called for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to resign.
Earlier Barcelona’s football stars joined workers in Catalonia in downing their tools.
The club said none of its professional or youth teams was training and the club base was closed.
Several hundred port workers demonstrated outside the regional headquarters of Spain’s ruling Popular Party.
The port workers threw wads of unused ballot papers from the vote into the air in the protest outside the party’s office in Barcelona.