King of Spain accused of ‘ignoring’ Catalonia
Separatists defy Madrid and prepare to declare unilateral independence as EU warns of grave threat
Catalonia’s leader accused the Spanish king of “deliberately ignoring millions of Catalans” as the region prepared to declare unilateral independence from Spain next Monday. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan leader, said he had been in favour of mediation to find a way out of the crisis but that the Spanish government had not accepted it. The crisis was described by a senior MEP as a greater threat to the EU than Brexit. The Spanish stock market fell yesterday.
CATALONIA’S leader last night accused the Spanish king of “deliberately ignoring millions of Catalans” as the region prepares to declare unilateral independence on Monday.
The crisis was yesterday described by a senior MEP as a greater threat to the EU than Brexit.
Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan leader, said he had been in favour of discussions to find a way out of the crisis but that the Spanish government had not accepted it.
“The king has adopted the [national] government’s position and policies which have been disastrous with regard to Catalonia. He is deliberately ignoring millions of Catalans,” Mr Puigdemont said in a televised address. “This moment calls for mediation. We have received various offers in the last hours and we will receive more. All of them know I am ready to start a mediation process.
“I will repeat it as many times as necessary: dialogue and agreement are part of the political culture of our people. However, the state has not given any positive answer to those offers.”
In response, the Spanish government last night rejected Mr Puigdemont’s calls for mediation. “The government will not negotiate over anything illegal and will not accept blackmail,” said a statement from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s office.
Separatist leaders said that the region will declare independence at the start of next week, following a referendum that the Spanish government, courts and Felipe VI have all declared illegal. “I am sure that in the next few days we will show the best of our country when the institutions of Catalonia will have to apply the results of the referendum,” Mr Puigdemont said.
Belgium’s Philippe Lamberts, the coleader of the European Greens in parliament, said the crisis “threatened the spirit of European integration, even more than Brexit”, and the leaders of the major pro-eu European Parliament groups warned the Catalan government against declaring independence.
Leaders of Catalonia’s pro-independence parties scheduled a special session in the region’s parliament. The only item on the agenda is a speech by Mr Puigdemont “to evaluate the results and effects” of last Sunday’s vote.
Mireia Boya, a spokesman for the Left-wing CUP party, part of the majority in the assembly, said that Monday’s session would see “a proclamation of independence and the Catalan republic”.
“Even though there are arrests and court suspensions, that won’t stop the session going ahead,” she said.
Spain’s Ibex 35 stock market index plummeted by 2.85 per cent yesterday in its worst session since the day after the Brexit referendum result.
‘Even though there are arrests and court suspensions, that won’t stop the session going ahead’