‘ARROGANT, STUPID AND INCOMPETENT IN EQUAL MEASURE’
Politicians in Wales give their verdict on crackdown in Catalonia:
ARROGANT. Stupid. And incompetent. In equal measure. That’s what one Welsh Government minister makes of Spain’s handling of the escalating Catalonian crisis.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is pushing for the introduction of direct rule on Catalonia in the wake of its October 1 independence referendum.
He said the Madrid Government was “not ending Catalan autonomy” but “relieving of their duties those who have acted outside the law”.
Any move to strip Catalan leaders who have championed independence of their authority will ignite fierce opposition.
Concerns are soaring about the risk of violent confrontations, and one prominent Welsh politician is dumbfounded by the Spanish Government’s response to the crisis.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Minister for Lifelong Learning and the Welsh Language Alun Davies gave a scathing assessment of how Spain’s central government had responded to referendum.
Contrasting Madrid’s stance with how the UK Government facilitated the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he said: “I think most people right across the political spectrum are looking at events in Madrid with increasing incredulity.
“Look what happened in Scotland where a central government – and a unionist centrist government – in the UK, London, facilitated, enabled and participated in a referendum on independence in Scotland and won, defeated nationalism in Scotland, defeated separatism and established a new basis for a union moving forward.
“You would have thought that would be the textbook example for how to manage these sorts of issues and the Spanish Government seems to have learned no lessons from that at all and embarked upon a journey which seems to me to guarantee future Catalonian independence. How or when it happens I don’t know but it’s difficult to see an easy resolution to this.
“The worst thing for me is the violence of the Spanish state which can only be reminiscent of fascism, particularly with the Spanish history.”
The images of baton-wielding police trying to stop people casting votes in the referendum have been a public relations disaster for the Spanish Government. It is now reported it is considering trying to take control of the local police force and the broadcaster TV3. Blaenau Gwent AM Mr Davies said: “I just think it’s extraordinary. This is the sort of thing you’d expect to see in some caricature of a banana republic.
“I think it’s fair to say that you would expect and anticipate Spain’s friends in the international community saying to the Spanish Government, ‘You need to think hard about what you’re doing and you need to think hard about the consequences of what you are doing.’”
Spain’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said the Madrid Government would “establish the authorities who are going to rule the day-to-day affairs of Catalonia”.
Plaid Cymru politicians are horrified by the Spanish Government’s stance, with Carmarthen East and Dinefwr AM Adam Price describing it as the “very stuff of a coup d’etat” and “unthinkable in a western democracy”.
Warning that the situation is entering “very, very dangerous territory indeed”, he wants to see international mediation and a negotiated settlement.
He wants Wales to convey clear solidarity for Catalonia in response to Madrid’s push for direct rule, arguing: “Because this is an act which goes against the very essence of democratic self-determination, as a small country that has won a degree of autonomy – of which we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary – then we should be sending a message of support and solidarity to the Catalan people and voice our unequivocal opposition to this powergrab by the centre. I think we need to make our position clear.”
If the Catalan government makes a unilateral declaration of independence, he wants the Welsh Government to also demonstrate its support and “recognise them in spirit”.
Jonathan Edwards, the Plaid MP who represents the same seat in Westminster, is adamant there is a “clear mandate” for independence. Around nine out of 10 of the 43% of Catalans who are understood to have taken part in the vote backed leaving Spain.
Mr Edwards said there was a “yearning amongst people across the world for self-determination”.
He warned: “What we’re seeing is the return of tyranny to western Europe. We stand quite clearly on the side of democracy and peace.”
Foreign Minister Mr Dastis has rejected the claims Spain is engineering a coup against the Catalan Government. He said: “If anyone has attempted a coup, it is the Catalan regional government.”
When challenged by the BBC about images of police taking a “brutal” response to the referendum, he countered that “many of those pictures have been proven to be fake pictures”.
If Madrid is to use a previously untapped power to intervene directly in Catalonia this will need to be approved by Spain’s senate. This body is expected to give the green light on Friday and new regional elections may be on the way.
Spain’s constitutional court considers the October 1 referendum illegal and the UK Government has been strongly supportive of Madrid.
UK Foreign Minister Mark Field recently described the public vote as an “attempt to undermine the rule of law” and stated that “the EU’s legal position is that Catalonia would have to leave the EU if it became legally independent with consequences for the people of that region, visitors and businesses”.
Yes Cymru, a group which campaigns for Welsh independence, has condemned Madrid’s latest move.
It stated: “Catalonia is a European nation and should be free to decide her future without constant intimidation from the minority Spanish government.
“The violence that was mete out to ordinary peaceful Catalan voters by armed and militarised Spanish police force should not be tolerated in Europe nor anywhere else.”
The group is holding a “Welsh solidarity rally” on Saturday in Cardiff to “show Welsh friendship and solidarity with Catalonia”.
Montgomersyhire Conservative MP Glyn Davies said Spain’s “overaggression” had “certainly helped the cause of an independent Catalonia”.
He said: “As always, whether we’re talking about Wales or Scotland in Britain or places like Catalonia, if a whole region decides it wants to leave, then leave it will eventually. I’ve never seen a state behave in a way that’s more likely to persuade people to want to leave.
“I don’t know which side I’m on but inevitably, like most people, I’ve developed a degree of sympathy for Catalonia, simply because of the way the Spanish state has behaved rather brutally and without seeming to listen.”