Catalonia defiant in face of threat from Spain
BARCELONA, Spain — The Catalan regional government refused anew on Sunday to back off from its independence bid, even as Madrid harshly chided secessionist leaders and branded as illegal any move to try to break away from Spain.
Speaking Sunday on the BBC, Spain’s foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, responded acidly to a contention by the speaker of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, who said Spain’s plans to impose direct rule in Catalonia were a “de facto coup d’etat.”
“If anyone has attempted a coup,” retorted Dastis, “it is the Catalan regional government.”
The independence furor in Spain’s most affluent region has sent shock waves across Europe, with neighboring governments fearing that the Catalonia showdown could galvanize separatist sentiment elsewhere.
On Sunday, the presidents of Italy’s wealthy northern regions of Veneto and Lombardy claimed victory in autonomy referendums that seek to grab additional powers and tax revenue from Rome.
The votes were nonbinding, but the leaders of the regions hope to leverage strong turnout in talks with Italy’s center-left government. As leading members of the anti-migrant, anti-EU Northern League, they want to keep more tax revenue and have autonomy over such areas as immigration, security, education and environment.
Spain prepared for a Senate vote this week on the unprecedented step of imposing direct rule in the restive northeastern region, whose capital, Barcelona, was roiled by huge street protests on Saturday.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is calling for an administrative takeover that would displace senior Catalan officials and give the central government control of the regional police, together with Catalonia’s finances and public media outlets.
Rajoy wants Spanish lawmakers’ approval for calling a regional election, an idea that Catalan officials said was out of line. Jordi Turull, the chief spokesman for Catalonia’s regional government, on Sunday told the main Catalan-language private radio station, RAC1, that new parliamentary regional elections were “not on the table.”
Three weeks ago, Catalans overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence, but fewer than half the region’s residents took part in the balloting, clouding the result. Spain said the referendum was in violation of the national constitution and sent in police to try to halt the vote.
The regional parliament has not voted on a declaration of independence, but Turull did not rule out such an action. “What Catalonia is will be decided by the parliament legitimately elected by the citizens,” he said in the radio interview.
Spain again warned sharply against any further secessionist moves. Dastis said the imposition of direct rule was a step that Madrid was reluctant to take, but he insisted it was necessary to restore order.
“We are going to … rule the day-to-day affairs of Catalonia according to the Catalan laws and norms,” he told the BBC.
Rajoy’s decision to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution takes the dispute into uncharted territory. The provision, granting the government broad powers in the event of a serious breach of law in any of Spain’s semi-autonomous regions, has never been utilized.
Approval of the Senate, which Rajoy’s party controls, is almost a certainty, which means the administrative takeover could go into effect immediately afterward.
The government has said steps under Article 155 would cover matters including security, public order, finance management, taxation, the regional budget and public media outlets. Rajoy, speaking on Saturday, said Madrid was not “ending Catalan autonomy,” but the scope of the central government’s planned actions was more severe than many expected.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, also speaking Saturday, excoriated the anticipated actions by Madrid as the most serious attack on Catalonia’s foundations and principles since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who died in 1975 after decades of rule.
Speaking on Catalan TV — one of the now-imperiled media outlets — he declared that he would consult with the regional parliament about how to respond to “these attacks on democracy.” If the takeover goes ahead, Puigdemont could face criminal charges, Spain’s attorney general has said.
Catalonia accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economy, and Barcelona draws millions of visitors. But dozens of companies are decamping, or preparing to do so, moving headquarters elsewhere in Spain in anticipation of possible civil strife and legal limbo.
Molly Hennessy-Fiske reported from Barcelona and Laura King from Washington. Special correspondent James Badcock and Associated Press contributed.
molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com