Ousted Catalonia leader vows peaceful resistance to Spain
BARCELONA, Spain — Catalonia’s fired leaders will continue “working to build a free country,” its ousted separatist president said Saturday, as he called for peaceful opposition to Spain’s imposition of direct rule in the region.
Carles Puigdemont’s comments, made in a recorded televised address that was broadcast as he sat in a cafe in his hometown of Girona, were a veiled refusal to accept his Cabinet’s dismissal as ordered by central authorities.
They came after one of the most tumultuous days in Spain’s recent history, as Catalan lawmakers in Barcelona passed a declaration of independence for the prosperous northeastern region, and the national parliament in Madrid approved constitutional measures to halt the secessionist drive.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election to be held Dec. 21.
In his statement, Puigdemont said only the regional parliament can elect or dismiss the Catalan government. He vowed to “continue working to build a free country.”
Meanwhile, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said Spain’s decision to call a new election in Catalonia after the region’s unilateral declaration of independence “was the right thing to do.”
Tajani said that Europe’s position is clear: “No one will ever recognize Catalonia as an independent country,” he said Saturday while leaving the Vatican after a forum on Europe’s future. “The referendum was illegal. The state of law should be restored.”