All options open: Spain
>Catalan leader issues ‘symbolic’ and ‘suspended’ independence declaration
MADRID: Spain’s government vowed to examine “all options” yesterday in a crisis cabinet meeting hours after Catalonia’s leaders said they had a mandate to declare independence but put it on hold, plunging the country into unknown territory.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to do everything in his power to prevent Catalan independence following a banned referendum in the region.
And he has refused to rule out imposing direct rule over the semi-autonomous region of 7.5 million people – a move many fear could lead to unrest.
Rajoy called an emergency meeting after Catalonia’s president Carles Puigdemont announced on Tuesday that he had accepted the mandate for “Catalonia to become an independent state” following the Oct 1 referendum.
But in a parliamentary speech Puigdemont immediately called for independence to be suspended to allow for negotiations with the central government.
A government source who refused to be named said yesterday “all options” were on the table as crisis talks were under way.
Crowds of thousands gathered outside the parliament building in Barcelona on Tuesday ahead of Puigdemont’s speech, waving Catalan flags and banners and screaming “democracy” in the hope of witnessing history in the making.
But Spain’s political establishment rounded on Puigdemont following his declaration, and support among separatists in Catalonia was mixed.
Barcelona resident Maria Rosa Bertran said she was against a delayed secession, which meant “suffering a longer agony”.
“Indecision and uncertainty is the worst thing that can happen to us,” she told AFP.
The Spanish government stuck to its stance that it would not accept mediation or any talks until Catalan leaders drop their independence bid.
“Mr Puigdemont – no one – can expect to impose mediation without returning to legality or democracy,” deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said.
She said Puigdemont was “a person who doesn’t know where he is, where he’s going or with whom he wants to go”.
Following his declaration to parliament, Puigdemont and his allies signed an independence declaration outside the chamber, but its legal validity was unclear.
Regional government spokesman Jordi Turull said the declaration was “a symbolic act”, adding any official decision would need to be decided by Catalan parliament. – AFP