Madrid move sets stage for standoff
Spain ready to strip Catalonia of powers over its independence bid Catalans’ cash statement
The crisis over Catalonia’s quest for independence escalated yesterday, as Spain’s central Government prepared the unprecedented step of stripping the wealthy region of some of its selfgoverning powers after its leader refused to abandon secession.
In his latest display of brinkmanship, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont sent a letter to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy just minutes before a deadline set by Madrid for him to backtrack on his calls to secede.
Puigdemont didn’t back down, however, and threatened to go ahead with a unilateral proclamation of independence if the Government refuses to negotiate.
“If the State Government persists in blocking dialogue and the repression continues, the Parliament of Catalonia will proceed, if deemed appropriate, to vote on the formal declaration of independence,” Puigdemont’s letter said in an English translation provided by the Catalan regional Government.
Spain’s Government responded by calling a special Cabinet session for today when it will set in motion Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. That article allows for central authorities to take over all or some of the powers of any of the country’s 17 autonomous regions.
Regarded as the “nuclear option”, such a punitive measure takes the standoff to another level. It probably will trigger outrage in Catalonia and could backfire by fostering sympathy for the independence movement, which polls suggest is supported only by about half of Catalans.
With a mood of defiance hardening in the Catalan capital of Barcelona and the Madrid- based Government adamant that the constitution doesn’t allow for the breakup of Spain, there seems to be no end in sight for one of Europe’s long- simmering disputes.
The standoff has intensified since October 1, when Catalan authorities held an independence referendum that Spain’s Constitutional Court declared illegal. The national Government sent thousands of police to enforce a court order disallowing the balloting, bringing violent clashes that further soured relations.
The dispute i s increasingly encroaching on the European Union’s political agenda. Catalonia wasn’t officially to be discussed at an EU summit starting overnight in Brussels, but leaders offered their views.
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his recent support for Rajoy, saying that the summit would be “marked by a message of unity around member states amid the crises they could face, unity around Spain”.
European Council President Donald Tusk ruled out any EU role in the dispute, telling reporters on the sidelines of the summit: “There is no room, no space for any kind of mediation, or international initiatives or action.”
While polls indicate that Catalonia’s 7.5 million residents are roughly divided over independence, an overwhelming majority wants to settle the issue in a binding legal referendum. Many Catalans have long stressed the region’s differences from the rest of Spain.
The latest surge for independence began in 2010, when the Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted greater autonomy for Catalonia and recognised it as a nation within Spain.
Article 155 has never been used in the four decades since democracy was restored after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. The article leaves it up to the national Government to decide what specific measures to take. Officials say Madrid will almost certainly seize control of Catalonia’s regional police to ensure law and order is maintained, along with tightening its grip on the region’s finances.
Other measures being mulled are removing Puigdemont’s presidential powers, rescinding regional control over education and schools, calling fresh elections that would dissolve the regional Parliament, and taking con- Bank customers in Catalonia are withdrawing money from financial institutions that have moved their official headquarters to other locations in Spain amid a political crisis over the region’s independence bid.
Pro- independence umbrella group Crida Democracia called on consumers yesterday to put pressure on banks that made the decision. Dozens of people were lining up yesterday at a CaixaBank branch in downtown Barcelona, most of them withdrawing € 150 trol of public media that are seen as mouthpieces for Catalonia’s proindependence ruling coalition. ($ 254) or € 160 from ATMs.
The amounts were the closest to € 155, in reference to the Spanish constitutional article with which the central Government plans to revoke some of Catalonia’s autonomous powers to prevent regional politicians from pushing ahead with secession.
CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell, the largest Catalan lenders, are among financial institutions that have moved their official registration out of Catalonia.
Puigdemont claims the referendum gave him a mandate to declare independence. His Government says more than 40 per cent of 5.5 million eligible voters cast ballots, with most favouring independence.
So far, however, Puigdemont has only called for negotiations with Spain and international mediators.
Andrew Dowling, an expert in Catalan history at Cardiff University in Wales, said any declaration of independence in the Catalan Parliament would be merely symbolic without border and institutional controls.
Such a unilateral declaration would see a “fracture between hardliners and the pragmatic people in Catalonia, who are already seeing economic fallout”, Dowling said.
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