Spain: 200 separatist Catalan mayors to visit Brussels tomorrow - by Ryan Heath

Two-hundred Catalonian mayors are scheduled to pay a single day visit to Brussels on Tuesday to explain the crisis from their perspective, Catalonian media reported after the release of ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. The decision was reportedly made on Friday, when a Spanish judge issued a European Arrest Warrant for Puigdemont and four of his ministers.

The group is part of hundreds of mayors who want an independent Catalonia, and some were also present in Catalan parliament when voting for independence was held. According to Catalunya Radio, more mayors wanted to go to Brussels but there were not enough available flights.

Simultaneously, a delegation of anti-independence Catalan business leaders will also be visiting Brussels on the same day. They will hold a press conference together with some members of European Parliament.

Puigdemon and four of his associates turned themselves in to Belgian police early Sunday morning following Spain's issuing of an arrest warrant. A Brussels judge released all five late Sunday on condition they stay in Belgium and attend court sessions. Belgian authorities are meanwhile considering Spain's request to send him home.

Read more: 200 separatist Catalan mayors to visit Brussels tomorrow - Daily Sabah

Spain-Catalonia: Puigdemont fails to clarify Catalan independence confusion

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has not given a clear answer on whether he has declared independence for the Spanish region.

The Catalan government has tweeted an English version of Puigdemont’s letter to Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy.

Puigdemont offers to meet him as soon as possible to discuss the controversy, but fails to give a yes or no response on independence. He calls for an end to the “repression” of the Catalan people and their government, citing charges against Catalan demonstrators and the chief of the Catalan police.

He also calls for a meeeting with Rajoy “as soon as possible” to find a solution.

Madrid has responded, the Spanish premier “deeply” regretting Puigdemont’s failure to clarify his stance.

Spain’s central government had set a deadline of 10am on Monday for Puigdemont to give a “yes” or “no” answer – and until Thursday to change his mind should the reply be affirmative. Madrid has threatened to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy under Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, if independence is declared.

In addition to the letter, Carles Puigdemont is said to have included documents including a copy of the breakaway Referendum Law that his minority government rammed through the regional parliament with help from its far-left ally CUP.

The move bypassed ordinary parliamentary procedure, prompting an opposition walkout.

Read more:Puigdemont fails to clarify Catalan independence confusion | Euronews

Spain:Unity Survives, as Catalan local government suspends declaration of independence

Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont 
suspends declaration of independence

The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has pulled the region back from the brink of an unprecedented showdown with the Spanish government by announcing that he will suspend a declaration of independence to pursue negotiations in the hope of resolving Spain’s worst political crisis for 40 years.

Addressing the Catalan parliament on Tuesday evening, Puigdemont said that while the recent referendum had given his government a mandate to create an independent republic, he would not immediately declare unilateral independence from Spain.

“We propose the suspension of the effects of the declaration of independence for a few weeks, to open a period of dialogue,” he said.

“If everyone acts responsibly the conflict can be resolved in a calm and agreed manner.”

Hours before the announcement, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, had appealed to Puigdemont to step back from a unilateral declaration of independence and begin dialogue with the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.

Rajoy has shown himself willing to take the drastic step of invoking article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which allows the central government to take control of an autonomous region if it “does not fulfill the obligations imposed upon it by the constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain”.

The Spanish prime minister has repeatedly pointed out that the referendum and the laws underpinning it are a violation of the Spanish constitution, which is based “on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards”.

His government insists the Catalan question is an internal Spanish matter, and has promised to use all the legal and constitutional means at its disposal to try to stop the regional government’s manoeuvres. It has also deployed thousands of Guardia Civil and national police officers to Catalonia.

Note EU-Digest: Some background on Catalonia and their quest for independence: 


Catalonia has a total population of 7.5 million people. 

On the October 1, polling results, reported by the Catalan government, from the illegally declared referendum by the Spanish government -  it showed the "Yes" side had "won", with 2,044,038 (92.01%) voting for independence and 177,547 (7.99%) voting against, on a turnout of only 43.03% of the eligible voters.

Even though the referendum was held, it must be noted that based on Catalan law, the referendum should not have been held  re: Catalan Statutes of Autonomy - which states that a two third majority is required in the Catalan parliament, before any changes to the Catalonia's Political status can be made.

There was no 2/3 majority, when the vote was held in the Catalan parliament, to approve the holding of a referendum.  It was, however, decided by the ruling parties in the Catalan parliament that a simple majority vote in the Catalan parliament would be sufficient to hold the referendum  

In addition, the holding of the referendum itself, was also declared illegal, based on the Statutes of the Spanish Constitution.  Consequently the holding of a Catalan referendum was also suspended by the "Constitutional Court of Spain" on 7 September 2017. 

Nevertheless, Mr. Carlos Puigdemont still went ahead with the referendum.

Bottom-line the Catalan government, and its President Carles Puigdemont broke every Spanish law there was to break. 

Mr. Puigdemont and several of his cohorts can consider themselves very lucky not to have already been arrested and prosecuted. It could, however, still happen, if they continue to pursue this absurd nationalistic goal. 

EU-Digest