Spanish FM tells Catalans to give up independence bid
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, has warned people in the Spanish region of Catalonia against seeking independence ahead of the region’s local elections.
“When friends want to throw themselves off a bridge, my job is not to encourage but to dissuade them,” Garcia-Margallo said in a TV debate on the heated topic of Catalan independence.
The Spanish foreign minister threatened that if a new regional government were to declare independence in Catalonia, the Catalan people would automatically lose their Spanish nationality.
Pro-independence Catalans, however, argue that, under the Spanish constitution, they would be able to keep their Spanish nationality, as well as their European passports, even if they became independent.
‘Only regional’
Leader of Spain’s autonomous Catalonia region Artur Mas said last month that the region will not even need a referendum to secure independence if the regional elections – scheduled for Sunday – prove a success for pro-independence candidates.
Spain’s conservative center-right government has rejected the idea that the Catalan vote should be interpreted as a referendum on independence.
“In a regional election, one chooses lawmakers for the regional parliament, who in turn elects a president of the region. This is what citizens are deciding with this vote and nothing else,” Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told a news conference in early August.
In July, the pro-independence parties of Catalonia set aside their major political differences and created a joint list. The main pro-independence Democratic Convergence of Catalonia and Republican Left of Catalonia parties were united under the list.
They then agreed to declare unilateral independence in case Madrid torpedoes the process they hope to launch through Sunday’s regional elections.
Many Catalans believe their economy would be more prosperous on its own, complaining that a high portion of the taxes they pay unfairly goes to the central government.
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