Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Catalonia, who saw through a vote for independence on Sunday in the face of State interference and police violence, has not yet declared unilateral independence and is open to talks with Madrid.
Puigdemont has urged international mediation to settle matters between Madrid and Catalonia, but stressed that the results announced by the regional government after yesterday's pro-independence referendum should stand.
The Catalan leader said he is now to refer to his regional parliament to decide what to do next which could include a unilateral declaration of independence. The Catalan government already has demanded that the Guardia Civil and National Police forces withdraw from the region.
Partly due to Madrid’s interference in the voting process, a referendum that Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and constitutional court both declared illegal, the referendum result was a massive 90.09% in favour of independence of Spain.
Puigdemont says there is no open dialogue with Madrid and that mediation may be necessary, possibly though the intervention of the European Union even though Brussels has made it quite clear that this is a Spanish problem and it wants nothing to do with it.
The Catalan leader accused Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of not recognising that "there is a political problem" and has announced a commission to study the violence metered out on Sunday where 893 Catalans were injured by State forces using batons and rubber bullets in a failed attempt to stop people voting.
The UN has asked the Spanish government to investigate "all acts of violence" occurring yesterday and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said he was "disturbed" by the violence and that that police actions should be "proportionate."
Comments
1. Unlike Scotland Catalonia was never an independent country.
2. Both Catalan and Spanish judges declared the referendum illegal as per the Spanish constitution.
3. The latest poll before this illegal referendum indicated that the majority of Catalans wished to remain Spanish.
To, once again, use the EU as a whipping boy is ridiculous. The EU is a union of 27 independent states. It has absolutely no legal or moral jurisdiction to interfere in what is a Spanish constitutional crisis. The EU did not interfere in the Scottish referendum. Why should it interfere in an illegal Catalan referendum?
Taking the current populist fashion for splitting Europe into independent fiefdoms do we really want more Yugoslavia's?
HMM Chip, State controlled propaganda outlets will not get involved. BUT THE CATALAN PEOPLE ARE BRAVE AND WILL FOLLOW THROUGH
REGARDLESS..
Have you noticed that the BBC website won't open this topic up for discussion? Just debates on trivialities like football matches and motor racing. Seems it reflects badly on their benefactors the EU and our EU "partners".
The Catalans have made the first step to freedom and should carry on regardless of the costs. There will be no easy choices or help from the European Union..
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