Wednesday

6th Dec 2023

Spanish parliament rejects Catalan independence bid

  • The Catalan National Assembly wants the region to declare independence from Spain by 23 April next year (Photo: Paco Riviere)

Spain’s parliament on Tuesday (8 April) overwhelmingly rejected Catalonia’s bid to call for a referendum on independence.

There were 299 votes against a proposal by Catalan leader Artur Mas to have an independence poll. Only 47 MPs from the Catalan and Basque nationalist parties voted in favour of the petition. One MP abstained.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told the deputies before the vote that he could not “conceive of Spain without Catalonia nor of Catalonia outside of Spain and Europe.”

Spain's governing centre-right Partido Popular and the socialist opposition party have argued the referendum would breach the country'S 1978 constitution.

Rajoy says polls on sovereignty must be held nationally, a position backed Spain's constitutional court.

The court last month ruled a change in the constitution would be required for the unilateral poll to take place.

But Mas after the parliament vote said his regional government would anyway go ahead with the referendum, set for early November, reports the BBC.

“Some would like to present this as the end of the matter but, as president of Catalonia, I say to them that it is not the end,” he said.

Polls suggest around half of Catalans are in favour of independence.

The region, which accounts for more than 20 percent of Spain's GDP, wants greater control over its own economy, social services, and politics.

Snap elections in Catalonia last November saw separatist politicians take some two-thirds of the 135 seats in the Catalan parliament.

The parliament in December said the referendum would ask voters if they want Catalonia to be a state or an independent state.

Pro-separatist defenders say the north-eastern region has the legal right to organise a referendum after Spain’s parliament granted it an autonomy statute in 2006.

“From this painful 'no', the Catalan institutions will seek to build legal frameworks, and there are several, allowing for this November 9 ballot to take place,” said Mas, reports the AFP.

The European Commission, for its part, says an independent Catalonia would have to reapply to become a member of the European Union.

Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies

Disruption at the Polish-Ukrainian border by disaffected Polish truckers is escalating, potentially affecting delivery of military aid to Ukraine. A Polish request to reintroduce permits for Ukrainian drivers has been described as "a shot to the head" during war.

Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law

The Spanish government remains secretive about its negotiations with pro-independence Catalans, but claims the EU Commission has "zero concerns" about their proposed amnesty law for Catalan separatists. The EU executive denies that.

Opinion

Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence

What is obvious is that PiS put in place a set of interlocking safeguards for itself which, even after their political defeat in Poland, will render it very difficult for the new government to restore the rule of law.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  2. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  3. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  4. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit
  5. A look to the past and the future of China-EU relations
  6. Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence
  7. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  8. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us