With calls for Catalonia’s independence on the rise, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has told local media there will be no referendum that "puts into question the sovereignty of the Spanish people" while he is head of the center-right government.
"The state is prepared for any scenario that may occur. The
law will be enforced. There will be no referendum that calls into
question the sovereignty of the Spanish people. There will be no
independence of Spanish territory while I'm president [of the
government]," Mariano Rajoy said in an interview on Antena 3
TV on Monday.
Last month Catalonia’s regional government set a date for
a referendum to vote on whether or not to
separate from Spain for November 9. Madrid has condemned the
decision as "unconstitutional," and the government of
Rajoy pledged to block the referendum. Last week Catalan
politicians voted in favor of asking for the right to hold a
referendum on independence from Spain, but Madrid has the legal
power to say no, with Rajoy expected to use the national
parliament and Supreme Court to block any move to hold a
referendum.
The autonomous region of Catalonia, whose wealth mainly comes
from tourism, is responsible for around a fifth of Spain’s GDP
and about a quarter of Spain's taxes. It's the country's most
economically productive industrial region, which boasts its own
language and a population of about 7.6 million.
"I will work to improve ties that have always united Catalans
and Spanish. I will see to it that the law and the Constitution
are observed. That's my plan for Catalonia. I guarantee that the
president will observe the law and will comply with the
law," Rajoy stated in the interview on Monday.
Recent years have seen a resurgence in the separatist movement, with calls
for independence in a climate of economic woes. A
pro-independence rally in Barcelona in September 2012 drew in
over 1.5 million people, with the slogan for the demonstration
‘Catalonia: a new European state’. In 2012, polls in support for
independence of the northeastern Spanish region ran at over 46
percent, twice as high as in 2008, when the global financial
crisis broke out.
In December 2013, a GESOP poll, published in Catalan newspaper El
Periodico and based on interviews with 800 people, showed that 74
percent of Catalans believe they should be given a say over their
relationship with Spain. The 2014 referendum would run two major
questions: "Do you want Catalonia to be a state?" and "Do you
want that state to be independent?"
A separate Sigma Dos poll, carried out after separatist parties
announced the referendum date and published in Spain's
right-leaning El Mundo newspaper in mid- December, showed that 43
percent of Catalans would vote ‘yes’ to Catalonia becoming a
state and of that amount, 82 percent would want the state to be
independent. Based on interviews with 1,000 people, El Mundo said
only 35 percent of Catalans would vote for full independence from
Spain, however.
In letters dating from December and made public on January 2,
Catalonia’s president, the pro-independence Artur Mas, urged
European Union leaders to support a referendum.
"Contrary to some reports, there are a number of legal and
constitutional options which allow this referendum to take place
in Catalonia," Mas wrote in a letter to German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, one of 27 sent to European leaders. "I am
confident I can rely on you to encourage the peaceful,
democratic, transparent, and European process to which I and a
vast majority of the Catalan people are fully committed."
Apart from the letters to EU leaders, Catalonia's regional
government has also recently sent 45 memoranda to foreign
countries listing its advantages as an export-led economy.