Spain must listen to voice of Catalan people, says exiled leader

BRUSSELS: Spain must listen to voice of the Catalan people who have expressed their wish twice in two months demanding independence and freedom, said Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont, who is in exile and living in Belgium, called Friday on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asking him to immediately start unconditional talks over implementation of what he described as the “clear will of the Catalan people”.

“I'm ready to meet Rajoy in Brussels or anywhere else in Europe, but not in Spain for obvious reasons," he told a press conference in Brussels. "We have to talk about the new political era that's beginning in Catalonia, in Spain and across Europe."

He urged the Spanish government to respect the result of the region's election held a day earlier in which the pro-independence Catalan parties did well.

Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party recorded its worst ever result in Thursday’s voting, according to reports.

Catalonia crisis

The crisis in Spain erupted as a result of Catalan people’s complaints. The Catalan people say their region sends a big chunk of money to the poorer parts of Spain. Besides, they also say that Spain’s Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2010 undermined the Catalan identity, this inadvertently led to the independence referendum in Catalonia on October 1.

There were clashes when Spanish national police tried to prevent people from voting.

Subsequently, the ruling separatists in the Catalan parliament declared independence on October 27. This angered the Spanish government who imposed direct rule through Article 155 of the Constitution.

As per Article 155, if a regional government "doesn't comply with the obligations of the Constitution or other laws it imposes, or acts in a way that seriously undermines the interests of Spain", the national government can ask the Senate to vote on the use of the measure.

The election on December 21 took place after the Spanish government sacked the Catalan leaders and dissolved the parliament.