News Catalonia

Moving to LizCastro.com

2017-10-08T02:58:00.002-04:00

I started this blog a long time ago, to offer news about Catalonia in English when there was practically no other source. I have done a lot of writing—and publishing—since then, and am consolidating all my writing on my own website: LizCastro.com Please join me there!

Statement from Catalan home affairs minister Joaquim Forn

2017-09-24T04:09:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, reports in Madrid newspapers said that Spain was taking over Catalan police. Home Affairs Minister Joaquim Forn made a statement at 3pm to dispel the rumors:

“Good morning. This morning there was a meeting at the Head Prosecutor's office in Catalonia between the security forces and corps of the State, the Municipal Police of Barcelona and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police force). The legal department of the home affairs ministry is studying the edict in order to offer a legal response. In addition to the commander of the legal police, also present for the second time, was a high-ranking officer of the Spanish State Government, Mr. Diego Pérez de los Cobos, director of the Coordination and Studies of the Secretariat of State for Security of the Ministry.

As was explained yesterday by the home affairs Ministry, the Spanish state is attempting to apply Article 46 of Law 2/1985 regarding the Security Forces and Corps of the State in order to take over the direction of the Catalan police Mossos d'Esquadra.

We denounce this attempt to take over the Mossos d'Esquadra in the same fashion that we decry the attempt to take over the Catalan Government's finances. From the Catalan Government, we do not accept this interference from the State, since it bypasses all of the organs that the current legal framework has for coordinating security in Catalonia. The State is trying to direct police operations in Catalonia through a high-ranking official in the Spanish government and this is unacceptable.

Catalonia already has the organisms necessary to technically coordinate all of the actions of the police forces in Catalonia in the framework of the Security Board and that is what was explained in the meeting with the Prosecutor's Office.

The Catalan police Mossos d'Esquadra have explained in this meeting that they cannot accept, under the umbrella of the coordinator, an attempt to direct the corps. The Chief of the Mossos d'Esquadra corps has expressed the desire of the corps to not accept the coordination from the Spanish State representative. We ask for maximum calm from the citizenry because the Mossos d'Esquadra corps will never renounce the exercise of its responsibilities.”

Original in Catalan:

“Bon dia, aquest matí, s'ha celebrat una reunió a la Fiscalía Superior de Catalunya en la que han participat les forces i cossos de seguretat de l'Estat, la Guardia Urbana i els Mossos d'Esquadra. Els serveis jurídics del Departament d'Interior estan estudiant aquest instrucció per tal de donar una resposta jurídica. A part del comandament de les policies judicials ha assistit també i per segona vegada un alt càrrec del govern de l'Estat espanyol, el senyor Diego Pérez de los Cobos, director del gabinet de coordinación y estudios de la Secretaría de Estado de Seguridad del Ministerio.

Tal i com van avançar ahir des del Departament d'Interior, l'Estat espanyol pretén aplicar el Article 46 de la Llei 2/1985 de Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado per dirigir des de l'Estat els Mossos d'Esquadra.

Denunciem la voluntat d'intervenir als Mossos d'Esquadra tal i com s'ha fet amb les finances de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Des del Govern de la Generalitat, no acceptem aquesta ingerència de l'Estat perquè se salta tots els òrgans que el marc jurídic actual disposa per coordinar la seguretat a Catalunya. L'Estat pretén dirigir els operatius policials a Catalunya a través d'un alt càrrec del Ministeri del Govern espanyol i aquest és un fet inacceptable.

Catalunya ja disposa d'organismes per coordinar tècnicament les actuacions dels cossos policials de Catalunya en el marc de la Junta de Seguretat i així s'ha informat en la mateixa reunió a la Fiscalia.

Els Mossos d'Esquadra han explicat en aquesta reunió que no poden acceptar que sota el paraigües de la coordinació es pretengui dirigir el cos. El major del cos dels Mossos d'Esquadra ha expressat la voluntat del cos de no acceptar la coordinació del representant de l'Estat espanyol. Demanem molta tranquil·litat a la ciutadania perquè el cos dels Mossos d'Esquadra no renunciarà mai exercir les competències que li són pròpies.

Thank you very much. ”

Catalonia's debt to Twitter

2016-02-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

How do you change the world peacefully and democratically in the 21st century? By connecting, educating, and getting the outside world to listen. Catalans have spent the last six years determined to have their say in a country that neither listens to them nor respects them, and they have done so in the most exemplary fashion: with five massive peaceful, smiling demonstrations, with debates, conferences, and canvassing, with citizen-led and government-supported though non-binding referenda, and by simply and steadfastly demanding the most basic of democratic rights which Spain refuses to grant: to vote on their political future.

At this moment when people are questioning Twitter's future, I love explaining how Twitter is a key tool for helping us forge the democratic, informed future of Catalonia in a state with one of the most regressive freedom of speech laws in Europe (Spain's 'gag law') by helping us translate our struggle to the outside world, by connecting us directly with our political leaders, and by giving us a place to debate the issues surrounding independence in public, with documented information. We simply would not be where we are without Twitter.

I have spent the last six years on Twitter, forging these connections, first between ebook production artists and more recently between Catalan politicians, journalists and activists. I started out translating Catalan tweets into English. I wanted the world to hear firsthand what a million plus Catalans had to say as they marched peacefully for independence that first September 11, back in 2012. I was tired of the mainstream media calling Catalonia the “northeast region of Spain” and talking only about soccer, paella and Gaudí. Frustrated with Madrid-based foreign correspondents blaming Catalonia's desire for self-rule on selfishness.

I, and many other activists, began to follow journalists and call them out about the inaccuracies in their articles, pointing them to new sources of information. We also follow politicians and community leaders and routinely ask them about their policies and positions. Of the 14 top officials in the Catalan Government—the President and his 13 ministers—10 have active Twitter accounts. Journalists, broadcasters and pundits are almost universally present as well.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal underscored the importance of connecting with people abroad to give direct, unfiltered information about Catalonia's struggle for independence. Another article in Madrid daily El País complained that activists harass foreign journalists. Instead, I believe that Twitter has not only been essential for gaining support for independence but is a fundamental building block for Catalonia's new democracy. It gives us an essential tool for demanding forthrightness and accuracy from both journalists and political leaders, and allows ordinary citizens, like an immigrant American computer book writer like me, to be active participants in determining the policies of our new country. (The Catalan President and eight of his 13 ministers follow me on Twitter.)

And where have we arrived? After six years of massive demonstrations, Twitter campaigns, and many other individual initiatives, we have the first pro-independence majority in the history of the Catalan Parliament. Today, newly elected Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said in Parliament, “We are serious about independence, and you all have realized it too late.” Perhaps those folks don't follow him on Twitter.

Catalan President accused of aiding non-official independence vote

2015-10-15T09:39:00.002-04:00

Several thousand people demonstrated in front of Spain's Superior Court of Justice in Catalonia this morning, while current president Artur Mas arrived, flanked by 400 mayors from all over Catalonia, and gave testimony on charges that he misused his office in order to allow a 'participatory process' that allowed Catalans to overwhelming vote in favor of Catalan independence last November 9, 2014. About 2.3 million people (out of 5.5 million) voted, despite scorn and threats from the government, as well as its non-official nature.

The testimony comes on the 75th anniversary, to the day, of the execution by firing squad of Catalonia's earlier president Lluís Companys, who was dragged back from France by the Gestapo and then summarily tried and executed by Francisco Franco's troops. These had the gall to try the president for rebellion, despite that it was Franco and his followers who took up arms against their own government, and that Companys was a democratically elected president, indeed the only incumbent president in Europe to ever be executed. France and Germany apologized for their part in capturing Companys; Spain has repeatedly refused to annul the sentence or apologize for its actions. Whether calling the current president to testify on this date was intentional or not, we do not know, but they evidently saw no need to change the date, once they learned of its significance.

President Mas made a statement at the Catalan Government building a little while later in which he took full responsibility for the vote, but refused to accept that any criminal charges should be brought in consequence. He explained that the Catalan government's actions on the vote could be divided into three periods: First, the government had passed legislation allowing for a non-binding referendum and that he had signed a decree to hold the vote on September 27, but that the Spanish Constitutional Court had suspended the legislation and the decree in record time on September 28 and 29.

On October 14, the president announced that the government would carry out a 'participatory process' with the help of citizen volunteers, and the Spanish government limited itself to scornful comments about said process over the course of the next 15 days. The Catalan government did help organize during those 15 days, but there was no prohibition against it.

When the Spanish government realized that the vote would be successful, the Constitutional Court disallowed the new format as well, but that didn't happen until four or five days before the vote. The President said that after that point, the Catalan government issued no additional orders nor instructions, thereby complying with the prohibition, and that it was volunteers who carried out all actions related to the vote. He also asked whether any Spanish government body had made any move to stop the participatory process and wondered why only the Catalan government was being held to account. He also noted that the Spanish government had disobeyed the Constitutional Court rulings on many occasions with no consequences.

You can find my Storify of the President's remarks.

Former Vice President Joana Ortega, and current Education Minister Irene Rigau gave testimony on Tuesday, another infamous day, the anniversary of the execution of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, the promoter of the Modern School (Escola Modern) in Barcelona.

It's enough to make you think Spain is itching for a confrontation. And to convince you that it doesn't know a lot about democracy.

Together for Yes, Oriol Junqueras, president of ERC

2015-08-13T05:01:00.004-04:00

Oriol Junqueras, president of ERC, originally published in El Punt Avui

Junts pel Sí [Together for Yes] is not a political party, nor does it aspire to be one. Junts pel Sí is a temporary fellowship of very diverse members, that goes way beyond the initials of CDC or ERC or other political formations. It's hard to imagine such an unorthodox coalition without taking into account the common objective that responds to the demands of a country and a people as heterogeneous as Catalonia. It is in no way a coalition designed to handily win some regional elections. And if anyone has come to that conclusion, either inside or out of the country, they are way, way off base. Let's make it clear, then: Junts pel Sí has no other raison d'être than to win independence. From here comes its strength and its uniqueness. What we are going to do, what we are firmly determined to do, is create a new country that is more free and more just, a country whose standard is the will to live and let live. And that is only possible through independence. And that is precisely the point that distances a good number of those of us who form this Yes list from other perfectly respectable political options like Catalunya Sí que es Pot. We may share a desire for social justice, for democratic regeneration. However, we are conscious that we can only win a country that is more fair and more free by first winning our independence and constructing—between all of us—the Catalan Republic: a fully democratic state which has the unique opportunity of creating a state that is truly at the service of the citizenry. Trying to make us believe that the solution will come from hypothetical new majorities in the Spanish government is pie in the sky. We all know those majorities are not there. Not only because they require the collusion of the PP and PSOE. But also because in the best of cases, the emerging political options in Spain are simply not interested.

However, it's obvious that many of us are convinced that in the definition of this Catalan Republic it will be inevitable, and indeed desirable to count on all of these good people who long for a more just country in which equal opportunity is a foundational value. In this specific area we consider ourselves very close to these other political formations and candidacies. And the fact that a friend and companion like Raül Romeva (what an awesome candidate we have!) is at the top of the Together for Yes list is, in itself, a categorical declaration of principles. Independence is the essential leverage for change. Independence is the key to a new country, it is the only road to the Catalan Republic, it is the only opportunity to create an efficient country, that functions with rational criteria, that administers its resources for the good of the economic needs of the country and all of its people, that it builds itself a powerful network of infrastructures that connects us with the world and that at the same time responds to the daily needs of its citizens, starting with a decent regional rail network. Or that guarantees a pension model for our seniors. Or access to decent housing. Or that allows our young people, our future generations, to have true opportunities in the country of their birth instead of having to travel abroad to build their future. For that reason alone, independence is essential. It's true that there are also weighty cultural and historic reasons. But above all, beyond everything else, there is the need to construct a country that serves the needs of the people, that seeks a better future for them, for all, regardless of where they were born or the language that they speak. Those that advocate democratic regeneration or social justice will never be adversaries of independentism. On the contrary, they will always be potential allies.

Independence is not an ideology, of course. It has never been one. Independence goes against no one, but rather in the end—and absolutely completely I would say—it is at the service of all of the citizens of the country, of all of them without exception. This is why, as I said at the beginning, there is a group of us that have joined together in Together for Yes that in other circumstances would probably never have come together in a single candidacy. From herein lies its strength, its power, its capacity to enthuse, its unequivocal service to a just cause. That is why independence must be, here and now, an unequivocal commitment to the citizenry.

It's obvious that we have to talk with the Spanish government, to negotiate the birth of the Catalan State in the most amicable manner and to achieve the best neighborly relations. But we do not accumulate this joint strength in order to ask permission, nor to negotiate a new status quo with the State, but rather to reflect a demonstration of sovereign will of the Catalan people which will be exercised without delays in a dialogue among equals with the Spanish State. We are going to win independence, we are going all out, it's been said, and we are going all out not only because it's the only possible path or because they've left us no other alternative. We're doing so out of dignity, because we have every right, because of the wishes of all of those who came before us, and because we know that only the Catalan Republic, in the words of Francesc Macià, can ensure "a politically free, socially just, economically prosperous, and spiritually glorious Catalonia".

"We are going all out" Inaugural speech of Raül Romeva, candidate for Together for Yes

2015-07-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Thank you. The truth is that this is very strange. It's strange, let's face it, accept it, recognize it, it's strange. Very strange, but the situation we are living is so weird, and extraordinary and since we're living in an extraordinary situation, we must do extraordinary things, strange things. What we want is to do normal things, normal things that would mean that we are in a normal situation, because that would mean we are in a normal country. But since we don't have that, we have to do things that are so clearly not normal in this context that we would want, and since that's what we want, it's what we have to build.

That's what this is about. That's what all these people are about, all the present company, this completely diverse group of people, so varied, that represents not only the range of sovereigntism and an ample notion of sensibilities, of personal paths, but also within the social panorama, within the ideological gamut. And no one has to give up one gram, not one gram of their own identity. That's what this is about. About normalizing diversity and having just that serve a common, shared objective that must definitively serve to make normal that which in other situations, in other states, they find commonplace.

This accord is an agreement that attempts to clearly, directly, and exceptionally express what has been a widespread, shared demand of millions of the citizens of Catalonia. That which brought us to November 9th last year to vote, to disobey, to face even state institutions that do not understand very basic concepts like the most basic and fundamental tenets of democracy. That they have behaved this way—faced with political and democratic demands—with a response in the criminal courts, through the legal system, is inconceivable, and not only that, directly affects three actual, real people as well as all of the people who also exercised their democratic right.

And they evidently weren't finished there. That's why September 27th is a new opportunity to do that which we couldn't do properly on November 9th. The possibility of exercising our right to vote. To express what we want to do, how many of us there are who want to do this, and obviously, if there is a majority. And this is the most important part: to do it. It's not just "wanting to do it". Now it's about saying "We want to offer a mandate, we want to give a mandate to those who have the power to exercise this mandate, so that they carry it to fruition." And that for me is the fundamental essence of this agreement.

It's a time-sensitive agreement with a very specific objective. It's an agreement that aims to convert the September 27 Parliamentary elections into a plebiscite. Some people don't like that term, and that's legitimate, but we want to establish the plebiscitary character of these elections, among other reasons because we haven't been able to do so another way. We have tried everything before reaching this point. We have tried everything. In negotiations, of all kinds, and in every language possible. And we have gotten nowhere, absolutely nowhere, at least where we hoped to get to and thus now we find ourselves in this situation in which we need to do something special on September 27, something extraordinary, something that we understand will be surely surprising in some sectors, and even disconcerting. We are in agreement.

But it is precisely this exceptional caracter that gives extraordinary value to this agreement and this joint proposal—which is not a list of people, we have said that many times—it is a list of wills, of wishes, it is a representation of a collective feeling that beyond the names of the people and beyond the order of the candidacy list, represents an enormously diverse sensibility. And in effect, we obviously would have liked other people to have joined us, but at any rate, it's not an issue that they're not there just now. What we are doing is keeping the door quite open so that at any moment in the process, as they wish, as they consider, they can come in, and we can make this space broader and as open as possible. That's what it's all about.

What we are presenting today, in addition, is a plan and in this respect I would like to be careful not to make any mistakes about the order because it is obviously very important to take the steps that need to be taken expeditiously and properly. Things must be taken care of well and quickly. The other day Doctor Viver Pi-Sunyer made a specific reference to this order of matters. They must be completed properly and they must be taken care of quickly. Both things are important.

If on September 27 this proposal that we are presenting gets a sufficient, necessary majority, what we want is for the Parliament of Catalonia to solemnly declare that in virtue of this mandate given by the citizenry of Catalonia that the process of independence be initiated. [Applause] It could probably be said louder, but I'm not sure it could be said more clearly. Obviously this will initiate a process, I repeat, not of 'wanting' but of 'doing'.

Then work will begin that I find especially important, the first phase which will be giving a mandate to the government so that it moves forward with the design of the state structures that we will need in order to do what we want to do. Therefore, we will need, obviously, to give ourselves those tools that will be needed in order to, at the given moment, complete the disconnection with the Spanish legal system.

From here, a third aspect begins which is fundamental, that is, the process of writing a new constitution, a constitution, The Constitution, and which of course requires citizen participation. It is essential to understand that this process will go from bottom to top, that here there is clearly a process of mobilization, promoted by everyone and by all of those actors and organizations who want it and who desire to do so, to construct this framework, this body of jurisprudence, this magna carta which must be the legal foundation on which the future country, the future state rests.

Once we have that done, we will begin to set in motion the tools that we have at our disposal to be able to build these state structures, or to apply these state structures, without forgetting—and this is the aspect that I want to be sure to underscore—the immediate, daily, urgent social needs that at this moment we have all around us and are the fundamental reason for which we are doing and want to do all that we are doing.

And when we have all that done, we will proclaim our independence, and this will basically be the beginning of a process of disconnection with respect to the Spanish legal system. This disconnection will imply approving a law of transitory jurisprudence, and this law will require that we adapt all of the legal framework both with respect to the Catalan and to the Spanish systems, as well as the European one, obviously, and in effect also in the international framework necessary to provide us with our own legal system.

While we are very aware of the risks involved in all of this, we are above all aware of the enormous opportunities. For me this is fundamental because we must be conscious of, as we have seen these past few yars, that they will not make it easy for us. Not at all. If they had wanted to make it easy for us, we probably wouldn't have gotten to where we have gotten. But they don't make it easy, and thus we know that if during this process, the Spanish State, through political or legal decisions, blocks Catalonia's self-government, the Executive, or the Parliament of Catalonia, we will continue on with the proclamation of independence and the approval of a law of transitory jurisprudence. We are going all out. We are going all out. We have no wiggle room, and this aspect, it is this aspect that is fundamental to me. Everyone must understand that this is for real. Everyone must understand that we are prepared to do this well, but above all that we are prepared to do this. That is the most important thing.

Allow me in the framework of diversity to refer also to the people of Aran: [in Aranese] Now the people who are in conformity with this agreement have joined us in the will to build a country that is better united among us. The will of all of the people that form this candidacy, this list, this proposal, this ballot, that definitively is what will convert uncertainties into certainties, risks into opportunities and will provide us with the tools that above all will make real the grand hopes of living better, of living in a better country, of living in a country that is more just, to live in a country that is more united, to live in a country clearly—it must be said—more generous, more open, more participatory, with a clear will of building not just the country itself, but also the environment in which we are immersed, be that on the level of the peninsula, or Europe, or the world.

But to do that, it's necessary to know where our weaknesses are, and above all where are fragilities lie, and to detect and have very clear which are the areas, and also which groups of people are in the most difficult situations. And not only must we keep them in mind, we have to keep them in the forefront of all that we want to construct. If not, this wouldn't make any sense. There wouldn't be any point. For that reason, we are saying at an institutional level, at a legal level that this needs to be accompanied by a list of measures, that from a social perspective have as a priority fulfilling the basic needs that many, many people have. And it's important just to make that clear, even if I don't detail them, but I think it's important to declare them so that nobody misses—I repeat—the reasons behind all this. The point of it all.

First, we need to attend to urgent needs in terms of housing, energy poverty, and second chances for vulnerable and poor families. A policy of providing nursery school placement managed by public and public-private institutions. Tending to the needs of protection against infant poverty and especially guaranteeing adequate nutrition.

The reform of the minimum wage toward a guaranteed citizens' wage. The creation of new state structures for the well-being of the people in order to expand and guarantee the future of pensions. We know that many people are notably worried about this point. We want to assure them. We want to give them guarantees so that no one has to worry about this point.

A push for education, encouraging research and innovation, support for the social economy, building on the potential and improving public works jobs, and the generation of a new model of labor relations based on social dialogue, co-participation, and an effort that favors gender equality, creation of decent jobs, and quality businesses. Towards a new minimum wage, a European minimum wage, in accordance with European standards. To empower youth guarantee policies, to strengthen the public system of health and social services.

An inclusive Catalan educational model to ensure scholastic excellence. A welcoming country that is socially advanced and capable of guaranteeing an open society, with inclusive legal frameworks that are open to everyone. For everyone means for each and every person, without exception. And finally, a country that is culturally advanced, and in which we hope to convert culture into the fourth pillar of our well being.

It's not a small thing. That's the impetus, the fundamental reasons that motivate us to present this candidacy that we would like to call "Together for Yes". "Together for Yes" means a project that joins very diverse sensibilities with a common objective out of a broad based diverse group of people that form this proposal. "Together for Yes" is a variety of different Catalan political offerings born of a combination of people who come from various political entities and organizations, or political parties, and others that come from civic and community groups and others who come on their own, thanks to their strengths and for their renown and for the diversity that we are constructing. With the desire to build a candidacy that can allow us to achieve the best electoral result and that allows us to, let me say again, achieve the citizen mandate provided by the plebiscitary character of the September 27 elections.

And that, clearly, will have repercussions in the joint, specific, concrete work done in the framework of the Parliament and within the Government. Work that must serve to prioritize, I repeat, these needs that we have in social services. But above all to also give us this legal framework that must allow us to complete this separation and convert us, sooner rather than later, in this state that we not only want but that we need in order to be able to do many of the things that until now we have not been able to do precisely due to this lack of institutions, this lack of tools, this lack of infrastructure.

And the same thing will happen in the area of government. A government that will have a temporary mandate, a specific mandate, a mandate that we hope will be short in duration as that will mean that we have gotten to our objective as quickly as we could.

And when that is all done, it will be time to hold elections, and these yes will be constituent elections, and then, may the best candidacy win. Thank you.

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Here is a (non-exact!) transcription from the original Catalan:

Bé, moltes gràcies eh… la veritat és que això es molt estrany. És estrany, diguem-nos-ho, eh.. acceptem-ho, reconeguem-ho, és estrany. És molt estrany, però és que la situació que estem vivint és absolutament estranya, és extraordinària, i com que estem vivint una situació extraordinària, s’han de fer coses extraordinàries, estranyes. El que nosaltres voldríem, és poder fer coses normals, coses normals perquè voldria dir que estem en una situació normal, perquè voldria dir que estaríem en un país normal. Eh, però com que no el tenim, hem de fer coses que no són clarament normals com les podríem entendre en aquesta situació que voldríem i que per tant com que la voldríem és precisament el que volem construir.

D’això va la cosa. D’això va això, d’això va aquestes cares aquestes eh, companyies, d’això va òbviament aquests acompanyaments, aquesta presència tant diversa, tant plural, que representa, no només dins de l’arc del sobiranisme una eh, opció molt diversa de sensibilitats, de trajectòries personals fins i tot, però també dins de l’arc social, dins de l’arc ideològic, eh i ningú ha de renunciar ni un gram, ni un gram a la seva identitat. D’això va la cosa. De normalitzar la diversitat i de posar-la precisament al servei d’un objectiu comú, compartit, que en definitiva ha de servir per poder fer normal allò que en altres àmbits, en altres estats troben normal.

Aquest acord és un acord, eh que pretén d’una manera clara, d’una manera directe, d’una manera excepcional, eh, acompanyar el que durant molts anys ha estat sent la demanda la petició de la ciutadania de Catalunya de manera massiva, de manera multitudinària, de manera milionària, en termes de xifres. Allò que ens va portar al 9N a votar a desobeir, a enfrontar-nos fins i tot a unes estructures d’estat que no entenen conceptes molt bàsics com són els de la democràcia més bàsica i més fonamental. Que ha comportat que hi hagués, davant d’una demanda política i democràtica una resposta per la via penal, per la via jurídica, cosa que és inconcebible i que a més a més recau en tres persones amb noms i cognoms però que els hi recau precisament en nom de totes les persones que també vam exercir aquest dret democràtic.

I amb allò no en van tenir prou evidentment. Per això el 27 de Setembre és la nova oportunitat de poder fer allò que estrictament no vam poder fer el 9 de Novembre. La possibilitat de poder exercir el nostre dret a vot. A expressar què volem fer, quants i quantes som els qui volem fer això, i òbviament, si hi ha majoria, i aquesta és la part la més important, fer-ho. Ja no es tracta només de dir ‘volem fer-ho’. Ara es tracta de dir ‘volem oferir un mandat, volem concedir un mandat a qui te la potestat per poder dur a terme aquest mandat, perquè l’exerceixi. I aquesta és per mi, l’essència fonamental d’aquest acord.

És un acord puntual, és un acord que té un objectiu molt específic. És un acord que té com a repte convertir el 27S en unes eleccions plebiscitàries. Hi ha qui no li agrada aquest terme, i és legítim, però nosaltres volem establir el caràcter plebiscitari d’aquestes eleccions, entre altres raons perquè no hem pogut fer-ho d’una altre manera. S’ha provat tot fins arribar fins aquí. Ho hem intentat tot. En diàleg, de totes les maneres i en tots els idiomes possibles. I no hem arribat enlloc, pràcticament enlloc, o al menys allà on volíem arribar, i per això ens trobem en aquest escenari que és el 27 de Setembre amb la necessitat de poder fer una cosa estranya, una cosa excepcional, una cosa que entenem que és, segurament, sorprenent en molts àmbits, i que, eh, desconcerta. Estem d’acord.

Però és precisament aquest caràcter excepcional que li dona per mi un valor extraordinari a aquest acord i sobretot a aquesta proposta conjunta, que no és una llista de persones, ho hem dit moltes vegades, és una llista de voluntats, és una representació d’un sentiment col·lectiu que més enllà dels noms de les persones i més enllà de l’ordre de la candidatura, representa una sensibilitat enormement diversa. I efectivament, òbviament hauríem volgut que molta altre gent s’hi hagués incorporat, d’acord, en tot cas no passa res que no hi siguin en aquests moments. El que sí que mantenim és la porta extraordinàriament oberta perquè en algun moment del procés, com vulguin, com considerin, la puguin creuar, i puguem fer aquest espai el més ampli, el més, eh, obert possible. D’això va la cosa.

El que presentem avui, a més a més, és un, eh, pla, i en aquí sí que m’agradaria no cometre cap error d’ordre perquè òbviament és especialment important, eh, fer les passes que s’han de fer de manera correcte i de manera ràpida. Les coses s’han de fer bé i ràpid. L’altre dia el Doctor Pi-Sunyer, Viver Pi-Sunyer en feia la referència específica en aquest ordre dels termes. S’han de fer bé i s’han de fer ràpid, però les dues coses són importants.

Eh, si el dia 27 aquesta proposta que posem a escrutini te la majoria suficient i necessària, el que nosaltres volem és que el Parlament de Catalunya declari solemnement que en virtut d’aquest mandat que la ciutadania de Catalunya li haurà concedit, s’iniciï el procés d’independència. [Aplaudiment] Segurament es pot dir més alt, segurament. No cal perquè tenim… Es pot dir més alt, però crec que no es pot dir més clar. Eh, òbviament això iniciarà un procés, repeteixo, no ja de voler fer sinó de fer.

Començarà el treball per mi especialment important, de eh, la primera fase que serà concedir el mandat al govern que surti per posar en tot cas en marxa el disseny de les estructures de l’estat que necessitarem per poder fer això que volem fer. Per tant necessitarem, òbviament, dotar-nos d’aquelles eines que hauran de servir per, quan sigui el moment, poder fer la desconnexió efectiva de l’àmbit jurídic espanyol.

A partir d’aquí comença també un tercer aspecte que és fonamental, que és el procés d’elaboració d’una nova constitució, d’una constitució, de La Constitució, amb la primera de les dues fases que s’han de dur a terme que és òbviament la participació ciutadana. Fonamental entendre que aquest procés anirà d’abaix a dalt, que aquí hi haurà un procés de òbviament dinamització, impulsada per tothom i per tots aquells actors i per aquelles entitats que ho vulguin i ho desitgin, per construir aquest marc, aquest corpus, aquest- aquesta carta magna que ha de servir de, eh, essència fonamental legal pel que ha de ser el futur país, el futur estat.

Una vegada tinguem això començarem a posar en marxa les eines que tinguem a disposició per poder construir, òbviament, eh, aquestes estructures d’estat, o aplicar aquestes estructures d’estat, sense oblidar, i això es un aspecte que no vull deixar de remarcar, les necessitats socials immediates, diàries, urgents, que en aquests moments tenim al nostre entorn i que són la raó fonamental per la qual fem i volem fer tot això que estem fent.

I quan tinguem tot això fet, proclamarem la independència, i això vol dir bàsicament- això suposarà bàsicament començar amb el procés de desconnexió respecte l’ordenament jurídic espanyol. Eh, aquesta desconnexió implicarà aprovar una llei de transitorietat, i òbviament aquesta llei requerirà adaptar tot el marc jurídic tant a l’àmbit autonòmic català com en l’àmbit estatal, com òbviament també en l’àmbit europeu, i efectivament també en, eh, l’ordre internacional que convingui per poder dotar-nos d’un àmbit jurídic propi.

Som molt conscients dels riscos que tot això té. Som però sobretot conscients de les enormes oportunitats que tot això té. I per mi això és fonamental perquè, eh, hem de ser molt conscients de que, com hem vist en tots aquests anys, no ens ho posaran gens fàcil. Gens. Si ens ho haguessin volgut posar fàcil segurament no hauríem arribat fins on arribat. Però no ens ho posaran gens fàcil, i per tant sabem que si, eh, en aquest procés, eh, l’estat espanyol, mitjançant decisions polítiques o jurídiques bloqueja l’autogovern de Catalunya, el Govern, o el Parlament de Catalunya, procedirem igualment a la proclamació d’independència i a l’aprovació de la llei de transitorietat jurídica. Anem a totes. Anem a totes. Ja no tenim marge, i aquest aspecte, aquest aspecte per mi és fonamental. Cal que tothom entengui que això va de debò. Cal que tothom entengui que estem disposats a fer-ho bé, però sobretot que estem disposats a fer-ho. És el més important.

Permeteu-me en el marc de la diversitat referir-me també a la gent de l’Aran: Ara gent que conformà amb aquest acord mos unís era voluntat de vestir un país més just e més cohesionat entre tutti. La voluntat de tota la gent que conformem aquesta candidatura, o aquesta llista, o aquesta proposta, o aquesta papereta, que en definitiva és el que és, és eh, convertir les incerteses en certeses, els riscos en oportunitats, i dotar-nos d’aquelles eines sobretot per fer efectives les grans esperances de viure millor, de viure en un país millor, de viure en un país més just, de viure en un país més cohesionat, i de viure en un país òbviament, també ho hem de dir, més solidari, més obert, i més participatiu, i amb una clara vocació de construir no només el país en si, sinó també l’entorn en el qual nosaltres ens trobem immersos. Sigui a nivell de La Península, sigui a nivell d’Europa, sigui a nivell del mon.

Però per això és prioritari saber on tenim les febleses, i sobretot tenim les fragilitats, i sobretot detectar i tenir molt clar quins són els sectors, també aquests grups de persones que tenen una situació vital més dura. I no només se’ls ha de tenir en comte, se’ls ha de posar al davant de tot això que volem construir. Si no, no tindria sentit. Si no, no tindria sentit. Per això tot això que estem dient a nivell institucional, a nivell jurídic va acompanyat de una, eh, carpeta de mesures, o d’una llista de mesures, eh, que des de l’àmbit social tenen com a prioritat donar resposta a les necessitats bàsiques que avui tenen moltes i moltes persones. I a títol estrictament anunciatori, que no les detallaré, però que simplement crec que és important posar-les de manifest perquè ningú se li escapi, repeteixo, el per què de tot això. El per què de tot això.

Primera, atenció a les necessitats urgents en matèria d’habitatge, de pobresa energètica, i de segones oportunitats per les famílies vulnerable- vulnerables i en situació de pobresa. Una política de provisió de places d’escola bressol gestionades per institucions públiques i de concertació a breus públics. Atendre les necessitats de protecció contra la pobresa infantil, i especialment garantir òbviament l’alimentació.

La reforma de la renda mínima d’inserció cap a un model de renda garantida de ciutadania. La creació de noves estructures d’estat del benestar per ampliar i garantir el futur de les pensions. Sabem que molta gent aquest aspecte li preocupa de manera notable. Volem seguritzar. Volem, eh, donar garanties de que per aquesta via ningú ha de patir.

Impuls a l’educació, foment de la recerca i la innovació, foment de l’economia social, la potenciació i la millora del servei públic d’ocupació, i la generació d’un nou model de relacions laborals basat en el diàleg social, la coparticipació, i la concertació que afavoreixi la igualtat de gènere, la creació de treball digne, i les empreses de qualitat. Cap a un nou salari mínim europeu, estant d’acord amb els estàndards que defineix la carta social europea. Potenciar les polítiques de la garantia juvenil, enfortir el sistema públic de salut i social

Una escola catalana i inclusiva i per l’èxit escolar. Un país acollidor, socialment avançat, capaç de garantir una societat oberta, i amb uns marcs legals integradors, i inclusius per a tothom. Per a tothom vol dir per a tothom, sense exclusions. I finalment un país culturalment avançat, que aspirem a convertir, des del punt de vista de la cultura, com la quarta pota de l’estat del benestar.

No és poca cosa. Això és el per què, les raons fonamentals que ens porten a presentar una candidatura que ens agradarà anomenar “Junts pel Sí”. Junts pel Sí vol dir un projecte que reuneix sensibilitats molt diverses amb un objectiu comú a partir de la transversalitat i a partir de la diversitat de la gent que conformem aquesta proposta. “Junts pel Sí” vol dir que les diferents circumscripcions catalanes tindrem una combinació de gent que forma part d’entitats polítiques o d’associacions polítiques, o de partits polítics, i altres que formen part d’associacions eh, cíviques o d’organitzacions, eh, civils, i d’altres que hi participaran a títol, eh, personal per les seves capacitats o pel seu, eh, àmbit de referència a nivell, repeteixo, d’aquesta diversitat que estem construint. Amb la voluntat de construir una candidatura que permeti arribar al màxim, eh, resultat i millor resultat electoral, i que permeti repeteixo, dotar-nos d’aquest mandat ciutadà que ens ha d’ajudar de caràcter plebiscitari el 27 de setembre.

I això, òbviament, repercutirà també en una feina conjunta, puntual, concreta, en el marc del Parlament i en el marc del Govern. Una feina que ha de servir per prioritzar repeteixo, aquestes necessitats que tenim a l’àmbit social. Però sobretot també per dotar-nos d’aquest marc jurídic que ens ha de permetre fer aquesta desconnexió i convertir-nos, més tard que d’hora en aquest estat que no només volem, que necessitem per poder fer moltes de les coses que fins ara no hem pogut fer precisament per aquesta manca d’institucions, per aquesta manca d’eines, per aquesta manca d’estructures.

I el mateix passarà el l’àmbit del govern. Un govern que té un mandat temporal, un mandat específic, un mandat que esperem que sigui curt des del punt de vista del que això voldrà dir que haurem arribat com més aviat millor a aquest objectiu.

I quan tot això estigui fet, tocarà tornar a convocar eleccions, aquest com sí, eleccions constituents, i en aquest marc que guanyi el millor. Moltes gràcies.

Catalan President's call for civil groups to create 'unity list'

2015-06-20T19:48:00.000-04:00

(I've just translated an excerpt, the part that talks about his call on civil society to create a non-partisan list of candidates. The entire speech is quite long. A transcription of the entire speech can be found following the excerpt.)

The big question, which at the same time is an opportunity is, since we have to set aside the positioning of the political parties in the sense that I mentioned before, can we, through civil society forge this unity that Catalonia needs as well as its sovereignty which is so fundamental, yes or no? Can it be done or can't it? There is a role to play here. There is a key, decisive, central role. We have all these people who are organized, organized groups that have mobilized hundreds of thousands of people. Who have done their homework, that have helped bring the people out, who have behaved with a remarkable patriotic spirit. Who weren't in politics. They were in civic groups and they believed that Catalonia can be that country that I described before. And they know that now we are at one of those decisive moments. And that we can't fail right now. I'm referring to the Catalan National Assembly, Omnium, and AMI, to a bunch of groups that are part of the "National Pact for the Right to Decide" all of those groups that represent the people of our country, all of these groups represent people in our country who have in this decisive, last phase, an important role to play from the point of view of the maximum unity possible in the sovereigntist world. I'm setting aside the parties so there are no misinterpretations. I'm speaking directly to these groups. Is it possible that they work in the next few days and weeks to achieve the most unity possible, and thus the most strength possible, and thus the largest possible guarantee so that we win on September 27? Is it able with its energy and drive, and its leadership and can we put this concept of the maximum unity possible on our agenda?

Well, I'm inviting them to do so. I invite these sovereigntist groups at this decisive moment for Catalonia, where everything is on the line, for the victor of a Yes-yes, to work seriously in order to achieve the maximum unity possible. At this moment, it's urgent and essential, practically essential. This call is for the sovereigntist forces to join together. I'm not talking about the political forces but rather the sovereigntist ones. They talk about the "president's list"... I already said that this is a concept that makes me uncomfortable. It makes me uneasy. It's still just focusing too much on one person that I think is not helpful. So when I say these sovereigntist forces, when I say can you join forces? Can you in the sovereigntist field join forces? Can you guarantee the maximum possible unity? I also say, don't think about the 'president's list', think if it's necessary to have a "list with the president" which is not the same thing. It's not the same thing to have a "president's list" and a "list with the president".

I make this plea at this decisive moment to group together forces in the sovereigntist world, beyond the parties. Let's leave the parties aside. If I make this call to the civic groups, in the sovereigntist world, I can't attempt to make this invitation and say "come to the president's list". However, I can make a call for them to keep me in mind to the degree that it's necessary and to play the role that's necessary. And I would dare to say something else. I believe that Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya can also be counted on to offer this huge service to the country at this moment. I believe that it can be counted on. That obviously can't be decided by myself alone, but I think it can be counted on. We have talked a lot lately about the role that CDC can play in the service of Catalonia at this moment. And beyond Convergència, we have seen these days that the people from the Catalanist Christian Democrats from the Yes-Yes can also be counted on to join an initiative like that. Of course they can. And we need them. Just like we need all those people from the Catalanist Socialist world who are also for Yes-Yes. And we also need them. Those folks who come from the world of the old PSUC or from communism. Or any of the currents that were profoundly Catalanist and who came to the conclusion that we either follow the sovereignty route or we won't make it. And if just one person does it, we won't make it either. But if that is understood by these highly mobilizing forces in society, taking into account of course that this is a responsibility that is not theirs to bear as civic groups, but that they can do it, and it's also a big service to the country if they see it that way. Why not?

Said another way, we can make unity starting from the civil society. We can forge unity from civil society and we can add the parties, all of them, whichever ones who want to... no one is forced to join. Anyone can join, anyone can stay on the edges. I have spoken about myself, of CDC and I speak about the other groups that I believe they will want to join together to make unity possible from the civil society. Let's create the necessary unity. Let's face September 27 with more guarantees of success. We can't leave unity to just the other groups.

Original:

He de dir que el format míting s'ha acabat ja sabeu que jo faig molts mítings quan vénen les eleccions. Ara també vénen, però encara estem una mica lluny. Ja hi tornarem al format míting. Avui la pretensió que teníem és intentar situar on som, què ha passat des del 9 de novembre. I sobretot, situar-nos de cara a aquests propers dies, aquestes properes setmanes, certament són decisives per al conjunt del nostre país.

Voldria agrair-vos la vostra massiva presència. Demanem disculpes, moltes persones esteu dretes.. Això dóna molts ànims de coratge, molt reconfortant què hi ha tantes persones que realment estan amb les piles posades per encarar aquests moments decisius, aquestes hores decisives.

Deixeu-me abordar les coses què volia compartir amb tots vosaltres, i a través dels mitjans de comunicació, amb el conjunt del nostre país.

Fa sis mesos del nou de novembre. Sis mesos llargs, on han passat moltes coses. Ara faré referència a algunes. Molts mesos que han passat moltes coses i molts dels polítics. En destacaré quatre o cinc que són els més destacats. Ho enllaço amb el 9 de novembre i si ho permeteu també ho enllaço amb una conferència que portava escrita, que vaig fer al Fòrum de Barcelona el dia 25 de novembre de l'any passat. Per part meva, va ser una reflexió personal i també la manera d'adreçar-nos al país i a les formacions polítiques sobiranistes, per intentar compartir i traçar un full de ruta que ens portes a la victòria final. Ja dic d'entrada, que el que estem fent no ho estem fent per fer-ho. Ho estem fent per guanyar. Això ha de quedar molt clar. No es fa per fer és fa per guanyar. Per sortir victoriosos..

Quins han estat aquests fets polítics més rellevants d'aquests darrers sis mesos?

· El primer van ser els acords del mes de gener d'aquest any. Uns acords forçats per les circumstàncies. Després d'aquell nou de novembre, d'aquella conferència meva del Fòrum, les coses es van embolicar. No tothom va compartir aquella estratègia. Alguns se'n van voler separar d'aquell moment. Va costar déu i ajuda recomposar les coses. Endreçar una altra vegada la situació. Van tenir una intervenció fonamental les entitats sobiranistes més destacades del país que han assumit el principal protagonisme d’acomboiar la gent del país a les grans mobilitzacions. Tot allò que ens va portar als cords del mes de gener. Que segurament no satisfeien, des del meu punt de vista, el full de ruta inicialment, traçat però que permetia mirar endavant i seguir el camí que havíem intentat començar. Avui no valoraré el compliment d'aquests acords. No ho valoraré perquè crec que avui no és el moment de fer-ho. Segurament el regust que deixa el compliment d'aquest acord pot ser desigual, per districtes, per barris, per formacions polítiques, per persones o per personatges. Però avui no és el tema de valorar si això ha sortit millor o pitjor. Ho tenim, està consignat i ara ens permet seguir avançant i ens ha permès seguir avançar en aquests mesos.

· El segon fet ha estat el preacord sobre el full de ruta per després de les eleccions plebiscitàries. Recordeu que aquell full de ruta, aquest preacord també es va signar entre els mateixos que van signar els acords del mes de gener per tant, Esquerra Republicana, com va ja sabem, com l’ANC, l’AMI i Omnium. Full de ruta que està establert, que no està tancat del tot, perquè està a l'espera que altres s'hi puguin incorporar, i quan dic altres ho dic en sentit plural. Hi poden haver més d'un que es puguin incorporar. Hores d'ara no ho ha fet. Però teníem molt interès que quedés clar que no es tractava d'un acord definitivament tancat i que no hi havia res més. Sino les portes estaven obertes per intentar altres formacions polítiques que s'hi volguessin afegir. Altres entitats del marc sobiranista, del dret a decidir que es volguessin sumar. Rcordeu que en aquest preacord de full de ruta no es parla tant de com s'han de fer les eleccions, sinó que s'ha de fer després de les eleccions. Per tant, és el full de ruta compartit inicialment per abordar el canvi post eleccions 27 de setembre.

· Tercer fet rellevant què ha passat. Hi ha hagut eleccions municipals a Catalunya i també a la resta de l'estat. I ha la resta de l'estat també hi ha hagut eleccions autonòmiques a moltes autonomies. Fixeu-vos que aquestes eleccions municipals han vist emergir algunes formacions, d'alguns moviments polítics que sobretot han sorgit “a la contra de”. Aquesta és una dada bastant rellevant. No ha sigut moviments polítics o socials que s'han plantejat d'entrada un objectiu a de la societat, sinó que han nascut, i en alguns casos exitoses, amb aquest ànim de anar a la contra d'una situació que consideren injusta i en part ho és. És evident que han sortit aquests moviments, en alguns llocs amb una especial incidència, i ha estat un fet rellevant d'aquests sis mesos. Fa sis mesos enrere no s'hi contava amb la dimensió amb què era aquest moviment en alguns indrets del nostre propi país..

· Què més ha passat? Ha passat té Unió Democràtica, què ha estat el nostre soci de Federació durant moltíssims anys, s'ha dividit internament, perquè ha posat a votació el full de ruta, i en definitiva el sí sí del 9 de novembre. Voleu un estat per Catalunya? Si, voleu que aquest estat sigui independent? Si. Aquesta és la nostra posició, és la que vam promoure. Unió això no ho havia resolt. Vull fer notar una cosa que és important que digui. O dues coses. La primera, per part de Convergència democràtica de Catalunya, no hi ha hagut cap ultimàtum a Unió. Se'n va parlar fa molts mesos enrere. Fins i tot molts mesos abans de les municipals, i poc després el nou de novembre. La direcció d’Unió va demanar en aquell moment no podia prendre una decisió ràpida i que és pogués ajornar aquella decisió. Ens va demanar que aquesta decisió fos després de les eleccions municipals. I Convergència, dintre del clima que sempre hi ha d’haver dintre d'una coalició o una Federació, va accedir que fos d'aquesta manera. Va demanar que després de les municipals aquest tema quedés resolt, perquè havíem d'encarar la recta de què havien de ser les eleccions plebiscitàries. Per tant, no hi ha hagut ultimàtum. Ara, certament després de les municipals és va demanar que la posició d'Unió fos explícita. Ells ja tenien previst fer la seva consulta interna. Sabeu quin va ser el resultat, sabeu quines són les conseqüències. La principal conseqüència és que després de 37 anys Convergència i Unió es separen. Això no vol dir que vol dir que sigui un divorci total, sinó que simplement tenen un tema de fons, que no comparteixen. Convergència està pel sí / sí, Unió una part significativa també ho ha estat, però una altra part no esta nomes pèl si/si. No és un tema de matís, és un tema de fons que està instal·lat en la nostra societat. I què és el que ha fet que milions de persones, centenars de persones, es mobilitzessin durant aquests darrers tres anys a la nostre país. I és aquell tema que si no es resol bé, quedarà pendent i quedarà pendent de manera negativa. Aquest país no pot tirar endavant si aquest tema no queda resolt com s’ha de resoldre: a les urnes. Nosaltres hem impulsat tot això perquè anés exactament d'aquesta manera. Per tant, hi ha un tema de fons que ens separa. No ens agrada que això hagi passat. Portaven molts anys de col·laboració. Sé que hi ha hagut molta gent d'aquest país que durant molts anys ha votat la fórmula de Convergència i Unió. Hem guanyat des de l'any 1980 totes les eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya amb aquesta fórmula i amb aquesta fórmula ha guanyat la majoria de les alcaldies del nostre país i dels consells comarcals,. Per tant jo no tinc satisfacció. Però és la realitat. I és la prova, després també ho comentaré, de que les coses van molt en sèrio. Aquí no estem per romanços. S'ha posat la directa i anem molt en sèrio. Les conseqüències, quan poses les coses en serio, són les que són. Però nosaltres les assumim. Aquest és el tema central que hi ha a la societat catalana, que no es un tema simplement per ell mateix, és el tema d’un estat per Catalunya, de la independència de Catalunya, és sobretot un instrument molt potent que serveix, no només d'uns ideals de llibertat, sinó també de tenir un país on tothom pugui viure millor.

· Un últim fet rellevant és que, com era previsible, l'estat espanyol no ha variat ni un sol mil·límetre la seva posició. Això era així, i segueix sent així. Exactament així. Aquests darrers sis mesos no només no ha variat la seva posició, sinó que a més a més ha anat insistint en el retall permanent i sistemàtica de la nostra autonomia i del nostre autogovern. Fins al punt, amb el conseller Homs ho comentem, què hem arribat en aquella situació d'aquest ni tan sols ell diari oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya té el valor que tenia abans, per què el volen substituir pel Boletin Oficial del Estado. Això va per aquí. Ja ho han decretat així. Jo us poso aquest exemple gairebé ridícul, però no deixa de ser molt simbòlic per fer entendre fins a quin punt la retallada de l'autonomia i l'autogovern és un fet que no es pot negar. Ningú pot negar aquesta evidència. Per tant, estem en aquest sentit de l'autogovern més enrere que estaven fa 4, 5, 6, 8 o 10 anys. Heu vist també que hi ha hagut aquesta nova sentència del Tribunal Constitucional , que com que no el poden esborrar el 9 de novembre, diuen que no el podíem fer. Però ja està fet.. Si el poguessin esborrar l’esborrarien . No s'aturarien davant d'això. Però com que no el poden esborrar han de dir que no el podíem fer. A partir d'aquí ja està fet... Aquests 2.340.000 persones que van anar a votar, hi van anar. La gran majoria el, 80% va votar sí sí. Això no s'esborra de la història democràtica i catalanista del nostre país.

Això és el que ha passat ara en aquests darrers sis mesos. Quines conseqüències ha tingut tot això?

1- La primera conseqüència jo crec que no la podem amagar. A més a més, està a peu de carrer. La primera conseqüència és que allò que algunes vegades podíem haver dit del turbo de la il·lusió del procés sobiranista ha baixat una mica de revolucions. Dic que el turbo de la il·lusió, perquè en aquells moments de 9 de novembre i els dies posteriors, hi havia un autèntica prova d’il·lusió al nostre país des del punt de vista del projecte sobiranista. Les revolucions d'aquell turbo han baixat una mica. S'hagin apagat. El vehicle segueix funcionant, i segueix encarat cap a les metes què havia proposat. Però és evident que aquest tipus de processos cal afrontar-los amb el màxim de il·lusió possible. Amb il·lusió.. La il·lusió és el motor del canvi. És el que fa que el motor vagi a unes revolucions molt altes però que no posi en risc res. Per tant és cert ha baixat una mica el turbo de la il·lusió, d’aquestes revolucions que hi havia fa sis mesos. Ara bé, pareu atenció: els altres problemes, les necessitats, i reptes de Catalunya, aquests no han baixat. Aquests segueixen sent els mateixos. Per tant, la nostra responsabilitat en aquests moment, els que defensem aquest moviment i aquest procés sobiranista, els que defensem el sí sí, és tornar a posar el turbo de la il·lusió a dalt de tot. Si no el tornem a posar a dalt de tot, correm el risc de què un projecte que pot ser guanyador, no acabi sent-ho. Tot això no ho podrem atribuir a la responsabilitat dels altres. Serà la nostra. Ja sabem què d'obstacles en tenim molts. I d’adversaris moltíssims, i no pas poc poderosos. Però no serà culpa d'ells. Ells faran tot el possible perquè aquesta il·lusió es dilueixi. Ja ho estan fent. Però nosaltres tenim una responsabilitat interna. Aquesta responsabilitat interna passa perquè si els problemes i els reptes del país no han baixat, que no baixi tampoc aquestes revolucions de la il·lusió que ha de portar a la gran victòria.

2- Quina altra conseqüència hi ha hagut d'aquests fets aquests darrers sis mesos? Allò que us deia abans: l'aparició d'un eix nou a la política catalana que posa l'accent en la lluita de classes. Però que va acompanyat de la absoluta indefinició sobre el tema sobiranista. Això no ho oblideu. És cert, hi ha moviments en aquest moment, com aquest que us deia que volen posar l’accent en l’àmbit de la lluita de classes. Però no en el dret a decidir, ni molt menys la sobirania de Catalunya. Per tant, d'una forma o d'una altra, això pot canviar l’eix del que significa la política catalana en aquests propers temps. Això ho hem de tenir present la gent que volem defensar el sí sí. Fixeu-vos que en aquesta emergència d'aquest tipus de moviments polítics, gairebé poden ser iguals fora de Catalunya que a Catalunya. No hi ha molta diferència entre el que passa a la ciutat de Madrid i el que ha passat a la ciutat de Barcelona. Pot ser igual dintre de Catalunya que fora de Catalunya. Senyal que el tema del dret a decidir i la sobirania es deixen de banda en aquest tipus de moviments. També a Catalunya. Això ho hem de tenir ben present. Dit d'una altra manera, el “sí se puede” que vam escoltar fa uns dies a la plaça Sant Jaume, aquell “sí se puede”, té molt poc a veure amb l'autogovern de Catalunya, té molt poc a veure amb la sobirania, té molt poc a veure amb el referèndum sobre el futur polític del país. Té a veure amb altres coses. Que no les menystinc, gens ni mica. Però no té a veure ni amb la llibertat de Catalunya, ni amb el referèndum d'autodeterminació, ni amb la independència. És una altra història un altre eix . És un altre paràmetre. És un altre vector.

Quina és la diferència entre el moviment sobiranista i el “si se puede”?. La gran diferència no és el que han de ser els objectius finals dels del punt de vista de la justícia social. I jo acostumo a situar aquest repte en la ment de les persones que ens escolten. Digue-me a una sola persona partidària de la sobirania de Catalunya, que al costat de la sobirania no hi posi com a tema principal la justícia social, el progrés, i la prosperitat del país. Ni una sola. Tota persona que defensi la sobirania de Catalunya la defensa per a unes finalitats i uns objectius molt concrets, que són aquests: la justícia, l'equitat, un país millor, un país més pròsper, un país mes creatiu. No hi ha divorci en aquest sentit. Les finalitats són aquestes. La sobirania no es teòrica, és una sobirania posada en servei de la millora de les condicions de vida de tota la població. Evidentment al servei de la gran idea de la justícia social, en un moment on la justícia social ha quedat esquerdada per la crisi econòmica. No treballo en un plantejament d’una dicotomia entre el que ha de ser la sobirania i el que ha de ser un país just des del punt de vista social.

En canvi, el “si se puede”, trobareu l’anhel de la justícia social, evidentment. que sí, però no hi trobareu la discussió sobre els instruments i les eines i els estris per poder fer realitat aquesta justícia social. HI ha uns que ho abracen tot que son els sobiranistes i altres que es queden nomes amb una part i no parlen dels instruments ni les eines. Però sense instruments i sense idees quina serà la conseqüència? la conseqüència serà, que si voleu en diferents ideologies s'haurà de gestionar una autonomia retallada, disminuïda, amputada i ofegada. I amb una autonomia així no s'aconseguirà l’ ideal de la justícia social a Catalunya. Ni s'aconseguirà tot allò que Catalunya en aquest moment podria abordar des d'un punt de vista de projecte de país.

Deixeu de parlar una mica d'això. A la conferència de fa sis mesos jo vaig deixar dit que quan haguem passat aquesta primera etapa, un dia tinc ganes d'abordar una mica el perquè de tot plegat. Ho dic d'una altra manera: què poden fer amb el nostre País si tinguéssim els instruments i les eines necessàries, per tant, l’autogovern necessari? que podríem arribar a fer? que es pot fer en el nostre país perquè realment sigui un país que des de tots els punt de vista valgui la pena?.

1- Es pot tenir a Catalunya com a ideal l'atur que tenen països com àustria o Dinamarca? Ens podem fixar aquest objectiu com a país? Es clar que sí. nosaltres podríem tenir la ocupació que tenen aquests països que són similars a nosaltres. No son grans potències econòmiques ni comercials, ni amb multinacionals, ni grans exèrcits ni grans poders, financers. Això sí tenen capacitat de decisió pròpia, tenen molt talent, nosaltres també.Tenen moltes energies, nosaltres també. Tenim i tenen molts actius. Elles tenen una capacitat de decisió, des de fa molt, temps que nosaltres no tenim. Aquesta és la gran diferència. Per tant, és evident que quan dibuixem el nostre ideal de país, podem pensar que sí que podem ser un país com Àustria o Dinamarca, des del punt de vista de la feina.

2- Podem Irene, tenir un país que tingui els mateixos resultats educatius de Finlàndia?. És clar que podem. Però no tenim les mateixes eines que Finlàndia per crear el nostre model educatiu. Cada vegada que intentem fer una passa endavant, ens trobem amb una LOGSE, una LOMCE, no sé quantes lleis que retallen sistemàticament l'aspiració que nosaltres puguem dirigir de manera autònoma i nostre model educatiu, i per tant el nervi central de la nació i el seu. Futur. Però podem aspirar als mateixos resultats que tenen països com Finlàndia. No tenim menys tradició pedagògica, tenim ben més segons com. I tenim qualitat des de molts punts de vista però tenim moltes limitacions.

3- Podem aspirar a tenir un país amb una formació professional com de Baviera, Baden Wutemberg , o Suïssa? Us parlo de landers alemanys, o d'un país que tampoc són gaire més grans que el nostre. Podem aspira a això? ells tenen gran sistemes de formació professional que els permeten mantenir la seva base industrial innovadora i exportadora. Nosaltres podríem aspirar a tenir un model d'aquestes característiques. Ara acabem d'aprovar una llei de formació professional per àmplia majoria al Parlament. Però ho hem de fer sempre amb la nostra invitació competencial, que cada vegada és més gran

4- Podem tenir unes infraestructures com els flamencs i els holandesos? És clar que es podria tenir. Perquè després de 37 o 38 anys de governs democràtics a Espanya tenim AVE per tot arreu, gairebé pertot arreu? En aquests llocs de pràcticament no hi anirà ningú, però costarà molts diners de mantenir i encara no ha arribat el moment de que la gran territori, o els grans territoris exportadors d'aquest país no tonguin el seu corredor ferroviari Mediterrani? Els flamencs sí que el tenen i els holandesos també i nosaltres no, pero el podrien tenir exactament igual que ells.

5- Podem tenir un sistema de salut que faci front al repte de viure més anys i de viure millor? En aquest sentit diria que no cal posa cap altre país com a mirall. Perquè el nostre sistema de salut, i aquesta setmana n'hem parlat al Parlament, el nostre sistema és tan bo o millor què dels altres. Però aquest sistema de salut nostre que està tremendament pressionat, pot complir el repte d’enfrontar-se a aquesta realitat social que estem tenint, i que es bona de viure més, i viure millor, i dóna garanties en aquest sentit? pensem en això.

6- Tenim país que pot arribar a garantir les pensions del futur amb un país en què hi ha persones que cada vegada mes grans i que viuen més anys? Això és més possible fer-ho amb un estat propi a Catalunya, o depenent de l'estat espanyol? Aquesta és una discussió que hi ha cada vegada que es parla de la possible independència de Catalunya. Evidentment, l’argument de Madrid sempre és el mateix. Si marxeu, us quedareu sense pensions. Però obliden una cosa que és molt important, que és que les pensions no les paga el pare estat com si fos una donació. Les paga si hi ha més gent que treballa o menys gent. I un país com el nostre, que pot aspirar a tenir l’atur d’Àustria o Dinamarca, que vol dir a tots de menys del 5 % és un país molt més viable econòmicament que l'estat espanyol per pagar les pensions de la seva gent això és així. Però ens hem d’acostumar que aquest sistema de pensions com el podrem assumir sent mes lliure so menys lliures? més productius o menys productius? Amb més atur o menys? Amb mes o menys Empreses? Aquest és el gran repte de país.

7- Poden tenir un sistema universitari d'innovació i recerca contra Israel?. Una altre moda fora de la Unió Europea però de població similar al nostre. Hem avançat molt en aquest terreny amb les eines que tenim. Però podem aspirar a situar-nos entre els millors també en aquest terreny. També en el camp de la Universitat, també en el camp de la innovació, també del camp de la recerca. Hem avançat molt però realment encara podem avançar molt més si tenim els instruments que ens calen.

8- Poden garantir un ús normalitzat de la nostra llengua i una protecció i promoció adequada de la nostra cultura? És clar que ho podríem fer. Però cada dia que ens llevem hem d'estar pendents de si hi ha una agressió nova a la nostra llengua. I això ho hem de patir en un país que té una clara idea de la importància de les llengües, i sobretot, que és un país bilingüe. Per tant, no és un país enemic de cap idioma, i molt menys del castellà. Però sent així com som i sent un país de naturalesa bilingüe, amb una llengua pròpia que és el català, cada dia hem de patir alarmes i agressions sobre la nostra llengua. Podem aleshores ser un país com Suècia, com Eslovènia, països també molt petits altres no tant, que no s'hagi de llevar cada dia amb el patiment de que tindrà un agressió sobre aquella la seva pròpia Llengua? Ells no s’aixequen cada dia pensant que la seva llengua serà agredida. L’han de defensar i promocionar i potenciar la seva cultura i la seva llengua amb la seva pròpia capacitat de governar-se ells mateixos i saben que ho poden fer. Nosaltres no.

Aleshores, aquest és el país que poden fer. Tot això, tot això està al nostre abast. Tot això no son quimeres ni utopies tot això és possible Catalunya. Però és possible si no es sostrau el debat de quins són els instruments que tenim, i els recursos per poder fer un país d'aquestes característiques. Si el que pretenem és canviar l’eix a Catalunya i començar a parlar d'altres coses, i a veure com ens repartim l’autonomia retallada, amputada i ofegada, els resultats què en traiem, encara que alguns tinguin les millors intencions, seran resultats molt prims. Podem aspirar no a aquesta utopia, sinó que poden aspirar a aquest model de país que està a l'abast d'un país com Catalunya de la mateixa manera que està a l'abast de societats homòlogues com la que acabo de citar. Això és possible. L'únic que ho pot fer és que el sobiranisme. Un país així només el pot construir en aquest moment el sobiranisme. Evidentment, quan parlo de construir el país hi haurà molta més gent no sobiranista que també el construirà. Però la força motriu per construir aquest país és el sobiranisme i no una altra. Si volen canviar l’eix de tot plegat, aleshores ens equivocarem perquè no hi ha altra força alternativa a Catalunya que pugui construir un país d'aquestes característiques. No hi ha.. Per bones intencions que puguin alimentar qualsevol de les altres formacions polítiques que hi hagi en el nostre país.

Si l’únic que ho pot fer és el sobiranisme, a més a més, deixeu-me dir, que ho pot fer tothom, per què ho vol fer per tothom. Estic convençut convençut que en la posició sobiranista del país sempre hi ha al cap a aquest país de conjunt dels ciutadans de Catalunya en aquest moment 7.500.000 de persones. Aquells que ens acusen de què ho separem tot, els voldria recordar que ningú com nosaltres té un país sencer al cap, i que són ells els que no s'han de preocupar gaire. Fins i tot els que decidim ser sobiranistes . Perquè quan nosaltres defensem la sobirania de Catalunya, nosaltres també pensem en ells i estem treballant per ells. Quan ells ens disminueixen l’autogovern, no sé si pensen en el conjunt del poble de Catalunya. Però quan els sobiranistes treballen per la sobirania de Catalunya treballarem pels sobiranistes i pels que no ho son, perquè també són ciutadans d'aquest país i ens adrecem a tots absolutament a tots.

Això ho hem de començar a construir a les urnes. Aquest és el nostre gran repte. Això s'ha de començar a construir a les urnes. De fet, ja ho hem començat a construir així. Ho hem d'acabar de construir a les urnes. Ens hem poder comptar definitivament. Perquè aquesta és l'essència de la democràcia. Tenim un repte molt gran, que és saber si aquest país té una majoria o no a favor de la seva sobirania. Aquest dret el tenim, i com ho fem amagant-lo? Dient que el 9 no que existeix? Dient que uns quants bojos ens l’hem inventat? Dient què ens hem begut l'enteniment? Així no es resol convé un repte com aquest. ES resol posant les urnes i els col·legis i que la gent vagi a votar. És així i no d'una altra manera. És la manera civilitzada, i democràtica de resoldre els conflictes i les diferents maneres de pensar en democràcia. Ho deia aquesta setmana al parlament. Ningú s'escandalitza perquè algú sigui de centre Esquerra, o d'Esquerra o de dretes o de súperdreta o superesquerra radical. Ningú s'escandalitza per això. Resulta que a les taules del nostre país no és un gran conflicte que separa les famílies. Però si un té l'aspiració o l'ideal d'aquest Catalunya pugui ser un país com Àustria o Dinamarca, a llavores això separa i l'altre no. Au va ! això no s'ho empassa ningú..

Això, com qualsevol altra discrepància que hi ha en una societat madura es resol civilitzadament a les urnes. D'aquí el 27 de setembre. El 27 de setembre té aquest nord, aquest objectiu, i no un altre que és resoldre aquesta qüestió a les urnes. Això és del que pretenem que sigui un plebiscit.

Fixeu-vos, i no és un tema, menor que uns i altres volen esborrar o desfigurar la caràcter plebiscitari d'aquestes eleccions. Digue-m'ho clar. Aquí hi ha coincidències curioses com a mínim. És exactament així. Quan sentiu parlar el partit Popular, el partit socialista, o Ciutadans,, quan sentiu parlar aquesta gent sentireu que “ això que vol fer mars són unes eleccions autonòmiques i res més”. Però jo els adverteixen d'una cosa. I adverteixo el poble de Catalunya. Si les eleccions del 27 de setembre, per al sobiranista no sortissin bé, seran els primer és a dir que ha sigut un plebiscit. Però com que els aterra és la possibilitat de que un dia a les urnes ens puguem comptar i que guanyi el sí sí. ara han de disminuir el caràcter d'aquestes eleccions. Però atenció, perquè després no el disminuiran si no guanyar sí sí. S'apuntaran a dir què ha sigut un plebiscit a tota regla. Mira però on, altres, volen fer un altre tipus de plebiscit, és aquest els deia. El de la pura dreta/esquerra, ho diem-ho d'una altra manera de la lluita de classes. I fixeu-vos fins a quin punt hi ha coincidència. La conclusió quina és? Que fent cas d'uns o dels altres el 27 de setembre no tindrà caràcter plebiscitari. I on ens porta això? A intentar canviar un Govern de Catalunya, a intentar alterar les majories parlamentàries que tenim ara, a poder fer pactes diferents del que pugui haver en aquest moment el Parlament de Catalunya, on ens porta tot això... ? I en qualsevol cas ens porta a haver d'administrar les coses amb l'autonomia retallada, i ofegada que us deia fa una estona, ens porta aquí. Si no aconseguim que aquestes eleccions tingui el caràcter que han de tenir, i que justificar la seva convocatòria. Que és aquest caràcter plebiscitari sobre el que va passar el dia 9 de Novembre.

Aquells altres que volen fer un altre tipus plebiscit si que estan d’acord amb una cosa: que és que hem de fer fora a Mas. Això ho sentireu a un costat i a l'altre. Ho hem sentit aquesta setmana al Parlament i disculpeu la personalització. Hem de fer fora a aquest. Que no es aquest, és el que això representa en aquest moment. Hi ha qui decideixen uns i altres, sentireu més coses a un costat i a l'altre, tant des de Madrid com des de Catalunya, que arribaran aquesta mateixa conclusió. Que te a veure això, què té a veure treure simbòlicament a Mas amb el caràcter plebiscitari d'aquestes eleccions del 27 de Setembre? Res de res. Però els que ho plantegen així. No son poc poderosos. Intentaran què l’agenda sigui aquesta, i que aquestes eleccions del setembre no tinguin caràcter plebiscitari sobre la sobirania catalana..

Què vol dir això? Vol dir que en aquest cas hem d'intentar comptar-nos de la manera que es compta en aquest país per intentar resoldre les coses i construir el país que us deia. Comptar els si i els no. Jo se que dins del si hi ha ha matisos. I al no també. Però plebiscits no entenen de matisos. Perquè han de resoldre coses de rel, per tant, t'has de decantar en el si o en el no. Ja sé que el teu si no sigui exactament igual que el del teu veí. Però has de triar. Has d’assumir triar entre dos riscos. El risc de construir un país sobirà per Catalunya, per tant un estat, i el risc de no fer-ho. Perquè només es parla del risc de fer-ho, i què passa si no es fa? L'alternativa és aquesta. I aquesta ja sabem com funciona. En tenim molta experiència és de fa moltíssims anys. Per tant hi ha de riscos evidentment. El risc d'anar endavant des del punt de vista de sobirania, i el risc de no fer-ho. Què vol dir el risc de no fer res perquè a l'altre costat no hi ha cap altra oferta per Catalunya que no sigui la retallada, i de la seva autonomia i del seu autogovern. És el que estem vivint en aquest m moment només cal obrir els ulls per adonar-se de com estan exactament les coses.

Aleshores, aquesta consulta aquestes eleccions, jo les vull convocar per guanyar-les. No nomes per convocar-les. Us llegiré el que vaig escriure el 25 de novembre de l'any passat en aquella conferència. Vaig escriure això “haver completat la feina per garantir al màxim la victòria del sí una consulta es convoca per intentar-la guanyar. Després es guanya o no això es el joc democràtic. Però l'intent s'ha de fer per guanyar”. Per tant jo la teva part del que volia compartir amb vosaltres és què poden fer en aquest moment per tornar a alimentar a fons el turbo de la il·lusió del procés sobiranista en el nostre país. Perquè si ho aconseguim, ens en sortim. I si no ho aconseguim vés a saber... No dic que no, però jo no ho sé. De la primera manera ens en sortim, de la segona no ho sé..

Aquesta força de la il·lusió, aquest turbo a la il·lusió, és com el vent, com el vent de popa és un vent tranquil, és com aquell vent de popa què t'ha de portar fins a Itaca. I si no hi ha aquest vent de popa et quedes en un port intermig o amarrat al port que estàs en aquell moment. Això ara és responsabilitat nostra. No la poden delegar. I quan dic que no la podem delegar no dic només de Convergència i el Govern de la Generalitat. El món sobiranista de Catalunya, ha de prendre consciència de fins a quin punt estem en un moment decisiu que no podem deixar perdre i, què es tracta de propulsar aquest vent de popa, aquest turbo de la il·lusió, amb el màxim de revolucions de forces possibles, per poder certament arribar fins a Itaca. És tracta d'això. I em direu, com es fa això? De propostes n'hem fet moltes d'aquestes temps i moltes d'elles no han acabat de tirar endavant. Si us passegeu a peu de carrer, que ho feu, que ens diu la gent? Com es torna a alimentar el turbo de la il·lusió col·lectiva per afrontar el plebiscit amb garanties d'èxit i de guanyar? De que parla la gent? ens diu màxima unitat. Ens diu d'això. Màxima unitat, aneu junts. Feu les coses junts. No us dividiu. feu pinya. Ens diuen això. Això diu la gent a dir.

Quan parlo de unitat que consti ja ho dic d'entrada, perquè no hi hagi confusió, quan parlo de unitat no em refereixo a partits polítics. Això ja és va intentar, jo ho vaig intentar, vaig fer un plantejament en aquest sentit que no va ser acceptat. Per tant, deixem-ho de banda. En aquest sentit difícilment avançarem. Per tant el que diré ara no va adreçat a cap partit polític ni Esquerra, ni a la Cup. Va adreçat al conjunt de la nostra societat.

Fixeu-vos la paradoxa que la qual es té. Tot el gran moviment que hi ha hagut en la política catalana dels darrers 3 i 4 anys ha vingut per gran mobilització del món sobiranista. I qui s'està agrupant de cara a les eleccions des de la política? El món del sí se puede. En canvi el món sobiranista no s'agrupa. És el món sobiranista el que ha canviat les regles del joc i el que ha fet moure el taulell i, en canvi el que s’agrupa es un altre per poder, legítimament poder quedar primer. En tenim alguns exemples a Catalunya després de les eleccions municipals. En canvi, el món sobiranista no ha trobat encara la manera de contrarestar aquesta situació i posar l’eix de manera molt clara en aquest sentit plebiscitari del sí sí d’aquestes eleccions del dia 27 de setembre.

La gran pregunta que al mateix temps és una invitació és, com que hem de deixar de banda el moviment dels partits polítics en aquest sentit que ara us deia, es pot fer realitat aquesta unitat que necessita Catalunya i el sobiranisme com el pa que menja a través de la seva societat civil organitzada, sí o no? és pot fer o no es pot fer? Aquí hi ha un paper a jugar. HI ha un paper determinat,, decisiu i un paper central. Tenim tota una sèrie de gent organitzada, d’entitats organitzades que han mobilitzar centenars de milers de persones. Que han fet la seva feina, que han ajudat a treure la gent al carrer, que s'han comportat amb un esperit patriòtic molt important. Que no estaven a la política. Sinó a le entitats del país i que es creuen que Catalunya pot ser aquell país que jo descrivia abans. I que saben que ara que estem a les hores decisives. I que en aquest moment no podem fallar. Em refereixo l’ assemblea Nacional Catalana, a Òmnium , a l’AMI , a un munt d'entitats que estan al Pacte Nacional per dret a decidir, totes aquestes entitats que representen gent al nostre país tenen aquesta fase decisiva, ultima, un paper important a jugar des d'aquest punt de vista de la màxima unitat possible del món sobiranista. Deixo de banda els partits perquè no hagi interpretacions. Em dirigeixo directament a aquestes entitats.. És possible que treballin en aquests propers dies i setmanes per aconseguir la màxima unitat possible i, per tant la màxima força possible, i per tant les màximes garanties possibles perquè guanyem el 27 de setembre? És capaç que amb la seva energia i empenta, i el seu lideratge iom capaços de posar a l'agenda del país aquest concepte de la màxima unitat possible?

Doncs bé, jo les convido a fer-ho. Jo convido a aquestes entitats sobiranistes que en aquest aquesta hora decisiva de Catalunya, on ens ho juguem tot, per la victòria del sí sí, es posin a treballar seriosament perquè aconseguim el màxim d'unitat possible. En aquest moment és urgent i imprescindible, gairebé imprescindible. Aquesta crida a agrupeu les forces sobiranistes. No parlo de les polítiques però europeu la forces sobiranistes. És parlar de la llista del president.. Ja he dit que aquest és un concepte que a mi m'incomoda concepte. A mi m'incomoda. No deixa de ser una personalització que jo crec que en aquest moment no és la que convé. Aleshores quan jo dic en aquestes entitats sobiranistes , quan els dic podeu vosaltres agrupar forces? Podeu sumar forces en aquest camp sobiranista? Podeu garantir que hi hagi el màxim d'unitat possible? Jo també dic no peneu en la llista del president, penseu si cal en una llista amb el president, que no és el mateix,. No és el mateix la llista del president que la llista amb el president.

Si jo faig una crida en aquest moment decisiu agrupar forces del mon sobiransita, més enllà dels partits. Deixem els partits de banda. Si faig aquesta crida a les entitats, al món sobiranista, jo no puc pretendre fer aquesta crida i dir veniu a la llista del president. Ara, jo puc fer una crida perquè es compti amb mi, en la mesura que calgui i fent el paper que toqui. I m'atreveixo a dir una altra cosa. Crec que és pot comptar amb Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya per fer aquest paper de gran servei al país en aquest moment Crec que s’hi pot comptar. Això evidentment no ho puc decidir jo sol però crec que s'hi pot comptar. N'hem parlat moltes vegades aquests darrers temps del paper que pot fer CDC al servei de Catalunya en aquest moment. I més enllà de Convergència, és pot comptar per exemple, ho hem vist aquests dies es pot comptar que hi hagi gent de la democràcia cristiana catalanista i de si si d'aquest, país que es pugui sumar a una iniciativa així. És clar que sí. I els necessitem. Igual que necessitem a tota aquella gent del món socialista catalanista que també estan al si si. I també els necessitem. Aquella gent que ve dels mon de l’antic PSUC o del comunisme. O qualsevol aquests corrents que ha sigut profundament catalanistes i que han arribat a la conclusió, que o anem pel camí de la sobirania o no ens en sortirem. Però és evident que si això ho fem des d'un partit, doncs no ens en sortirem. I si ho fem des d'una persona tampoc ens en sortirem. Però si això en aquests propers dies o setmanes ho assumeixen aquestes entitats altament mobilitzadores de la societat, assumint això sí una responsabilitat que potser no els pertoca a ells com a associacions, però què poden fer, és també un bon servei al país si s'ho plantegen així. Per què no?..

Dit d'una altra manera, fem la unitat des de la societat. Fem la unitat des de la societat i posem-nos els partits, tots ells, tots els que vulguin...ningú te obligació de fer-ho. Tothom pot entrar, tothom pot quedar al marge. Jo he parlat de mi , de CDC i parlo d’altres entitats que crec que s’hi podrien agrupar per fer la unida possible des de la societat civil. Fem la unitat necessària. Encarem el 27S amb mes garanties d’èxit. No deixem que nomes s’agrupin els altres.

Perquè m’atreveixo a fer el plantejament que he fet a avui?

M'atreveixo per les tres o quatre coses que es diré com a punt final. M'atreveixo a fer-ho perquè el setembre de 2012, se'm va demanar 1.500.000 de persones al carrer, se'm va demanar de fixar un objectiu per a aquest país que és dia un Nou estat d'Europa. Quan nosaltres havíem guanyat àmpliament unes eleccions, amb el projecte del pacte fiscal des del punt de vista d’eines nacionals i davant de la rotunda negativa de l'estat espanyol, ni tan sols a seure a la taula per parlar del pacte fiscal, davant d'aquella negativa i d'aquell clam popular que hi havia al carrer, jo vaig posar les urnes el 25 de novembre del 2012 en l'esquema del dret a decidir, que era ell primer pas per comptar-nos des del punt de vista de si en aquest país hi havia majoria suficientment àmplia per treballar a fons per una consulta definitiva per la llibertat de Catalunya. Vaig fer això. Vàrem ferm això. Vàrem posar les urnes el dia 25 de novembre de l'any 2012.

Alguns diuen que les van posar i que vam perdre diputats. I tenen raó. I jo els contesto que si les poses i perds diputats i continues endavant deu tenir algun valor. Perquè jo era aquell moment tenia una excusa molt bona, he posat les urnes, no he tingut l’aval que segurament nosaltres esperàvem a les urnes, sabeu què? Tirem per un altre via ... Fem una altra cosa que sigui més còmode no porti tants problemes ni tantes ... fins i tot querelles per la via penal. Per exemple.. Però vam continuar.

Aleshores es va demanar una altra cosa. Se'ns va dir, ara acordeu una pregunta i una data perquè els catalans i les catalanes puguem dir si Catalunya ha de ser o no un estat independent i tota la controvèrsiain expectativa del moment va ser si el concepte estat independent havia de sortir I ningú donava un euro perquè sortís el concepte d'estat independent. I se'ns demanava això. Iés va acordar una pregunta i una data amb el concepte estat independent i que la gent pogués votar pel sí sí. I 1.900.000 persones que van votar aquesta tria.

Després és va dir una altra cosa, es va dir ara a més a més d'haver acordat la pregunta, ara poseu les urnes. Se'ns va dir això. I Déu n'hi do. Això de posar les urnes perquè no vam rebre carícies precisament. I algunes vegades vam tenir grans controvèrsies ha des de Catalunya sobre què significava posar a les urnes. Jo sempre vaig entendre una cosa, que devia ser bastant fàcil d'entendre per al comú de la gent. Que posar les urnes era posar-les i no una altra cosa. Era obrir els col·legis. Posar les urnes i que hi haguessin les paperetes del sí sí. Això és el que vam entendre. I crec que això és el que volia la gent. I per això aquella gran mobilització el dia nou de novembre. Exemplar, pacífica, cívica, de bon rotllo pensant en el país. Allà no hi havia la gent que portava l'etiqueta jo sóc de dretes i els d'esquerres, no hi havia aquesta gent. Hi havia la gent que volia la llibertat de Catalunya. Hi havia aquesta gent. Hi havia aquesta gent no els altres.

Vam fer exactament això. I després d'això del 9 de novembre què més es va demanar? se'ns va dir, ara com el nou de novembre ens han posat a prova i no elens hem pogut comptar tots, i nomes hana nat a votar els del si si... i alguns del no... se’ns va dir ara, a més a més utilitzem l’últim recurs que tenim a les mans. Agafem les eleccions i convertir-les en la consulta. I quina va ser la nostra resposta? Els acords per fer les eleccions el 27 de Setembre.

Què vull dir amb això? Que des del setembre de 2012 fins ara mateix, cada moment què al Govern i a mi mateix se'ns ha demanat que féssim un pas endavant encara que fos complicat, difícil, costerut, nosaltres no hem mirat cap a un altre costat. Hem mirat de cara a la realitat, hem escoltat la gent i hem actuat en conseqüència i ens la hem jugada. I precisament perquè hem actuat, així avui m'atreveixo, i dic m'atreveixo, a demanar a uns altres què en aquest moment decisiu, alguns altres que també han treballat tant com nosaltres o més, que en aquest moment tan històric agafin la seva quota de responsabilitat i de lideratge i aconsegueixin la màxima unitat possible en el món sobiranista de català. Jo demano això.

Vull fer notar una darrera cosa. En aquest jugar-se-la i també en contra de molts pronòstics, hem portat al límit del sí sí i de la nostra convicció en aquest sentit, fins al punt després de 37, anys a la separació d'una fórmula electoral i d'una fórmula política que és Convergència, o era Convergència i Unió que havia tingut èxits importants en aquest país. Hem portat les coses fins a aquest límit. Per tant, ens l’hem jugada al 100%. i jo crec poder dir que hem sigut coherents amb el que defensaven en plenitud. Fins a les últimes conseqüències. Ara que ja estem gairebé al final, jo m'atreveixo a demanar això. Màxima unitat, no dels partits, ja sé que aquí no cal plantejar-ho. Respecto els acords que tenim en aquest moment. Per tant no hi ha cap tema en aquests sentit. Però sí una apel·lació directa a aquestes entitats sobiranistes, aquesta societat civil perquè acceptin de parlar-ne i perquè acceptin de parlar-ne estant nosaltres a la seva disposició.

També he de dir que pot ser que això en puguem, parlar i què al final per la raó que sigui no acabi de sortir. Si no acabés de sortir, seguirem assumint les nostres responsabilitats. Que ningú ho dubti. Per tant, el que estic plantejant avui de cap manera s’ha d’interpretar, el part de ningú, com que hi ha algú que no s'atreveix, .... En qualsevol cas nosaltres assumirem la nostra responsabilitat. Però una cosa és assumir la seva responsabilitat, i crec que l'hem assumit des del primer moment, i una altra és renunciar a fer allò que tens la plena convicció què li cal al teu país en el moment més decisiu que ha viscut en els darrers tres segles. Jo no hi puc renunciar ni crec que hi podem renunciar a tots plegats. Per tant, aquest intent val la pena fer-lo i nosaltres ens posem, col·lectivament, i jo també personalment, a disposició de construir la màxima unitat possible en conjunció amb la societat civil sobiranista organitzada d'aquest país.

Construir un estat amigues i amics requereix tenir sentit d'estat. I lluitar per la llibertat d'un poble requereix alliberar-se de les agendes personals i de les agendes corporatives. No es pot aspirar a construir un estat sense sentit d'estat. No es pot aspirar a construir i aconseguir la llibertat d'un país i la llibertat de Catalunya si les agendes personals o corporatives, per legítimes que siguin, passen per davant d'aquelles que en aquests moments són la suma necessària de tots.

Road map to Catalan Independence signed by CDC, ERC, ANC, AMI, and Òmnium Cultural

2015-03-30T16:54:00.000-04:00

(A very rough translation of the road map signed by the two principal (and ruling) pro-independence parties in Catalonia—CDC and ERC—as well as the Association for Pro-Independence Municipalities (AMI), the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), and cultural organization Òmnium Cultural.)

Road map of the Catalan Sovereignty Process

This road map aims to gather the pro-sovereignty organizations that share the objective of Catalonia that begin a process of democratic transition in order to become an independent state, if that's what the majority of its citizenry so decide.

A. Plebiscitary elections

The elections on September 27, 2015, characterized as a plebiscite, will serve as a legal mechanism to know the will of the Catalan people on their politicial future, in place of the referendum which was blocked from being held. In this way, the result will be definitive and easy to read by everyone, inside and outside Catalonia, and it will allow for the exercise of the corresponding mandate.

The sovereigntist candidacies must make it clear in their platforms, first and foremost, that voting for them means pronouncing oneself in favor of the independence of Catalonia.

The national and social elements are inextricably bound together, therefore, it is necessary to make a definitive bet on the recovery of the social state, especially in education, healthcare, and pensions, as well as in social rights and essential public services.

It is absolutely necessary to express an undeniable will of democratic regeneration, transparency, accountability, citizen participation, and the fight against corruption.

B. How the Process will Proceed

Setting up a project of writing a constitutional text in a term of approximately 10 months, by way of a participatory mechanism that facilitates gathering more voices around the project through an open constituent process in which there is direct citizen participation (a Catalan Constitutional Convention), and which is later subjected to a referendum.

Creating and setting in motion the necessary structures for the new state: a tax collection agency, social security, transitional laws, foreign relations, transition of strategic infrastructures, social and health services, energy supply, security...

Exercising the sovereign acts necessary to construct the new country.

With the mandate of the election, an initial sovereigntist declaration, as an announcement and the initiation of the process toward the proclamation of the new State, or Catalan Republic, according to the terms and conditions made explicit in this road map. The process of democratic transition will not be subject to the [current] jurisprudence in effect or to eventual overrule of this declaration.

The process of national transition toward the proclamation of a new State or Catalan Republic which will begin with the elections of September 27, will be completed within a term of 18 months.

C. Institutional Relationships

Negotiations will begin with the Spanish State on the new conditions: distributing assets and liabilities, the relationship between the new countries.

Opening negotiations with international bodies for the recognition and admission of the new state.

Maintaining an open attitude with respect to an offer from the Spanish State of an alternative binding referendum on the independence of Catalonia.

D. Culmination of the Process

At the end of this process, a binding referendum will be held on the constitutional text which will culminate the exercise of the democratic mandate in favor of the constitituion of a new Catalan State. A positive result in this referendum will allow for the Proclamation of Independence.

Election of a new Parliament in the new Constitutional framework.

From this moment forward, negotiations begun on the new form of relationship with the Spanish State and the European Union.

Barcelona, March 30, 2015

[Signatures]

Competing road maps in the Catalan family: get over it!

2014-12-03T11:28:00.001-05:00

On the last two Tuesdays, Catalan President Artur Mas and the ERC leader Oriol Junqueras offered opposing views on the best way forward for Catalonia's independence process. Each presentation was given to a crowd of supporters, and each attended the other's speech. You can read my live-tweeted, translated version of their presentations here and here.

But this is what I think (versió en català al final):

The Catalan President gets up on stage, suggests a single party list with a mix of politicians and community representatives with a single objective: the independence of Catalonia. He says it's time to take the long view, put local politics on hold for 18 months, and tackle the construction of the necessary state structures for the new Catalan Republic. In order to prove his 'sense of country', he offers to give up top spot on the list, and be last instead, and promises as well that he will not run again for presidency after independence.

Critics say he's protecting himself and his party by insisting on unified list, that it's impossible to create state structures within Spanish State, and that you can't preach unity if you appear solo on stage. Pretty much all of the other parties have already rejected such a unified list, and we're left wondering who would join.

Catalan Republican Left leader Oriol Junqueras takes the stage a week later, espousing value of diversity, and suggests joint campaign, platform plank for independence, community representation, Executive, and name prefix but separate lists. Says this is the way to make sure not a single pro-independence vote is lost.

Critics say he's protecting himself and his party by insisting on separate lists, that it's impossible to achieve clear democratic mandate without unified force, and that you can't preach unity if you appear solo on stage. It's not at all clear if other parties would be able to agree on single independence plank, and thus we're left wondering how we (and the world) would know which votes were for independence.

Meanwhile, the people look on with increasing frustration. Scuttlebut points to lots of backstory and old wounds that have never healed. Accusations fly and many are true. This party was in power for X years and never lifted a finger for independence. This party made Y deals with this Spanish/pro-unionist party to save their own power. This party hasn't fulfilled commitments to create state structures. This party has taken advantage of the moment while we take our political lumps.

It's like watching siblings fight: she hit me first, he called me names, she thinks she's better than me, you love him more.

We the people are the parents. First, no hitting, use your words. Next, remember that it's not just today, the back story exists. We got to this point because of all that has gone before. No one is blameless, we are all responsible. Be generous.

And if you can't figure it out, we parents will have to step in. We'll hold your hands and show you just what we want you to do: win independence.

Now, go back to your room and don't come out again until you have a plan that you can present all together. You've got until dinnertime.

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Unitat

El president català, Artur Mas, surt a l'escenari, suggereix una llista unitària, amb barreja de polítics i representants civils amb un sol objectiu: la independència de Catalunya. Diu que és moment de mirar a llarg plaç, de posar la política local al congelador 18 mesos, i posar mans a la feina de construir les estructuras necessàries estatals per la nova República Catalana. Per evidenciar el seu sentit de país, ofereix deixar espai a dalt de la llista i ocupar l'últim lloc, i a més promet que no tornarà a presentar-se com a president desprès d'assolir la independència.

Els crítics diuen que es protegeix a ell mateix i al seu partit insistint en una llista unitària, que és impossible crear estructures d'estat dins l'Estat Espanyol i que no es pot demanar unitat apareixent solet a l'escenari. Pràcticament tots els altres partits ja han rebutjat la llista unitària i ens queda el dubte de que s'hi apuntaria.

El líder d'Esquerra Republicana, Oriol @Junqueras surt a l'escenari una setmana després, explicant com és de valuós la diversitat, i suggereix una campanya, un punt sobre independència, representació civil, un govern, i una part del nom en comú, però llistes separades. Diu que aquesta és la manera que assegurar-se que no es perd ni un sol vot independentista.

Els crítics diuen que es protegeix a ell mateix i al seu partit insistint en llistes separades, i que és impossible aconseguir un mandat democràtic sense la força unitària, i que no es pot demanar unitat apareixent solet a l'escenari. No queda clar si els altres partits es posarien d'acord sobre un punt comú sobre independència i ens quedem preguntant com sabríem (nosaltres i el món) quins vots serien a favor de la independència.

Mentrestant, la societat civil observa amb frustració creixent. Les xarxes i les veus en off senyalen molta història i ferides velles que no s'han curat mai del tot. Les acusacions són múltiples i algunes sabem que són verídiques. Aquest partit estava al poder durant anys i no va aixecar ni un dit per la independència. Aquest feia tractes amb els unionistes per protegir-se els escons. Aquests no han complert amb les estructures d'estat. Aquells se n'han aprofitat del moment mentres menjem els gripaus. Ad infinitum.

És com veure germans barallant-se: ella m'ha pegat primer, ell m'ha dit paraulotes, ella pensa que és millor que ningú, tu l'estimes més a ell.

La gent som els pares d'aquests nens. Primer, no us pegueu, feu servir les paraules. Ara, recorda que no només és el que ha passat avui, la història existeix. Hem arribat aquí per tot el que ha passat els altres dies. Ningú és totalment net, som tots responsables. Sigueu generosos.

I si no podeu ser generosos els uns amb els altres, els pares haurem d'intervenir. Us agafarem per les mans, i us ensenyarem exactament el que volem que feu: que guanyeu la independència.

Va, cap a l'habitació i no torneu fins que tingueu un pla que podeu presentar tots junts. Teniu fins l'hora de sopar.

President Mas says Catalan vote on political future will go on

2014-10-31T18:37:00.000-04:00

Catalonia's President Artur Mas called a press conference at 6:30pm this evening in the Catalan Government Palace of the Generalitat to respond to the announcement by the Spanish Government that it would bring legal challenges against the new formulation of Catalonia's "participatory process" to ask the people their opinion on their political future.

Here is a video of the full press conference, mostly in Catalan, with a few Spanish questions near the end and one question (and answer) in English at 1:01:22.

I'll start with a rough translation of the introduction, which explains the general reaction to the Spanish Government's actions. I then live tweeted the central portion of the press conference, and finally offer a transcript of the English question at the end of this page.

I'll try to be brief so that people can go on with their preparations [for the holiday tomorrow]. But it seemed necessary to respond to the fact that the Spanish Government has presented a new legal challenge before the Constitutional Court, and explain what that means, and what decisions we've made about it.

The first thing I'll say is that on October 14, I announced two significant decisions: first, that we would not apply the decree convoking the consultation, that I myself signed, because of the legal challenge that the Spanish Government had brought before the Constitutional Court. I said we wouldn't apply that decree, even though we wanted to very much. And the second decision was that we would continue forward with respect to November 9th, with a participatory process, with the same aim of finding out the opinion of the Catalan people about their political future, based on the powers that the Catalan Government has with respect to citizen participation. So, therefore, the consultation that was to be called with a decree was substituted by a participatory process, that as you know is in full swing, with many decisions already taken, and that has the same objective, which is to know the opinion of the Catalan people with respect to their political future. But in this case, based on general powers of the Generalitat de Catalonia with respect to citizen participation.

The central government celebrated, at that time, two weeks ago, the suspension of the decree. I remember it perfectly. With grandiloquent words. They even lauged at what we were trying to do. They made fun of it in public. They said it was a fraud, a happening, they used a long series of descriptions to belittle what we had announced as a substitute of the decree that could not be applied, and the intention of keeping on with November 9th as a participatory process.

I want to make it clear that after this first reaction of the Spanish government, two weeks later, they have gone from making fun of it, to bringing a legal challenge before the Constitutional Court. That is, they have crossed the line of ridiculousness. When a government, the Spanish State, two weeks ago, laughs at what we're doing, ridiculizes it, publicly, makes a big joke out of it, and then only two weeks later presents a challenge to the Constitutional Court, it's a government that has clearly crossed the line into ridiculousness. If what we are doing is so serious, why wasn't it so serious two weeks ago? On October 14, I explained exactly what we were going to do, and that is exactly what we've done. If that was so serious as to warrant a legal challenge before the Constitutional Court, why did they take two weeks before making any decision, meanwhile laughing at us, making fun, ridiculizing us?

In addition, besides being ridiculous, the Spanish Government is abusing its power, and abusing the law. Both things at the same time. It is using the Constitutional Court improperly and incorrectly. Giving it a role that does not correspond to it. It is not the role of the Constitutional Court to resolve political conflicts and a court like the Constitutional Court should not be used to solve problems that others cannot solve. These actions make it clear that the Spanish Government is incapable of solving its own problems politically without presenting legal challenges before the Court which hide the inability of the Spanish Government to find solutions to problems it is faced with. By doing so, I think the Spanish Government uses the Consitutional Court in an almost obscene fashion, because it doesn't make sense to use the court this way, nor is there any reason to do so.

The rest of the conference was live-tweeted:

(Note there are two page of tweets.)
Q: What is the vision that the outside world has right now of the Spanish Government?

#CatalanPresident: I don't know what the opinion is in foreign countries. This is something you have to ask other people. But my impression is that probably in the world they can realize that the Catalan people want to vote. We have the will to vote. We have the will, the real and strong will to decide our political futre as a nation, as a country. This is the reality. And this is something that all the people in the world should know. And we are trying to do so.

We have very big difficulties, very big difficulties because it is almost impossible to sit at the table with the central government and agree to terms for the consultation in Catalonia. We have recent events in this sense, recent examples: what happened in Scotland some weeks ago. There was an agreement between the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish leaders and the British Government. And the British allowed the Scottish to vote. The British allowed the Scottish to decide their political future. And the British won! But that's democracy. You can win and you can lose. This is real democracy.

And there is a lack of high-quality democracy in Spain. As you can realize, because although the Catalan government and the Catalan institutions are doing their best in order to reach agreements with the central government in order to sit at the table to try to reach these kinds of agreements, it is not possible, because they say No to every proposal, to every suggestion we send from Catalonia.

Jordi Savall rejects Spanish prize citing government's indifference to the arts

2014-10-30T12:37:00.004-04:00

Today, Jordi Savall, master of early music, formally rejected the prestigioius 2014 National Music Prize awarded by the Spanish Government's Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport (along with 30,000€). His letter explaining the rejection is a poignant portrait of the state of culture in Spain today. (The translation is mine, and a bit rough.) Catalan version here.

Mr. José Ignacio Wert

Minister of Education, Culture and Sport

Government of Spain

Distinguished Mr. Wert:

Distinguished Members of the Jury of the [Spanish] 2014 National Music Prize

Receiving the news of this important prize has generated two profoundly contradictory and altogether incompatible feelings: first, great happiness for the overdue recognition of forty years of passionate, demanding dedication to the spreading of music as a power and language of civilization and harmony, and second, an immense sadness because I feel that I cannot accept the prize without betraying my principles and most sincere convictions.

I am sorry to have to tell you, then, that I cannot accept this distinction because it is awarded by the institution in the Spanish State that is principally responsible, in my opinion, for the dramatic indifference and gross incompetence in the defense and promotion of art and its creators. A distinction that comes from the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports which is also responsible for relegating to oblivion an essential part of our culture, a thousand year old Hispanic musical patrimony, while also scorning the vast majority of musicians who with great sacrifices have dedicated their lives to keeping it alive.

It is true that in a few specific occasions over a forty year career, I have been able to benefit from some institutional collaborations: the celebration of the 5th Centennial of the Discovery of America, the small grants for international tours, and recently the invitations from the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical to present our projects in Madrid. But like the vast majority of musicians and groups in the country, I have forged ahead solely with my own personal effort, without ever being able to count on any stable institutional support toward the production and materialization of all my musical projects. It has been way too long since the offices of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport that you preside have gone along without giving the necessary push to all those disciplines of cultural life in the Spanish State that currently are struggling to survive without institutional support or even a sponsorship law that would help them, without a doubt, finance themselves and consolidate.

We are living through a very serious political, economic and cultural crisis, a consequence of which is that one fourth of Spanish citizens find themselves in a precarious financial situation and more than half of our young people don't have any possibility of finding a job that would ensure them a minimally dignified life. Culture, art, and especially music, are the basis of an education which allows us to find ourselves personally and at the same time, be present as a cultural entity in an increasingly globalized world. I am absolutely convinced that art is useful to society and that it contributes to the education of the young, and to elevating and strengthening the human dimension and spirit of human beings. But how many Spaniards have been able, some time in their lives, to listen live to the sublime musicians Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, or Tomás Luis de Victoria? Maybe a few thousand privileged people have been able to attend a concert as part of the very few festivals that put on this kind of music. But the vast majority will never be able to benefit from the fabulous spiritual energy that is transmitted by the divine beauty of these musicians. Could we imagine a Prado Museum where all of its historic patrimony was not accessible? Well, that's what happens with music, because music lives only when a singer sings it or when a musician plays it; musicians are the actual living museums of musical art. It is thanks to these people that we can listen to the 'Cantigas de Santa María' of Alphonse X the Wise, the "Villancicos" and "motetes" of the golden centuries, the "Human, divine tones" of the Baroque period... That is why it's so necessary to give these musicians a minimum of stable institutional support, because without them, our musical heritage will continue sleeping the sad slumber of ignorance and ignominy.

Ignorance and amnesia are the end of every civilization because without education there is no art and without memory there is no justice. We cannot permit ignorance and a lack of realization of the value of culture of those responsible at the highest positions in the Spanish Government to erode with impunity the hard work of so many musicians, actors, dancers, film makers, writers, and artists who determine the true standard of culture and who certainly don't deserve the treatment that they receive, since they are the true protagonists of the cultural identity of this country.

For all these reasons, and with profound sadness, I must repeat that I renounce the 2014 National Music Prize and I hope that this sacrifice is understood as a wake up call in defense of the dignity of artists, and that it can, perhaps, serve as a reflection toward imagining and constructing a more hopeful future for our youth.

I believe, as Dostoyevski said, that beauty will save the world, but for that to happen, one must live with dignity and have access to education and culture.

Cordially,

Jordi Savall

Catalan President opts for new formulation for vote; other parties not happy

2014-10-14T17:45:00.000-04:00

Background (jump to today's news)
There are four political formations, two coalitions of two parties each, plus two additional parties, that are trying to negotiate the celebration of a vote on Catalonia's political future. These are CiU (CDC + UDC), ERC, ICV+EUiA, and the CUP.

All 6 parties had agreed on Dec 12, 2013 on the question and date for a Catalan vote: "Do you want Catalonia to be a state?" and "If so, do you want it to be an independent State?" and November 9th, 2014.

There were several attempts at having a legal referendum. But they died quickly. The Spanish Constitution doesn't really allow for binding referendums, and it also states that referendums about important topics must be voted on by entire Spanish electorate—and suggested from Spanish Congress, neither of which are real options. A large majority of the Catalan Parliament voted in favor of going to Madrid to ask for power to hold a real referendum (and this caused much strife within the Catalan Socialists). They went in April and their request was roundly rejected.

Spain's PM Mariano Rajoy also refused to consider any kind of legitimate referendum on Catalonia's future.

Next piece of plan was to pass a Catalan Law of Consultations (not referendums, and thus not conflicting with Spanish Constitution), which happened on September 19. Laws in Spain don't go into effect until they are published, so the Catalan Government delayed the laws' publication for another week to try to gain time before Constitutional Court could suspend it. A little chess playing.

So, Saturday, September 27, the President signed a decree convening the vote on November 9th. Saturday afternoon, the first advertisements began to run on TV and appeared in the paper. On Sunday morning, the vice president held a news conference to explain the preparations being made to hold the vote, including how the electoral rolls were going to be generated, who would be called to vote, where the polling places would be, who would organize them, what the policy for foreigners was, and so on.

The Spanish Government, immortalized in Mariano José de Larra's "Vuelva Usted Mañana" [Come Back Tomorrow] miraculously held an emergency Executive Council meeting on an unheard of Sunday evening, a Cabinet meeting on Monday morning, filed the complaint about the Law of Consultations on Monday, and by Monday evening the Constitutional Court had met and accepted the review of the law—which resulted in its immediate suspension. They also wrote that any preparation of the decree which convened the vote were unlawful. This was backed up a few days later by the Spanish Delegate in Catalonia's letter to each and every municipality warning them that any actions they took in defense of the vote were against the law.

The Catalan Government immediately suspended all preparations for the vote, which was to take place just six weeks later. The TV spot was changed, with a blacked out screen and information about the suspension instead of the vote. The foreign registrars were closed, ostensibly to shield civil servants from legal jeopardy.

Given the short period of time in which foreigners had to register (from Oct 1-7), there was considerable consternation that they would not be allowed to vote. The Catalan Government was frankly unhelpful in providing timely, complete information about how that would be resolved. They finally decided on October 6 that they could skirt the law by using a different law that gave them the right to attend to all citizen petitions and thus accept the foreigners' petitions without officially saying they were enabling them to vote. Those of us with ties to foreigners' communities frantically passed information around the internet in an attempt to apprise them of the situation.

The Catalan Government also voted to designate the members of the Electoral Commission—after the suspension. President Mas signed the decree. I heard that everything was prepared beforehand so that no clerk had to be involved after the suspension.

For the cherry, Judge Santi Vidal, who had admitted several months earlier that he was working on a sample draft of a future Catalan Constitution in his spare time, was ordered before the General Council of Judicial Power (CGPJ) in Barcelona and threatened with suspension for six months because of his writings. Though a few days later they voted 3-4 to not yet discipline him, the matter will continue through the court system until a final ruling is made in six months or so.

All of these prohibitions and loopholes have generated an aura of confusion and disarray and frustration. This was somewhat allayed by the overwhelming display from 920 out of 947 Catalan municipalities—a whopping 97%—voting resolutions of support for the November 9 referendum.

And then the good dissipated somewhat as Joaquim Brugué, the Electoral Commission member nominated by ICV, resigned after two days on the job decrying the lack of "democratic guarantees". He did not elaborate, though he did complain a lot about the reaction he got on Twitter.

And then the summits began. On Friday, October 3, the first summit meeting took place with representatives from all six parties. Journalists camped out all day around the Catalan Government Hall (Generalitat) but when they emerged that night and one after one promised that they were still united, you could almost feel the relief on Twitter. The spectre of the splinterization of Catalonia's left that Orwell wrote about still haunts people. There's also a general feeling that Catalans are defeatists conditioned by years of Barça losses and more years still under Spain's control. Unity is a big issue.

Third Summit and new Consultation

There was a second summit without the declarations, and then yesterday there was a third, in an undisclosed location which was quickly disclosed by journalists climbing trees (Hi, Quico!) At the end of this last summit, we learned that ICV had left early, that the unity had been broken, and that the Government and Mas had called off the Nov 9th consultation. Well, that's what Twitter (and the AFP) said.

But it wasn't quite true. ERC released a four point statement and the CUP held an impromptu assembly in the middle of Sant Jaume Square (at 11:30pm) which attracted 500 people in less than half an hour. They described what had happened in the last summit: that the Government had proposed changing the consultation to a "participatory process" based on existing Catalan law in order to skirt Constitutional Court suspension. The CUP reported excess partisanship but said the game wasn't over. Mas scheduled a press conference for 10am Tuesday morning.

I collected viewpoints and information from many major sources.

At 10am Tuesday, President Mas explained that going up against the Constitutional Court was like bashing one's head against a wall, and that only result was getting a headache. He preferred bypass Court by not using the suspended law and suggested that consultation rely on existing Catalan law (which he refused to name so as to not "make it easier for Spain"). He said that consultation was never meant as definitive answer, and since in Spain a negotiated binding referendum was not possible, the only definitive answer could be found in a plebiscite with a single unitary list encompassing all pro-indy parties. This is something new that he hasn't said before. He had only mentioned a plebiscite as a last resort to having Catalan people vote, but this was the first time he said it was a necessary step.

• Instead of using existing electoral rolls, voters will register (with official ID) at the door on the day of the election. The President suggested that this might even enable more people to be able to vote, including Catalans who are currently registered in Catalonia but who live in other parts of Spain.

The President mentioned that electoral rolls were a big issue and that he was worried about violating data protection laws by using existing census, given the suspension. He said if people who didn't want to be on the lists began to sue the government, it would cause international embarrassment.

• Instead of randomly selected citizens to serve on official electoral tables at polling places, the President said the government would ask for the support and help of 20,000 volunteers. They decided to use Catalan Government buildings for polling places to bypass any issues with local municipalities who didn't want to participate (as is the case of three or four large towns in Barcelona's industrial belt).

You can read my full account of President Mas' press conference here, including his answer to my question about how referendum/consultation confusion would play out internationally. He didn't answer my or others' questions about who would be on unitary list that he proposed for plebiscite.

Joan Herrera, one of the co-leaders of ICV, the eco-socialist Green party held a press conference in the middle of the day. He said the new formulation converted the vote into nothing more than a 'happening' or an 'event' that was designed solely to "rescue Mas' himself and his promises". Herrera's coalition partner Joan Josep Nuet echoed his sentiments.

Trying to get a handle on people's reaction to the news, I asked a few questions on Twitter. One in particular resonated: Are you more disappointed with lack of unity or with different formulation of the consultation. You can read the answers here.

Finally, Oriol Junqueras, the president of Esquerra, made an appearance at 6pm to explain his party's reaction. He said that the Government had broken the unity of the parties in favor of the referendum and he asked them to go back to the earlier formulation in order to restore that unity. He repeated Mas' assertion that the real adversary was the Spanish State, not the other Catalan political parties. And though he insisted that best option was for the Catalan Government to return to united position with existing pact, and lamented that it was hard to trust people who didn't keep their promises. He also said that he and Esquerra would continue to help the Government in any way it could. It was the biggest anti-ultimatum I've ever seen. It is clear that Junqueras will do whatever necessary so that a referendum is held. He also said that the main priority was helping the Catalan people, the only way to do that was with independence, and that is why the referendum is so important.

Junqueras pointed out two major differences between old and new formulations for the consultation. First that with the first method, which follows the regular election process, there would be 4000 polling places, while in the new model there would only be 600. He also said that a 'participatory' process does not result in a democratic mandate, and that it would be better to maintain original model, which did.

President Mas' explanation of new formulation of #9N Catalan vote

2014-10-14T06:32:00.002-04:00

Photo: Lluís Brunet

Question: International community is already somewhat confused about difference between "referendum" and "consultation", and now you are proposing this third option, that, if I understand correctly, is preliminary answer to "definitive" referendum which you said could only be result of a plebiscite election. How will you explain this to international community?

#CatalanPresident Artur Mas "Some months ago, we asked the Spanish Government to allow a referendum in Catalonia and they were not willing to accept a referendum in Catalonia in agreement with Spanish institutions. After that, we decided to pass a law on consultations in Catalonia. We approved it some weeks ago, and I signed the decree to hold this consultation.

"A consultation is not exactly the same as a referendum. Well, it is more or less the same. In fact, the final purpose is to know the opinion of the Catalan people. And this is something that you can organize through a consultation or through a referendum. This is what we are trying to maintain for November 9, to maintain this consultation, so that people will be able to go to the polling stations and vote. We'll have to change the way to do it. But the aim is exactly as before, to know the opinion of the Catalan people, about the political future of Catalonia according to the two-part question that was agreed on some months ago. So this is also a consultation but held through other ways.

"And my final statement would be that the definitive referendum in Spain can only be held through elections. In other parts of Europe and the world, there are other possibilities of doing that, other chances. For example in the UK, the British government accepted negotiations with the Scottish government to agree on the terms of the referendum in Scotland. But that is something that is not possible in Spain. It is just not possible. It's a pity of course. It's a big pity but that's just the way it is. That's just the way it is. Unluckily.

"So, in the Spanish State, the only way to hold a definitive referendum is via elections. In my personal opinion, in order to make sure that the international community will understand the outcome of this referendum well through or via elections, the only way is with one list and one program. And if this list, and this electoral program shapes the absolute majority in the Parliament, then the outcome is clear: the referendum has been won.

Here's my live-tweeted, translated into English on the fly, transcript of the rest of President Mas' press conference which preceded the above question:

We can't even cry

2014-09-25T10:36:00.000-04:00

by Francesc Canosa
Originally published in ARA. Translated and republished here with permission.

In 1939 the building located at 30 Carme Street in Barcelona was burning. On Xipreret street in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (just south of Barcelona), there was a bonfire of books. In Terrassa, Figueres, Sénia, Blanes, Cervera, Igualada, Golmés, Móra d’Ebre, Sant Boi, Lleida, Sallent, Gandesa, la Fuliola, Palafrugell, Mataró, Ordal, Sitges, Caldes de Montbui... Let's stop. Our fingers can't go so high. Burning. And among them, the pyromaniacs of plunder: the DERD (State Delegation for Document Recovery). From January 28 to April 3, 1939, 1,690 searches. 25 each day. 160 tons of documentation was the bounty of war. Just in Barcelona. We don't know anything else. We don't know anything. They took it all away: papers, documents, books, frames, tables, chairs, bank accounts... Everything. They occupied buildings, properties. They persecuted, repressed and eliminated people. They performed arquitectural lobotomies. In Igualada they called it National Center. In L'Hospitalet, the Falange headquarters. In Caldes de Montbui, the offices of the Social Aid. In Sant Cugat, in Canet de Mar, in Alforja, in Llagostera, in Sant Adrià, in Masquefa, in Sant Pere de Ribes, in Guiamets... Stop. Some have died. Others limp, or have just one eye. And many have resuscitated. We don't anything about the athenaeums (community centers), the cooperatives, the associations that were smothered in 1939.

The athenaeums are the lungs of the country (today there are about 400). An oxygen pump against asphyxiation. Catalonia begins to breathe in the 19th century. In each town an athenaeum is born. They formed, educated, taught... They were the school, the university, for the Catalan people. They supplied what the State did not provide. Catalonia is a pioneer in creating a state without having a state. This artificial existential respiratory system. The athenaeums of the left, of the right, of the republicans, of the anarchists, workers, conservatives, spiritualists, naturalists... Athenaeums like the one that burned on 30 Carme Street: the Popular Encyclopedic Athenaeum. 25,000 members. They offered from hiking excursions to Esperanto and had night classes for workers. Athenaeums that were left without books (2,500) like the Popular Culture Athenaeum on Xipreret Street in L'Hospitalet: dances, French classes, drafting, calculus, chemistry... Centers like the CADCI (Autonomist Center of Commercial and Industrial Clerks). 20,000 members. It suffered the second worst sacking after the Generalitat: 169 sacks of documentation, 55 buildings decommissioned and dozens still not located today. Popular Athenaeum of La Garriga, Catalan Athenaeum of Sallent, Acàcia Athenaeum, Athenaeum of Sant Just, Foment Martinenc, Societat Unió Gandesana... We can't stop. We're starting to count. After 75 years, we have a first listing. About 70 athenaeums and associations all over Catalonia could be affected by the smothering of 1939 according to the Athenaeum Network (XarxaAteneu). The figure could double, triple... We don't know anything. The documents, the buildings, the objects, the money, it's all simply unquantifiable... This Saturday at the Barcelona Athenaeum there is a zero moment to begin to breathe: the Table of Entities Affected by the Francoist Regime. We need to know. We need oxygen. The asphyxia of 1939 is also the asphyxia of 2014.

The same day (Tuesday) that the Partido Popular once again asphyxiated us as it rejected the return of more of the "Salamanca papers", Teresa Rovira stopped breathing. The librarian who saved pieces of the country by hiding Catalan books in the "hell" of the library. The children's books: the spark of life. The daughter of journalist and politician Antoni Rovira i Virgili. The 95-year-old woman died without being able to recover part of her father's archive. They have burned us, they have stolen our ashes, and the coffin, the tomb, the stone, the niche and the flowers. We are in a place that has no name. And we are not here for 16 billion euros. We are here because we have nothing. We are here because of a cry that doesn't die: we have no papers, no stones, stained with our tears.

Concepció Soriano, human tower builder in the Wall Street Journal

2014-09-15T17:29:00.001-04:00

By Anna Murgadas. Originally published in Nació Digital. Republished here in English with permission.

Concepció Soriano (Barcelona, 1941) is a grandmother and a human tower builder, and member of the Castellers de Barcelona team. Her job as a human tower builder is to serve as a "plug", that is, to fill the holes that are left in the base of the tower between the radial spokes. As far in as they need her, she says. This September 11th, her picture went around the world as the image of Catalonia's National Day. She was one of the Wall Street Journal's photographs of the day.

Concepción Soriano holds a print out of her picture in the Wall Street Journal. Photo: S.C./Nació Digital

Did you imagine all this fuss? Who told you that this photograph had come out?
People were calling me all day on Friday, but I was very busy with my grandchildren since school hadn't started yet and I didn't pick up the phone. In the evening, when I got to Castellers practice, my team members were waiting for me in the street. I was very touched. Everyone was hugging and kissing me! It was really amazing, to tell the truth.

And when you saw the photograph, what did you think?
It made me really happy, but I'm just one of the people on the team...

But it's not just that you're the face of Barcelona's human tower building team, the Wall Street Journal chose you as the symbol of Catalonia's V for Vote demonstration!
Well, that makes me very proud at my age. I'm 73, I won't fool you. I called my son-in-law, who's studying in the US and who knows that country well. "Of course I know what paper it is!" he told me.

And how did you celebrate the day?
We were at the vertex of the V. I went with a friend to hold the banner for the Barça booster club, but I left her for a moment because they needed me for the tower. It was awesome, really nice. I hope we win! On November 8th, my daughter is getting married and it would make me really happy to go vote the next day.

Have you been part of the Castellers de Barcelona team for a long time?
No, no. About six years. Apart from being on the human tower team, I'm a volunteer, since the 92 Olympics. I made a lot of friends there who were human tower builders and after seeing them during the festivals so many years, I decided to join.

What's your job on the team?
I'm a plug, I fill in the holes that remain in the base of the tower [between the spokes], and since I'm really small, I can get really far in.

You also brought another member of your family to the team, a granddaughter...
Yes, when I went to practice, I brought her with me and she just played. But then I saw that she liked it, and she wasn't afraid, and pretty soon she was climbing pillars (one-person-per-storey towers). I signed her up but now she is six and I don't know if she'll want to keep doing it.

What did she say about the photo?
Oh, she just got home from vacation and hasn't seen it yet.

V for independence

2014-09-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

This article was written by Manuel Cuyàs in El Punt Avui. He kindly agreed to let me publish this translation here.

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V for independence

I go into Barcelona to participate in the V demonstration, and after wandering about the Arc de Triomf for a few minutes, I find my cousins from Tarragona. I tease them: I thought you wouldn't miss the meeting of unionists in the amphitheater. The unionists hope to convert Tarragona into Àlaba, the most Spanish and castilianized of the Basque provinces, but seated in the stands of the amphitheater, they look much more like schoolchildren on a field trip. Afterwards, I find other cousins and acquaintances and also people I'm not acquainted with at all, as I make my way around the Born, the Fossar de les Moreres, Argenteria street, the Plaça de Sant Jaume, Ferran street, the Plaça Reial, and the Rambla.

The impressive photographs of the V will overshadow these other, previous human compositions: people dressed in yellow and red filling restaurants at lunchtime, going in and out of cafés, walking up and down the streets. Today, if you get or give a shove to someone walking by, people are smiling instead of grumbling about where you think you're going. Everyone knows where they're going and is aware that the concentration that awaits them for the afternoon will involve lots of bumping into each other. There are a lot of us and we don't fit in Barcelona.

The organization, the ANC and Òmnium Cultural, had said that at 4pm, one hour before the climax at 17:14h (5:14pm), everyone has to be in his or her place on the Gran Via and Diagonal. We must be the most disciplined people in the world because between half past three and quarter to four, all of us who had been wandering aimlessly around the streets begin heading to the meeting points.

We are moved by discipline and something more: appreciation for the organizers who had thought of everything and foreseen every possibility. We can’t let them down. To organize much less complicated things, others contract specialists and outside experts. The V requires a profusion of trains and buses, calculations, t-shirt sales, the willingness of men and women to form the four bars of our flag, all of which is the product of the work of many volunteers. I thought that waiting for an hour in the hot sun was going to be a drag, but I hadn't counted on my cousins, acquaintances and non-acquaintances who made it a breeze. Five, four, three, two, one... 17:14.

The unanimous demand: "independence". Polls say that 75% of Catalans want to vote. Here, with almost 2 million people, that's 25% of the population. I don't know what the others—the ones who at that moment were at the beach, at home, or on a walk—plan to vote. The ones on the Gran Via and the Diagonal want to vote Yes for independence. The ones who simply don't want to vote were in Tarragona's amphitheater.

Catalan President New Year's Address

2013-12-30T15:17:00.001-05:00

New Year's Address from Catalan President Artur Mas:

Fellow Catalans:

It is my pleasure to address you this holiday season, as I do traditionally every year, to send you a message of encouragement and confidence in our country and to wish you happy holidays. These are pleasant days, when we get to spend time with loved ones and friends in celebration together. These are days for community, for memories, and for good proposals for the future. These are also days in which we particularly note the loss of family and friends who have left us or who are far away.

To all those families who find themselves in these circumstances, or who are facing difficult and adverse situations, of suffering or sickness, I would like to especially send words of encouragement as well as the commitment that we are working as hard as we can so that all of the people in our country can lead a life of dignity.

The year we are about to begin, 2014, will be a year filled with symbolism. We will mark the three hundredth anniversary of the end of the War of Succession, the moment when Catalonia lost its privileges, its Constitutions, its institutions, and its liberties. Three centuries later, we celebrate almost a miracle: a people who might just as easily have disappeared not only continues to exist but is planning more forcefully than ever to win a great democratic and completely peaceful battle: that of freely deciding its future as a country, as a nation, and as a people.

Catalonia is a diverse and multicultural country, because of the origin of the people who live here, because of the languages that are spoken here, because of the myriad ways of thinking, because of the multitude of political and ideological options.

A diverse and multicultural country, which at the same time is capable of weaving great consensus like that which was demonstrated just a few weeks ago with the widely supported agreement on the referendum to be celebrated on November 9th of this coming new year.

I know that there will not be unanimity around this great challenge. There are political forces who are opposed and above all, people, our fellow citizens, who look on the process with worry, fear, and, indeed, opposition.

These are legitimate and respectable positions, as legitimate and respectable as those that see in this whole process the best way to construct a country worth having: for its modernity, its wellbeing, its sense of social justice, its civic responsibility, and its democratic quality.

Each and every position must be defended with respect and in a spirit of getting along together. To the extent that that depends on me, that will be so.

And beyond the individual position of each of us, it will be the votes at the polls that will have to decide and determine the proportions and the magnitude of the country's majorities and minorities.

There is nothing more democratic than doing it this way. Catalonia is a country with a long and deep democratic vocation, and therefore we must do it this way. Resolving big issues at the polls should provoke neither consternation nor fear, and it is obvious that our future and the relationship that we should have with Spain and with Europe is the very biggest of issues.

I want to take advantage of this New Year's message to ask the Spanish State to let us vote. That they listen to the voice of the Catalan People, and that they don't erect walls in order to silence us. That they let decide those who feel the need to decide.

Every nation implicitly has the right to decide its future. But for those who reject even this obvious fact, I will say that Catalonia has earned its right to decide. Catalans from yesterday and today have earned the right to decide their future because they have known how to maintain their identity, their culture, their language, and their rights alive, very often in the face of unjust laws and norms; they have earned the right to decide because they have known how to welcome and integrate millions of people from other territories of Spain and from farther off countries, demonstrating that Catalonia is a land where what is really important is the destiny that one seeks and not the origin from which one comes; and above all, that Catalans have earned the right to decide their future because they have known how to and indeed have insisted on keeping alive their will to govern themselves, in the face of all of the historical circumstances that tried to stop them and that now try to limit or lessen them.

In a word, the Catalan People prefers to govern itself and not be governed. And it wants to do so in a stronger, more united, more federal Europe.

We ask, therefore, that we be allowed to vote. And that the Spanish State doesn't see us as an adversary, and much less an enemy. We have been when we've been able, and we want to be now and in the future an ally, a good ally. But from a stance of freedom. Of our own free will. By being able to answer the question to which we have agreed on the date that we have agreed upon.

2014 will be, therefore, a year to remember history, people, and roots; but it will also be a year to decide the future and expand horizons.

The year that is now closing was the sixth of an economic recession that has caused real havoc. At the same time, it seems like we are finally on the come back. I trust that it will be so, and we will do all we can and all that we know in order to take advantage of the positive trend that we have gotten a glimpse of. The wounds created by the recession are very deep and therefore we cannot hope for instant miraculous cures. We will need time, perseverance, talent, and courage to recover and especially to look toward the future with a more solid foundation. The crisis has revealed many supposed truths by showing them to be mistakes, and even falsehoods, and much behavior from before is now rightly criticized and recriminated.

Many things are changing for the better. And many others must still change. I am confident that between us all, we will find the way to amend the errors that have been committed and to transform what we've learned into collective strengths and successes. Successes that should be shared as they occur with all of those people, fellow citizens, who have suffered from the blows and injustices of these last years.

We can't ever forget that the State that many demand for Catalonia, like any other State, is nothing more than an instrument at the service of the people and the country. That is, of the citizens.

I raise a toast symbolically to all of you for a 2014 full of light, opportunities, and hope.

Long live Catalonia!

Junqueras: We're ready to join the government (interview)

2013-12-26T14:52:00.001-05:00

Originally published in VilaWeb on December 20, 2013

by Pere Cardús

Oriol Junqueras, historian and college professor, has become in a very short time one of the principal figures in Catalan politics and one of the main players in the process of independence for Catalonia. President of Republican Left of Catalonia [Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya] for just over two years and Leader of the Opposition since the Parliamentary elections of November 25, 2012, in this interview, Junqueras analyzes the privileged situation that it has been his fortune to be in and the enormous possibility of piloting, together with the other pro-independence forces, the process towards the political liberation of Catalonia. The leader of the Republican Left speaks about the agreement reached on the referendum's date and question; the threats against the process, and the need for the people to mobilize; joining the CiU government; the unitary candidacy for the EU elections; and also offers recommendations for Christmas as well as his political and personal wishes for 2014.

You've said that the agreed on question is better than the one that you had proposed. Why?
We had proposed a question like the Scottish one, which is normal and natural in these processes. In a normal process, with a fully democratic state, it would be the best question. But the Spanish state is far from fulfilling the best democratic practices in Western Europe and, before being able to vote yes or no, we have to win the right to vote at all, because the state has made very clear that it will do all it can to keep us from voting. That's why it's so important to rally forces together to defend the referendum. In this process of gathering forces in favor of democracy, it was very important to have the support of people from both ICV and Unió, from the unions, from a good portion of the business community. They all ended up agreeing that the question had to be about independence. And we agreed that it was necessary to use inclusive wording. I think the question works for winning our independence and for gathering forces to be able to hold the referendum in the first place. If we independentists are really 50% of the census, we'll win easily.

Beyond inclusivity, are there other factors that make it a good question?
No. From the point of view of the content, the question that we proposed was better. This question is not better in content, but rather for its inclusivity which, from a democratic point of view, is a positive value. ERC didn't have enough strength to impose its question. We have twenty-one members out of the 135 in parliament. And the CUP has three. That's 24 all together. It came to the point that we had to do insist on what we considered non-negotiable, while giving in on what the others wanted.

Did the proponents of the 'third way' win without earning it?
The makeup of the Parliament was decided on by the citizens of Catalonia a year ago. Completely legitimately, they elected representatives from Iniciativa, Unió, and Convergència. Those representatives have not always been wholly supportive in the same way that ERC has of a question about independence. That's indisputable. The election results were not decided on by Esquerra Republicana, nor by lottery. ERC has the support that it has and it is our obligation to use that strength to guarantee that the citizens of Catalonia can vote on independence. They can't ask us to resolve on our own that which the other parties are not disposed to resolve. If the question did not ask about an independent state, we wouldn't have ratified the agreement.

You're not convinced?
It's a very good question. The best one we could get at the time. It generates a very broad consensus. It allows for an important photograph, a very powerful image. You can see the principal representation of a parliamentary majority there. It's an important photo for the Catalan people, for Spain, and especially for the international community. We have to know how to value each aspect.

But the wording of the question has triggered a certain amount of confusion among commentators and pundits. They say that the result will be hard to interpret.
We independentists wanted a question with exactly two answers about independence. We wanted it because we expected to win it. If we expected to win it, it was because we trusted that we have more than half of the votes to be cast. We believe that because the polls say that half of the electoral census would vote for independence. If that is so, we will also win with this model. If we are not able to get the people to vote, we wouldn't have been able to with the other question either. Now it's time to show that we are as many as it seems that we are. The polls say that 48% prefer independence over any other option. With an open question, with all of the other possibilities, independence has the support of 48% of the people. With 48% of the census, we've got more than enough to win the referendum by counting the votes cast. Those figures mean we'd win with much more than 50%. We have to put all our energy into ensuring that outcome. If we aren't able to, it will be because we independentists aren't as many as we think we are. But that would happen as much with this question as it would with a binary question on independence.

Does winning depend on the independentists?
Yes. It's a very positive question. And also because it secures a commitment to the process from the supposedly federalist or confederalist parties to the degree that the Spanish State will deny any hopes of federalism. The only rational choice that they'll have left will be to vote Yes and Yes. The question we have is an investment. It commits the parties that are favorable to a referendum, to the right to decide, and to democracy, with the certainty that if the state makes it clear to them—like it always has and nothing indicates that that will change—that there are no 'third ways', the only option left to them will be independence. At that point, we will have a solidly reinforced Yes vote and not that which is foreseen in the polls. Joan Herrera (ICV) has said that if the state doesn't budge, ICV will campaign for a Yes/Yes vote. And Mr. Espadeler from Unió has said more or less the same thing. The potential sum of the Yes/Yes vote is much bigger than it would have been if we had just had a simple question. All of the interpretations that occur to me are positive.

Everyone has offered their own commentary and analysis about the question, but the date has been largely left out of the debate. How do you defend the date?
ERC's position is that the sooner the better. If we had been able to hold it this week, we think that's better than next week. But, remember: ERC all by its self does not have enough strength to decide the date. We had to arrive at a consensus with the rest of the political parties and the government explained that there was a whole series of technical matters that favored holding it in November. Among the possible dates in the month of November, we insisted that it be the first one, which was the 9th. We defended the earliest possible date that the government offered.

Besides technical reasons, were there political ones?
I can only answer—due to the discretion required by the political agreements—that the government laid out a series of technical considerations that recommended holding the referendum in November. For example, that in August it's very difficult to campaign and thus, not the best moment. There were others. We respected them and we accepted them. We think that the question is much more important than shifting the date forward or backward a week.

And the Scottish issue, was it a factor? Did you keep it in mind?
If we independentists are really convinced that the best solution for our country is independence and providing the best structures and tools possible, if we are really convinced about wanting to make Catalonia a European State, we have to be capable of mobilizing ourselves regardless of what happens in Scotland. We're going to need to mobilize to get a broad victory. I want to confide in the rationality of the majority of the citizens of Catalonia and in their conviction and commitment to the defense of the country. Scotland cannot be an excuse in any case.

I know talking about alternatives is like shooting ourselves in the foot, but it seems so far-fetched that we can actually hold a referendum…
I am convinced that we have to do everything we can in order to make it happen. The more we try and the more obstacles that the State puts in our way, the clearer and more striking will be our moral and political high ground as seen by the international community. If the citizens really want to vote in a referendum and if they establish the popular and political mechanisms around the referendum, we will be able to hold one. The level of mobilization this year was very high. I think we should not hypothesize about any other possibilities. Doing so weakens the best of the possible options, which is the referendum.

Verbal attacks and threats are on the rise from representatives of the state and a portion of the unionists. Do you think those threats can be carried out?
I think that Catalans will determine what happens depending on their level of mobilization. This year, the international community will be carefully watching any mobilization that there may be in Catalonia. If the mobilization is very large, the international community will pressure Spain so that it doesn't dare to do anything that its representatives say that they are tempted to do. Beyond the adverse circumstances—because the Spanish State makes them as adverse as possible—the process depends on our strength, on our will, and on our steadfastness. Things don't happen because you want them to happen, but rather because you want them enough to make the effort and because you want them long enough that that effort produces results. If the people of this country really want to vote and they want to defend their dignity and right to vote, we will find the way to keep the Spanish State from doing that which some of its representatives would like to do.

But you are a historian and you are aware that the tradition of the Spanish State is no guarantee of peace and brotherly love.
We live in a new time which is hard to compare to other moments in history. The international context of a Western European democracy makes the current situation very hard to compare. And it is for that reason that we have the hope of winning. We expect to win because this time the decision will be made by voting and not by the traditional methods that the Spanish State has heretofore used to solve this kind of issue. My experience as a historian serves to hone my intuition and help me understand that these are new enough circumstances and the pressure of Western public opinion, of the media, of the governments and financial markets, will all point to not allowing the Spanish State to do any of that which it has traditionally done to block the democratic will of the people. This is our hope. I am sure that we will succeed. If I wasn't totally sure, I would retire and leave room for someone who was more convinced than I. But I can assure you that there is no one more convinced. Maybe just as convinced, but more than me, I don't think so.

It seems logical to think that a strong government would be key in the coming months. Are you willing to join the government?
We have always said that while there was no agreement on the date and question for the referendum, we would not be willing to join the government, but instead needed to be able to apply pressure from the outside. Now that we have a date and a question, we are willing to participate. We've been consistent on that point. Joining the government depends on whether the president calls us and how we can come to an agreement on how we can contribute to moving the process and the country forward. If we come to the conclusion that we can significantly improve the current parliamentary stability model, which has been very productive, we'll join the government. If the president doesn't call on us, or if he asks us but we come to the conclusion that we can't improve on that which we already do now, then we won't join.

What is the positive side of staying out of the government?
Before the elections last year, we warned that it was very important that ERC be the second parliamentary power because for the first time we would have a president and an opposition leader who were in agreement on fundamental aspects of the country's future. It's important that the president and the opposition leader can go out into the world and explain that the people of Catalonia want to vote and express their opinion about the country's future. This is a very positive and powerful image. And it might be a good idea to maintain that image, but we are convinced that we can also do many positive things from inside the government. We have to analyze the situation with President Mas who is the one who has the responsibility for forming the government, to see if there is anything that we can improve in the current situation by joining the government.

What are the obstacles to creating a candidacy that will bring the Catalan Way to [the European Parliament in] Brussels?
For starters, ICV has said it won't go with CiU; Unió has said it doesn't want to go with ERC; and CiU has said it doesn't want to go with either ICV or the CUP. Esquerra is willing to go with everyone and construct a civic candidacy of independents. The decisions that we've made up to this point allow for such an eventuality. Putting Josep-Maria Terricabras at the top of our electoral list was a way of keeping that option alive. But we can't force ICV to go with CiU, or Unió to go with ERC, or CiU with ICV.

And what alternative do you propose?
If a unitary candidacy is not possible, we at least have to maintain the possibility of a pragmatic agreement among all of the different parties who have made a commitment to the referendum question and date. We will see if it's better to have an agreement with less content and more parliamentary support rather than an agreement with more content but less parliamentary support. All of the groups who are a party to the agreement will have to make that evaluation. We will leave all our options open and we are willing to talk to everyone about everything. We think it's important that the EU members of parliament who want Catalonia to be independent, or at the very least believe in the right to decide, should have broadest support possible.

The Generalitat's budget may make it difficult to come to an agreement much beyond that of last week. ICV and the CUP don't believe that this budget is as "social" as possible.
They can criticize it all they want, but it's obvious. The budget is a catastrophe. However, the money is distributed as well as it possibly can be. And it's a catastrophe not because of us but because of the Spanish State, which decides the budget totals. That is indisputable. We can deny it 1000 times in a row. But it is so obvious that everyone knows it. The one who's paying transfers or who isn't paying transfers is the Spanish government, the one who is deciding that we can't take on more debt is the Spanish government, the one who is deciding if they're going to pay us what they owe us or not, that's the Spanish government too. Unfortunately, the only thing that we can do in this Parliament is figure out how to distribute in the best possible way this catastrophic reality. And we are all in agreement: it's a disaster. And right now, we can't do anything more than lessen its effects as much as we can. You have to recognize that the distribution that we have made is the fairest possible in percentage terms. I repeat: that is a provable truth.

The CUP says we could just not pay the debt.
Lovely. Those are great suggestions. I would like to see how they're implemented. Because if we don't pay the debt, we automatically lose access to the liquidity of the financial markets. Not access to taking on more debt, that has already been eliminated thanks to the Spanish government, but rather the insurance that allows the government to be able to pay for social programs and the salaries of civil servants, and more. All of that is over if we stop paying off the debt. It's not possible to stop paying off the debt to those who guarantee a minimum of liquidity because they will refuse to continue ensuring that liquidity right away. I love it when people bring new ideas to the table. But if those ideas were actually applicable, it'd be even better. We share the spirit of this proposal. But we can't do things that are impossible right now.

ICV has proposed fighting tax evasion in order to reduce budget cuts by 1 billion euros
We completely agree on policies that fight against tax evasion and tax fraud. But Catalonia doesn't have its own tax collection agency, nor does it have tax inspectors. Can we demand that the Government of Catalonia fight tax evasion without the necessary tools and keeping in mind that 95% of the taxes that we paid are collected by the Spanish State? I'd like it if someone would explain to me how we can fight tax fraud on our own. The only one who has the power and the tools for doing so is the Spanish State. And it doesn't do it. That's precisely why we are in favor of independence. And not federalists, independentists! In order to have those tools that would allow us to fight tax evasion. Without these tools that the Spanish Government refuses us, it's impossible to apply these very good suggestions. We would like it if, at the very least, just once someone explained that if the deficit ceiling were at 2% instead of 1%, we wouldn't have to make any more budget cuts this year. The only thing necessary is for our deficit ceiling to be what corresponds to us in terms of the percentage of spending of our public administration with respect to the whole State. Putting the blame on the victim instead of making the guilty responsible, from a methodological point is wrong, but above all, it is profoundly unjust.

Will Oriol Junqueras, the historian, stay in politics for the early days in the life of our new country or will he return to the university?
When we become an independent state, when we have proclaimed our independence and the new republic is celebrating the first anniversary of its independence, Oriol Junqueras will be a very happy person like so many other people in this country. We'll see what we'll do. Of course it depends on what I want to do, but it also depends on many other factors: my family, the party, the citizens of Catalonia. Right now I don't have the slightest idea. At any rate, I can tell you that I feel perfectly legitimated at this moment. I work as a politician but I am a historian, a university professor. The difference between 'being' and 'working as' is important. I am a historian; I am a university professor, I am a book author... but I am not a politician. I love working as a politician. Maybe I'll become a politician, I don't know. We don't rule it out. My vocation has always been to dedicate myself to history. That doesn't mean that I don't have the vocation to be a politician. If I didn't have a political vocation, I wouldn't do it. But being a professor, a historian, giving conferences, writing books… I was really happy and I lived a lot more peacefully than I do now. Despite that, the hope of what we're doing in this historic moment in Catalonia is so extraordinary, so fulfilling that it makes up for just about everything else.

Do you see yourself as the president or prime minister in the near future? The polls forecast a very good showing.
Polls are totally insignificant. Even if a thousand polls said we would win the elections, it doesn't mean that we've won them. Polls aren't worth very much and we don't pay attention to them. Our goal is not to form part of the government, or to preside over the government, at this particular moment. Right now it's to help and to do as much as we can so that Catalonia can become an independent state and that the new republic has all of the tools it needs in order to have an economically prosperous and socially just system. That is our current objective. Being in the government is a purely incidental question because the objective right now is the freedom of the country, the well being of the citizens, social justice…

The objective of any party is also to form a government in order to apply its programs.
As long as the current government, which is the result of the will of the citizens expressed democratically at the polls just over a year ago, is doing all that is possible to move in the direction that I talked about, our historic responsibility is not to substitute the government, but rather to help it. If we tried to take advantage of not helping it while the government was doing all it can, we would be scoundrels. If the government stopped doing all it could in order to fulfill the will of the people expressed in the last elections to take the country toward independence, then our obligation would be to take its place. We would also be scoundrels in that case if we didn't do so. We are not in any rush to be in the government or to not be there. If the moment comes to hold elections, of course we will do our best to win them. And if the citizens put their trust in us, we will take on that responsibility efficiently, all that responsibility, all that hope and all the anxiety that is inherent in that responsibility.

How do you, a man of faith, recommend that we take advantage of the upcoming Christmas gatherings?
Before becoming a candidate for the European Parliament, I wanted to make a kind of declaration that over the years could be reviewed by everyone. It was made up of three consecutive articles. It was meant to be a homage to a trilogy written by the clergyman Carles Cardó in the 20's during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, a very difficult moment in the history of Catalonia. I replied to the titles of those three articles that were called "What's important", "What's not important" and "The most important thing of all" If anyone wants to take advantage of the Christmas holidays to read these articles, either the original ones by Cardó or the homage that I tried to make, I recommend that they do so. I believe that they explain the principles that I think have to guide the commitment of a citizen and of a politician. The reflection is interesting because it tries to say that we shouldn't worry if we have loudspeakers or not; we shouldn't worry if our voice reaches very far or not, we should worry about being right, and conscious that it is hard to know who is, about making an effort to reflect in the most precise way the cause of justice and liberty; and to try to explain it in the clearest way possible. The seeds of the trees that will grow the largest are those that germinate in darkness and in the solitude of the catacombes, says clergyman Cardó. Independentism is a bit like that. There have been no loudspeakers. It has lived on the margins of a political and media majority and financial power… but it has survived and it's the seed of another splendid tree. I'm talking about the tree of liberty, of justice. The tree that gives hope to the citizens of Catalonia.

Another recommendation for the Christmas celebration would be to re-read Manuel de Pedrolo, who is not only an author of extraordinary novels and short stories, but also of very important political essays. In his "Chronicles of an Occupation", there are passages that today are quite apropos and pleasurable to read. Pedrolo writes that an organism, no matter how ill, never loses hope of recovery as long as some of its vital organs are still alive. Catalonia, an ailing organism that some people have tried as hard as they could to let die altogether, has survived because some of its vital organisms have held onto that glimmer of hope. That glimmer of hope, according to Pedrolo, came from the independentists. And he wrote that in an era in which independentism was completely out of vogue. And Pedrolo was totally right. Rereading it now, after 35 or 40 years, seems revelatory to me because it makes it clear how all those people were steadfast in maintaining their commitment to the people and to freedom in times that were much more adverse than we have today. Those people established the foundations on which we now have hope of building a shining future for our country. To celebrate Christmas, I recommend reading Cardó and Pedrolo with the awarenss that they represent points of view from two ends of a very wide spectrum that is a summary of the reality of our country.

Can you tell us two of your wishes for the new year that is about to begin: one political and one personal?
The political wish is for the country's freedom. That has always been the number one wish. From a human or personal point of view, the health of all those whom I love. And all of those whom I don't love as well, obviously. And who knows if perhaps an addition to the family, which is always an extraordinary experience. It would be great if that happened.

Salvador Cardús: If we blink too soon, there won't be a referendum

2013-12-19T03:53:00.000-05:00

Originally published in VilaWeb on December 19, 2013

By Bel Zaballa

Interview of the sociologist and member of the National Transition Advisory Council, who explained the surge of pro-independence feeling this way "Becoming conscious of our humiliation uncovered our support for independence"

Not that long ago, independentism was a ridiculed, minority movement. It was impossible to imagine hundreds of city governments defying legality and holding a referendum, hundreds of thousands of citizens demanding independence in the center of Barcelona, or more than a million and a half people holding hands over 250 miles, with the same objective. The growing strength of independentism has pressured the principal political parties to commit to making a referendum possible so that the citizenry can have its say, and according to the latest polls, a large majority would vote in favor of independence. What triggered this popular movement? The sociologist Salvador Cardús, member of the National Transition Advisory Council [a group chosen by Catalan President Mas to advise the government on such matters] has developed a theory and it is his contention that the humiliation that Spain has subjected the Catalans to with respect to the defeat of efforts to improve the Statute of Autonomy was a catalyst of the pro-independence movement. We'll talk about this in detail in this interview, in which we'll also evaluate the chosen question for the referendum as well as what might happen in the coming months.

Cardús reflected on his humiliation theory: "In order for such a significant change to have transcurred in our country like there's been, there must be some new factor that precipitates such a change of direction. And the new element is that on top of the defeat represented by the failure to reform the Statute of Autonomy, there was an extra antagonism demonstrated by certain Spanish leaders, that afterwards, began to spread in the media and in more generalized attitudes. They wanted to add humiliation to the defeat that the reform of the Statute represented."

Can you give us an example of the humiliation that you're referring to?
One famous and visible example was in April, 2006, when Alfonso Guerra [prominent Spanish Socialist party leader] sneered about whittling down the Statute and destroying the Ibarretxe Plan [Basque initiative to hold a referendum]. It not only underscored the fact that the Statute had suffered significant cuts, but, in addition, demonstrated antagonism and scorn about the defeat. That was one of the first in a string of statements, along with the campaign carried out by the PP [People's Party]. Finally, and surely more harshly given its power over the matter, there was the attitude of the Constitutional Court and its final ruling in 2006. Above all, it was the way everything came about. There was this overbearing attitude that provoked a different reaction than that which they expected: This time, instead of achieving compliance, without meaning to, they brought about just the opposite.

Hasn't this demeaning attitude always been present?
There have been aggressive and scornful statements in the past, but I think they crossed the line from scorn to humiliation. It wasn't just scorn but the desire to take advantage of a very significant defeat. Because we can't forget that reforming the Statute was an effort shared by a wide majority of the political parties, and thus, by the Catalan people. There were very high hopes which made the defeat even more painful. There were huge tensions in Catalonia itself, you just have to remember the campaign for reforming the Statute that was extremely difficult even among pro-sovereigntists: some believed they had to vote in favor because otherwise the country would enter a profound depression and others said no because the Statute, in the end, was unacceptable. And think for a minute about the way the principal protagonists ended up: Pasqual Maragall [Socialist President of the Catalan Government] didn't even finish his legislature and ended up out of the party, deligitimized and betrayed by his own partners in Madrid; Artur Mas had his secret meeting with Zapatero [Spanish PM at the time] which was humiliating both in the way it occurred and for its consequences which he paid for politically for a long time; and Josep-Lluís Carod-Rivera [Republican Left] who also ended up outside the party and practically out of politics altogether. That is, there was humiliation at all levels: among the leaders who undertook the reform and in the community who had made a commitment to its support.

According to your hypothesis, people became conscious of this humiliation through the popularization of the right to decide.
Faced with other episodes of more or less intensity of acts of humiliation or scorn, in Catalonia, we were used to reacting as victims. We accepted the defeat, and in general we blamed ourselves for not doing things properly, and we accepted the situation with resignation. What is new is that this time the reaction was different: the decision was to turn the page. The idea of the right to decide was probably very helpful, and helped us realize that we didn't have to accept the humiliation. It was present in all of the public events, in which all of a sudden independentism stopped manifesting as crabbiness—that which Enric Juliana [journalist for La Vanguardia] had termed the 'angry Catalan'—and you started finding, from about 2007-2008 on, new kinds of participants. People who had the feeling of having a weight lifted off their shoulders and who had turned the page. I always say that one of the things that really made me realize that something was going on was when more older people and younger people, and especially women, started appearing at those events. That had not happened before.

Why was it different this time?
It was the realization that people had come to. It's a bit of a simplification, but to make an analogy, it's the same thing that happens in a personal relationship, where one of the people is grinning and bearing it or putting up with a humiliating situation, and can even end up internalizing the idea that they deserve it, until one fine day when they realize that they don't have to take it any longer. And the principle of the right to decide, believing that we have the right to make our own decisions, is what leads to this realization. There has been humiliation, but that on its own doesn't explain the reaction. The reaction comes from the realization that we have a right to get out of this situation. I always remember Joan Solà's article—that in my opinion was decisive—"Holding our ground", published on December 28, 2006 in the daily Avui, and which was the reply to the decision of the Spanish government to require an additional hour of Spanish language instruction in the schools, after all of the debate that there had been about the Statute and jurisdiction. That "hold our ground" was like saying 'this is it, it's over, this is the straw that breaks the camel's back, we're not going to take it any longer'. The idea of the right to decide took a strong hold, even though legally it might have been a weak principle, because from the point of view of coming to terms with our situation it has amazing, revolutionizing consequences.

If the humiliation surrounding the failure of statute reform was the straw that broke the camel's back in Catalonia, might the attacks on language and the scorn for the local culture be the tipping point in Valencia and the Balearics?
There is a certain parallel, but we'll have to see how the process evolves. The reaction is produced when there's a spark that galvanizes public mobilization. In the Balearics that spark has been the attacks on language, and it might be the beginning of a reaction that lasts longer. In Valencia, the closing of RTVV [public TV and radio] is another of those behaviors that we mentioned, going overboard with a component of humiliation, of a feeling of failure and their taking advantage of that failure, and it might generate far reaching reactions. We'll have to see. Here nobody thought that those first demonstrations that manifested growing discontent with the trains, electric cutoffs, or the debate about the Statute would end up as they have. And it's there where you find the origin, the seed of everything that came later. Everything will depend on the point in which the Balearics and Valencia know how to generate a movement similar to that which took place here, especially around the local referendums for independence [2009-2011] which from a symbolic perspective were the public manifestation of this realization. The ability to say "And what happens if we vote for independence? Oh, it'll be fine."

We've had popular referendums, the National Day demonstration of 2012, the Catalan Way... A snow ball in favor of independence that is growing at the speed of light, and now we have a date and a question. It's not what the Advisory Council had proposed, however.
The Advisory Council (CATN) said there was a question—the clearest one—that was less apt to be misinterpreted, both by those who had to answer it as well as for the consequences that it might have, although the report also suggested other alternatives, like for example multiple-branched questions. But the CATN is a group of experts who work in a laboratory. And it is the politicians who put on their mechanic's overalls and get dirty, because they have to get into the fray. They have to make agreements, do politics. In that sense, I don't think the CATN thought that the politicians had to pay attention to us in the literal sense. The advice that we give serves as an orientation but afterwards, it all has to be hashed out in Parliament. That's where the interests and balances are, and that's what leads to reaching agreements that are not expert, but rather, political. It's not the question I might have liked but I understand that it is a good one because it succeeds in being representative of a very important majority of the Parliament, almost two-thirds. Maybe in the end, it will be a full two-thirds. In that sense, personally, I think it's a very good question. Now we have to work out the rules of the game so that there isn't this chaotic cloud of interpretations about how the results will be calculated and interpreted. I understand that it wasn't convenient to add that debate to the first agreement, but now it is necessary to consider all of the concrete difficulties. I am confident that, if it's true that a majority of Catalans want independence, this question is perfectly capable of reflecting that. And if that majority doesn't exist, since we are democrats, we will accept the result sportingly that the majority wasn't there or that we were unable to garner a majority.

Now that we have this agreement, what scenarios open before us?
What's easy to see is that in a strictly political terrain, the tension will rise and stay very high. The fact is that the State and its institutions are ever more openly defiant, trying to respond by provoking fear and threats to that which is happening here. On the one hand, Catalonia will have to demonstrate its capacity to make good decisions and not commit mistakes that from an international point of view would disqualify us. And on the other hand, the pro-independence world as a whole will have to adopt an attitude of resistance to avoid being demoralized or turned back. We have to be able not only to resist in the sense of holding on, but also of maintaining our belief that we will win. A battle is beginning that will not lead to a head on collision but which is a battle of resistance. The one who holds on better without committing any errors, or who makes the fewest errors, is who will win this conflict.

Do you think the Spanish government will end up giving in or that it's disposed to negotiate?
For that to happen, they will probably first have to make a mistake, which will cause the international community to force it to open negotiations.

What kind of mistake?
For example, suspending elections. Or by using force to stop the referendum—like if the Guardia Civil took away the ballot boxes. They may make an error of this kind that shakes up the democratic conscience of our political surroundings. There are difficult lines to cross without creating or provoking a negative reaction from an international point of view.

Will the referendum take place?
I hope so. The commitment to hold it is solid. There is a very important factor, which is the date chosen to hold the referendum, a date that allows enough time to have an adequate electoral campaign, that does not take place in August. The decision was taken with the understanding that the referendum will be held. At the speed at which political changes are happening, eleven months allow for a lot. There is time for a lot to happen. There is room for mistakes, corrections, dialogue, tolerance for holding the referendum. There is time for anything to happen. if in the end the referendum is not held, it will have to be not because we didn't want to hold it, but because there has been some major obstacle. But the doubt about whether we hold the referendum almost has the power to sabotage the possibility of holding it. For me, unless it is prohibited or blocked, we must have a referendum.

Even if the Spanish Government doesn't allow it? In that case, we'll base it on Catalan law?
It must be held according to democratic law, which can come from the Parliament of Catalonia. And what would be good for Spain to do, is that, even if it doesn't want to give its blessing, at the very least, just let it be held, ignore it and let it happen.

One way of not allowing it would be to bring the referendum law before the Constitutional Court. What should be the reaction to that scenario?
In situations like this, you can't know what the next step to take should be before you know what the opponent will do. A political war is not decided by you, it takes place on the ground, and here there has to be political astuteness capable of reacting and controlling the timing, and maintaining flexibility. You can set an ultimate objective, but the way you'll get there depends on the decisions you'll have to make on the ground, according to the positions taken by your adversary, and your own strengths. Because this doesn't depend only on the opponents but also on what we Catalans do. If we blink too soon, there won't be a referendum. But it won't be because of the opponent but because we haven't had the ability to hold on to the finish line. I don't dare say at this point what will be necessary to do in two months because I don't even know what the sitution will be like in January.

At any rate, there's already the idea of holding elections if the Spanish government blocks the referendum.
It's a possible solution, but it's too early to count on a Plan B before having exhausted all the possibilities of holding a referendum. Speculation on not having a referendum is legitimate; from a critical and analytical point of view, it has to be done and those who govern must think about it, but from the point of view of the political conflict before us, it's an alternative that for now should not be considered. I have my sights set only on the referendum. Now that we have a date and a quesion, we must put all our energy into achieving this goal. It's too early to begin to speculate about what we'll do if we don't hold a referendum because that weakens the conviction that we need to bring to the battle to hold one.

Two photographs that will mark the future of Catalan politics

2013-12-14T05:39:00.000-05:00

by Vicent Partal. Originally published in VilaWeb on December 14, 2013.

Taken within a week of each other, the juxtaposition of the photograph of Pere Navarro (Catalan Socialist Party) with the Spanish rightist parties with that of photo of the parties announcing the pact on the referendum perfectly outlines the current political scenario

Josh King wrote a book years ago titled Dukakis and the Tank in which he analyzes the history of the relationship between politics and photographs. The title refers to the devastating photograph of the former governor of Massachusetts that wrecked his presidential campaign against Bush Sr. Photographs, according to King, can send more powerful messages than speeches.

A bad photograph in particular can ruin an entire political career or put that person's capabilities in doubt. In our country, the famous photograph of a smiling Josep Lluís Carod Rivera (Catalan Republican Left) while posed with a crown of thorns in Jerusalem while being photographed by President Maragall played a significant role in constructing a certain negative image of the then vicepresident. Just like the famous photo of Francisco Camps with Rita Barberà in the Ferrari [both of Valencia People's Party]. Now, within a few days of each other, two photographs have framed the change in the political era that we have begun to feel in the Principality [of Catalonia].

On December 5, like every year, the controversial delegate of the Spanish government in Catalonia, María de los Llanos de Luna, held a public event in the delegation's headquarters to commemorate the Spanish Constitution. The PP and Ciutadans parties were longtime attendees at this event, which was systematically avoided by the rest of the Catalan political forces. This year, however, the leader of the Catalan Socialist Party, Pere Navarro, decided to go. Former presidents Montilla and Maragall (both Socialists) had never attended but nevertheless he went and found himself in the photograph. With a glass of sparkling cava in his hand, a smiling Navarro posed with Alicia Sánchez Camacho, Llanos de Luna, and Albert Rivera. The impact was immediate.

Twitter and Facebook were flooded with surprise and outrage. Many socialists expressed their annoyance with a photograph that added to the Catalan political conversation an image of the socialists in the hands of the Spanish right. The truth is the scene was more complicated than that. Navarro wasn't sure whether to join the toast and it was Camacho who pulled him in and put him in front of the camera. The head of the PSC, however, didn't know how to react. In most of the photographs, his body language reveals his discomfort: he is in one corner of the image while Llanos de Luna and Sànchez Camacho take up most of the center of the image. But the result is complete and devastating: PSC joins the pro-Spanish front and subjects its opinions to the People's Party. Navarro left the Spanish government delegation building quickly, just after the photo was taken, surely without realizing the impact it would have.

Just one week later, at about the same time of day, the counter-photograph emerged. The leaders of CiU, ERC, ICV-EUiA and the CUP appeared together solemnly in the Palace of the Generalitat [Seat of Catalan Government] to announce the agreement on the referendum. They filed out from the office of the president and assembled behind the podium adorned with the official seal of the Generalitat. The president's head of protocol slightly reorganized the order of those on the right side of the photograph—curiously, the representatives of the leftist parties. In the front row were a few chairs in which were seated some of the heavyweights in the president's office, including Jordi Vilajoana. Behind were dozens of photographers and cameramen ready to capture an undoubtedly historic moment. The Catalanist bloc had achieved the photo, and further displaced Pere Navarro and the PSC who now found themselves linked with the extreme right and far away from the solemn political unity underscored by the Gothic Hall in which the announcement was given.

Curiously enough, at the same time, Navarro himself was just a few yards away, in the Plaça Sant Jaume, oblivious to what was going on inside the Generalitat and the redoubled effect that the new photograph would have on him. Now it wasn't just a question of what he was doing in the first photo, but how it was that he wasn't in the second one.

Why has Catalonia chosen a double question for its referendum?

2013-12-13T05:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, the five major parties in favor of Catalonia's right to decide announced that they had come to a consensus on the question and date of the celebration of a referendum for Catalonia's political future. The question will have two parts. First, "Do you want Catalonia to be a State?" and if the answer is yes, then "Do you want this State to be Independent?" The date set for the referendum is November 9th, 2014.

Why a double question? They are trying to please everyone. Spain has refused all overtures of holding a legal referendum, but there are still six principal parties in the Catalan Parliament who have expressed support for Catalonia's right to self-determination: CDC and UDC, which form the CiU (ruling) coalition (50 seats), ERC (21 seats), PSC (20 seats), ICV (13 seats), and the CUP (3 seats). Two parties are steadfastly against: PP (19 seats), and C's (9 seats).

But keeping the pro-self-determination parties together has been an exercise in herding cats. CDC, whose leader Artur Mas, is Catalonia's president, has supported a referendum since Spain's PM Rajoy closed the door on a better fiscal relationship with Catalonia in the fall of 2012. Many CDC leaders have been forthright about being in favor of independence. But their partners, UDC (Christian Democrat, business friendly), say they are confederalists and defend creating a state, without defining what sort of state that would be. The question is often posed: a state like Massachusetts, Bavaria, or Denmark? The answer is not clear.

ICV (eco-socialists, former communists) says they are federalists and want to offer a choice to constituents to remain within Spain, as a partnership of equals, and were even able to get their associated Spanish party, IU, to declare its support in favor of Catalan self-determination. However, both ICV and IU are minority parties in their respective parliaments with little power over creating the federalism they support.

The PSC (Catalan Socialist Party) is a special problem. Federated with the Spanish Socialists who have repeatedly rejected any right to self-determination for Catalonia, the PSC has insisted that such a right does exist, as long as it is first negotiated with the Spanish State (which adamantly opposes it). The PSC espouses federalism and promise reform to the Constitution, despite the fact that support for such reform is nonexistent both in the ruling PP party and in their own federation.

Nevertheless, the PSC, while currently on a downward spiral (the latest government poll indicates that only 5.6% would vote for that party in Parliamentary elections) are a historic Catalan party which even managed to grab the highest percentage of votes in the 2003 elections. Nobody wanted to leave them out, even after they declared they no longer supported the process a few weeks ago.

And there is lots of bad blood and long history between all the parties, and big doses of mistrust from the people. CiU, who led the Catalan Parliament for 23 years with a strategy of accommodation sometimes called "fish in the cave"—imagine waiting in the shadows and darting out to pick up crumbs—but which now leads the process, has not been able to completely shake off doubts about its sincerity, especially since it has insisted on sticking to vague terminology like the "right to decide" (decide what?) and "own state" (whose state, what kind of state?).

The parties defending federalism never quite explain how they will federate with a State that has steadfastly refused to talk to them. ICV is sometimes rabidly anti-CiU, claiming that its pro-independence stance is merely a smokescreen with which to hide budget cuts, austerity economics, and privatization that favors business interests. CiU counters that Spain's fiscal disloyalty demands such policies and that ICV complains from the comfort of the non-governing opposition.

And the surging ERC (Republican Left) and the CUP (Radical Left)—both of whom support independence in so many words—are accused of pie-in-the-sky dreaming without the hands-on experience that actual governing requires. It all goes round and round.

And it's not all up to the politicians. The civic movements that have brought independence to the fore are led by grassroots organizations like Ómnium Cultural, the Catalan National Assembly, and the newer Súmate. These groups—who managed to get 1.5 million people to demonstrate on Sept 11, 2013 and another 1.6 million to hold hands from one end of Catalonia to the other end 400km away—have insisted that the question be clear and unequivocal—and about independence.

In the end, the spectre of disunion brought them together. The common perception is that Catalans are incapable of consensus, that if there are three Catalans, there will be four opinions. But to not have reached an agreement on the question and date by the Dec 31 deadline would have been political suicide. A double question allows both federalists and confederalists to feel like they can participate while giving the pro-independence movement their very first chance to vote on the creation of a new Catalan state. Education will be a key factor in the campaign.

I think it's the best they could do.

Suing a Symposium: Spain against Catalonia

2013-12-11T03:34:00.001-05:00

The unionist populist UPyD party has filed a suit in the Superior Court of Catalonia against the Center of Contemporary History claiming that the Spain against Catalonia symposium "may constitute a crime of incitement to discrimination, hate, or violence", which according to Article 510 of the penal code can be punished with a three year prison term and a fine. They base their suit on the titles of some of the presentations, including "Spain and Catalonia, 30 years of political conflict" or "300 years of pro-Spanish activism in Catalonia".

The spokesperson for Ciutadans, a unionist party in Barcelona, Jordi Cañas, announced yesterday that his party would join UPyD's judicial action in bringing suit against the symposium. According to Cañas, the meeting "educates hate" and presents everything that is Spanish as an enemy of Catalonia, which he considers very serious. After Ciutadans' announcement, the PP (ruling party in Spain, also unionist), said that it too would denounce the symposium because it "is a clear and unequivocal incitement of hate". [Last two paragraphs translated from Vilaweb, 11 December 2013]

What is the Spain against Catalonia Symposium?
An academic symposium being organized by the Center of Contemporary History, a department of the Catalan Government at the Institute of Catalan Studies starting Thursday, Dec 12, and going through Saturday. The program is divided into four parts:

Institutional, Political and Administrative Repression
Economic and Social Repression
Cultural and Linguistic Repression
Exile

Many prestigious and recognized historians, including Jaume Sobrequés, Josep Fontana, Lluís Duran i Solà, Josep Ma Solé i Sabaté, will participate.

Meanwhile, Francesc Canosa, a columnist for the daily El Punt Avui wrote this column:

Spain against Catalonia

Hello, we've set up a symposium to spread lies. Our friends will now tell us the truth. Come in, Mr. Abad de Vianco, secretary of the Council of Castille, who addressed the magistrates in a defeated Catalonia in 1714: "it's convenient to give careful thought to introducing the Castilian language with concealed instructions and advice, so that the objective is obtained without being noticed". OK! Manuel Godoy, head of the government, you're next: "It shall be forbidden to perform, dance, or sing pieces in any theater in Spain in any language that is not Spanish" (1801). Ah! And now you say you want to learn Catalan? "The grammar and spelling rules of the Academy of the Spanish Language will be the single required textbook for these subjects in public education" (Moyano Law of public instruction, 1857. In 1768 the use of Catalan had already been abolished from the school system.)

And let's not stop there. "Crimes against the security and unity of the Fatherland, including anything that tends toward separation, a lessening of its power, or lowering the conception of the same, will be judged in Military Tribunals" (decree of Miguel Primo de Rivera, 1923) During the Republic, things changed: "Even in the case that all Spaniards agreed on converting Catalonia into a foreign country, doing so would be a crime, deserving of heavenly wrath" (José Antonio Primo de Rivera, MP for the [fascist] Falange, 1934).

But, since I'm an equal opportunity columnist, let's hear from the left: "I'm not waging war against Franco so that a stupid and parochial separatism can sprout in Barcelona. I'm waging war because of Spain and for Spain. Because of its greatness and for its greatness! Those who imagine some other motive are wrong. There is only one nation: Spain!" (Juan Negrín, president of the Spanish government, 1938, during the Spanish Civil War). And from the right: "Because you, Catalonia, you belonged to us! and to no one else! And we had the right to make you cry! Because we loved you!" (Ernesto Giménez Caballero, writer, from the microphones of the occupied RAC radio station, 1939). I have no more room, no more room. And we have cried so many times that we are already acquainted with our own tears.

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Meanwhile, more than 200 people have registered for the symposium. The IEC has had to open an extra hall to accommodate the overflow crowd, and no other registrations are being accepted.

Catalonia expelled from the EU?

2013-12-10T11:13:00.004-05:00

The most important thing will be continuing to participate in the European Economic Area, and Spain can’t keep that from happening

by Ramon Tremosa

Last Tuesday the Barcelona-based daily, El Periódico, highlighted a response from the European Commission (EC) to one of my parliamentary petitions. The EC has now finally answered what the PP and PSOE have asked for such a long time: “If part of a country becomes a new independent State it will become a third country and the treaties would no longer be applicable.” Let’s take this bit by bit. The EC has given me different answers to my questions on this matter. On November 12, 2012: “It’s not up to the EC to state a position on matters of internal organization of its member states.” On February 23, 2013: “The conditions of the EU treaties are decided by its member states.” Does the recent answer have anything to do with the growing political pressure and to the fact that some of the commissioners finish their terms after the upcoming European elections?

It is the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, and not the European Commission, which interprets the treaties of the EU and it is the International Court of Justice in the Hague that has the last word in the case of a unilateral separation of a Catalonia expelled from the EU. Its recent decision on Kosovo, however, was not exactly in Spain’s favor. In addition, in the European Parliament, the PP and PSOE have been isolated and have roundly lost various votes when they have tried to block Kosovo’s entry into the EU. They have also been left alone on votes on the Single European Patent, the central rail crossing of the Aragonese Pyrenees, and the Parot Doctrine.

The exit from the EU would be just as long a process as entry is. In Brussels they say that if Great Britain votes to leave the EU in 2015, the negotiations will go on for years and the EU will try to preserve the application of as many of the EU regulations

as possible. Scotland is not Turkey. The previous argument reinforces the idea that an independent Catalonia would have enough time to renegotiate from the inside its reincorporationinto the EU. That’s what expert Graham Avery wrote in an article published on the British Parliament’s website: an independent Scotland would negotiate from the inside its quick reincorporation into the EU. Avery defends the fast track and discards the idea that Scotland should have to get in line after Turkey, as Spain has said. The Economist, the most influential weekly economics magazine in the world and a proponent of a ‘no’ vote in Scotland, maintains in an article about Scotland (November 3, 2012) that “its candidacy would be fast-tracked by the European Commission, with a heavily EU-dependent Spain ultimately unlikely to oppose it.”

The EU is still just a union of states, nothing close to a federal Europe, with an annual budget only four times larger than that of the Catalan Generalitat government (130 billion, or 0.8% of the GDP of the EU-28). In the EU, Spain is famous for its record of non-compliance and faulty implementation of EU regulations, and has hundreds of ongoing complaints for illegal aid to the State. Those that from Madrid call for a strict and literal application of the law are not exactly the best students to be asking for expulsions.

The most important thing for Catalonia is to keep participating in the European common market—the European Economic Area (EEA)—that guarantees the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital among the EEA countries and is the true source of progress and wealth in Europe. This is the great European success story of the 20^thcentury, that today is being imitated by other continents creating similar free movement treaties. Switzerland, Norway and Andorra—which aren’t members of the EU—have agreements with the EU in order to be part of this special Area.

If Catalonia were expelled from the EU, it is the EU that would have the exclusive jurisdiction for negotiating agreements with respect to the EEA, and since the Treaty of Lisbon, unanimity is not required for approval: Article 207 establishes that they can be approved by a supermajority of countries (two thirds) along with a favorable vote in the European Parliament.

Spain doesn’t on its own have the right or the capacity to effectively veto Catalonia’s membership in the EEA, which today comprises 500 million people. Spain does not have the capacity to rally a blocking minority in the EU (one/third) to expel Catalonia from the EEA: here in Catalonia there are 4000 European multinationals that will never allow themselves to be expelled from the EEA.

A country’s potential for leadership in the EU does not come from its size but rather from its good practices with respect to other member states. That is why some small countries are leaders and some large countries are not. Brand Spain these days is valued below zero on the EU scale, as Ignacio Molina, a professor in Madrid, explained recently in a devastating article for the Elcano Foundation, also based in Madrid (March 13, 2013). The PP and the PSOE would do well to negotiate with Catalonia as Cameron has done with Scotland. As The Economist said (December 22, 2012), “with the outlook so grim, it is no surprise that Catalan politicians talk seriously of secession”.

Ramon Tremosa is a Member of the European Parliament for Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya

Smashed Pipe Dreams

2013-10-11T04:17:00.001-04:00

It's well known that Spain is against Catalonia's independence. But there are three important voices within Catalonia who also support finding a solution within Spain. These are Pere Navarro, the head of the Catalan Socialist Party, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, the leader of Unió Democràtica, one of the two parties in Catalonia's CiU coalition, which currently holds the majority position in the Catalan Parliament and thus, the Catalan Presidency, and Alícia Sánchez-Camacho, the head of the Catalan branch of the People's Party (currently governing in Spain).

The three have very distinct political profiles, but they all believe, or make believe, that there is room for negotiation in Madrid. Navarro believes he can convince the Spanish socialists to support changes to the Spanish Constitution toward federalism, Duran i Lleida believes he can continue CiU's previous policy of accommodation in order to extract small concessions to Catalan singularity over time, and Sánchez-Camacho believes she can convince her colleagues—who control the central government—to not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Their credibility depends exclusively on their supposed influence over their contacts in Madrid, whether these be in the opposition (Navarro), in business (Duran i Lleida), or in the ruling party (Sánchez-Camacho).

Because, as Jordi Casanova explained it so well on the Progrés Real/ Progreso Real / True Progress website on Monday, there was this idea that the problems between Spain and Catalonia could be solved if only Spain could function as a true democracy.

This hypothesis, however could never be proven. There was never a long enough democratic period in Spain. Now, however, after more than 30 years of Spanish democracy, it can. And we have been able to show while it is possible for Spain to function reasonably and similarly enough to other European countries that, even in that case, it still does not accept the recognition of Catalonia in the ways that a majority of Catalans would desire. We have now been able to prove empirically that Catalanism's initial hypothesis is false: It's not a question of Spanish democracy, it's a question of just how the country is conceived by a majority of the Spanish population. [emphasis mine]

This week saw the third nail driven into the coffin of a belief in Spain's ability to recognize Catalonia's “singularity”. Last July Navarro unsuccessfully tried to convince the Spanish Socialists to support the holding of a (legal) referendum on Catalan independence. No go. Duran i Lleida suggested a "third track" a couple of weeks ago between secession and submission, only to have Spanish President Rajoy respond by saying he “didn't really know what a third track was”.

But on Monday, the leader of the PP party in Catalonia, Sánchez-Camacho went to Madrid still believing that she could get them to see reason. Catalonia, she said, was happy to support other autonomous communities in Spain, but should not be penalized for earning more. To get an idea of how the current system works, imagine that you earn $50,000 but your neighbor earns only $20,000. After taxes and redistribution, you end up with $25,000 but your neighbor gets $35,000. Sánchez-Camacho's proposal was simply that instead of falling from #4 to #10 in GDP ranking after distribution as it does currently, Catalonia should maintain its same position, even as it continues to contribute.

The PP's reaction was almost immediate, disavowing any special financing system for Catalonia, and insisting on “solidarity” among all of Spain's autonomous communities. Sánchez-Camacho's own party hung her out to dry.

Little wonder that the latest poll results show Sánchez-Camacho getting a 2.02 out of 10 for her part in the recent General Policy Debates in Parliament, 65% said they didn't agree with anything she said, and most seriously, only 2.8% answered that they planned to vote for her and her party in the next elections.

Here's Casanova again:

The majority of those in favor of independence have not always been in favor, but rather have evolved toward it. It's not the political model that they aspire to, it's what they have accepted because they have had to discard all other options. Many believe, at the same time, that other political options would be more beneficial to Catalonia, they simply don't believe these are feasible. The question is not, from my point of view, whether autonomous communities, federalism, confederation... The basic question for me is the assumption of Spain as a plurinational reality and the consequences that are derived from it. And it's clear that a majority of Spaniards considers Spain to be "uni-national" and wishes for Spain to be organized according to this principle. That is why the debate is not focused only, or I would say, principally, on the benefits of these models, but rather on their feasibility. Because, to what extent would the majority will of the Spanish people have to be violated in order for them to accept what most Catalans want? And even if it were possible to violate their will in this way, would it be a good idea?
...
Is independence the only solution? Let me flip the question around. Faced with the degree of support that independence enjoys among the Catalan people, is the majority of the Spanish people ready to accept itself as a plurinational country as a last ditch effort to stay united? I believe this is the question that will decide the issue.

It's now more clear than ever that the most conciliatory voices in Catalonia have no leverage whatsoever in Madrid. They will probably continue tilting at windmills, but Catalonia is moving on.

Roland Vaubel, Merkel advisor, interviewed by RAC1 on Catalonia, secession, and the EU

2013-09-27T07:16:00.001-04:00

Update: Here's the third excerpt from the interview of Roland Vaubel:

“The European Commission is really trying to discourage the secession of Catalonia and Scotland by saying that after secession Catalonia and Scotland would no longer be members of the European Union. There's no basis for that at all in international law and it's not the Commission which has to decide that but the Council.”

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Jordi Basté and the crew at radio show El món a RAC1 continue to impress me with the interviews they're able to get. It's so nice to be able to hear important voices on Catalonia's independence process directly, without filters. On Wednesday, Basté interviewed Angela Merkel advisor, Roland Vaubel, author of an interesting new paper titled, The Political Economy of Secession in the European Union, who had several interesting things to say about Catalonia:

"They cannot veto secession, they can only say that Catalonia, by seceding from Spain, will leave the European Union. They can say that, but it's a completely open question."

"No, the referendum is legal, and if there's a strong majority in the referendum, I think that the rest of Spain cannot really say that Catalonia cannot leave."

You can listen to the full, original audio (dubbed into Catalan) on SoundCloud.