CATALAN president Carles Puigdemont faced mounting pressure from all sides yesterday as the Spanish Government awaits an answer as to whether or not he has officially declared independence.
Hardliners affiliated with the independence movement are demanding the Catalan president explicitly express the region’s intention to separate while Spain’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, slammed Puigdemont for creating economic uncertainty and possibly a recession.
Adding further pressure, the IMF warned that the economic growth of Spain could suffer if the independence plans persist.
Catalonia voted overwhelmingly in the independence referendum of October 1 to become an independent state, a vote not recognised and deemed illegal by Spanish authorities. The Spanish police were widely criticised for using violence in an attempt to halt the ballot.
Earlier this week Puigdemont declared independence but suspended the plans so that some negotiations with Madrid could take place.
Spain has given Puigdemont until Monday to explain whether he has already declared independence for the region, and to fall into line with Spanish law, or else risk losing Catalonia’s autonomous powers.
“It’s just a yes or a no,” Santamaria told reporters after a weekly Cabinet meeting, adding “it’s in Puigdemont’s hands” to avoid the implementation of any extraordinary measures.
Santamaria added that she was considering lowering the growth forecast in 2018 if the stand-off in Catalonia continues.
The pressure faced by the Catalan president to end any independence plans was matched by those on the other side desperate for the referendum result to be respected.
Members from Puigdemont’s far-left CUP party urged in a letter yesterday that the Catalan president ignore the Spanish government’s warning, lift the suspension and definitively proclaim independence.
The pro-independence group Assemblea Nacional Catalana issued a statement with a similar message: “It doesn’t make sense to keep the suspension of the independence declaration [given Madrid’s rejection of any dialogue],” it read.
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