Regional parliament passes motion to start breakaway from Spain

THE regional parliament held a historic debate on November 9 to vote on a motion that would allow Catalunya to start separations from Spain.

The debate comes exactly one year after Catalan separatists held an informal referendum on self-rule.  The controversial document has been approved by the Catalan parliament with 72 votes in favour and 63 votes against from unionists.

The secessionist coalition Junts pel Sí, which includes acting head Arthur Mas, and the CUP party, used their overall majority in the chamber to oppose the Ciudadanos, the Catalan Socialists, the Popular Party (PP) and Catalunya Si es que Pot, a leftist alliance backed by Podemos that wants to hold a legal referendum on independence.

At the end of the debate, regional representatives from both sides pulled out Catalan and Spanish flags and waved them inside the chamber.

Before the vote was concluded, the regional assembly heard from both supporters and those opposing Catalan independence. 

Raül Romeva, top of the list for the Junts pel Sí coalition said: “No matter how you count it, in votes or in seats, the results of the election express a clear and incontestable will.”

Joan Coscubiela, of the leftist alliance Catalunya Sí que es Pot said: “We cannot build anything without giving the people of Catalonia a voice. We haven’t fully walked down that road yet. This is a deception that will only lead to frustration, unless you are thinking about a head-on collision. This is a road to nowhere.”

Meanwhile, Miquel Iceta, leader of the Catalan Socialists said:  “It closes the door on negotiations with the [Spanish] government and with the one that will come out of the December 20 election.”

He added: “You are not disconnecting from Spanish laws or from the Constitutional Court, you are disconnecting from the majority of citizens, from democratic legality and from reality.”

The motion allows Catalan lawmakers 30 days to work on a new constituent process, and on legislation and create a new social security and treasury. In the end, this could result in a fully independent republic.