Spain
Catalan chief presses for statute remedy
Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Catalan premier José Montilla met for more than two hours yesterday, discussing ways to try to resuscitate parts of Catalonia's autonomy statute that were recently struck down as unconstitutional.
Montilla, a member of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), showed up at La Moncloa with a dossier full of legal opinions byexperts who disagree with the points thrown out by the Constitutional Court on June 28. After the meeting, he told reporters that the goal of his appointment with Zapatero was not only to find common ground on a rescue plan for the 14 statute articles thrown out by the court, but also to review the current state of relations between the region and the central government.
"It is time for political action," he said, adding that the court's ruling was not only a Catalan problem but "Spain's problem, too."
Finding a quick solution to the statute issue is a priority for the Socialists as fall elections in Catalonia approach. The PSC has seen its popularity erode recently as the opposition, particularly the CiU nationalist bloc and more radical independence supporters, blame Montilla for not taking a stronger anti-Madrid stance over the court's decision.
"As to the political gestures I am expecting: I hope that those who are in charge of carrying them out will actually do so," Montilla said.
Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega answered Montilla's challenge by reiterating that the government is committed to developing the regional set of bylaws. "If Catalonia has a problem, Spain has a problem and vice versa. If Spain has a problem, then Catalonia has a problem," she said.
(Published by El País – July 22, 2010)