Catalonia’s president has accused King Felipe of Spain of acting as a mouthpiece for the Spanish government as the country wrestles with the region’s secession crisis and has vowed to press on with plans to declare independence over the next week.
Speaking three days after his government’s unilaterally held independence referendum was marred by police violence, Carles Puigdemont said Catalans were united as never before but added he was disappointed by the king’s recent intervention.
“The king endorses the discourse and policies of the government of [prime minister Mariano] Rajoy, which have been catastrophic for Catalonia and deliberately ignore the millions of Catalans who do not think like them,” he said.
Addressing himself directly to the king, he added: “Not like this. Your decision yesterday disappointed many people in Catalonia.”
King Felipe had said on Tuesday night the Catalan authorities were attempting to break “the unity of Spain” and said their push for independence could put at risk the country’s social and economic stability.
In a rare and strongly worded television address he described the regional government’s actions as “an unacceptable attempt” to take over Catalan institutions, adding that it had placed itself outside democracy and the law.
Puigdemont on Wednesday repeated his calls for dialogue and mediation with Madrid but said his government was still planning to take the results of the referendum to the Catalan parliament over the next few days to prepare for a declaration of independence.
“I have to represent all of Catalonia’s citizens,” he said. “On Sunday we had a referendum under the most difficult circumstances and set an example of who we are. Peace and accord is part of who we are. We have to apply the results of the referendum. We have to present the results of the referendum to parliament.”
The Spanish government, which has accused Puigdemont of engaging in blackmail, was quick to respond. The deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said that he had squandered an opportunity to steer the region back toward co-existence, adding: “If Mr Puigdemont wants to talk or negotiate or send mediators, he knows perfectly well what he needs to do: get back on the legal path that he should never have abandoned.”
In an interview with the German newspaper Bild on Thursday, Puigdemont said he had not discounted the possibility that he could be arrested, but said he was not afraid.
“I’m not surprised any more about what the Spanish government is doing,” he said. “My arrest is also possible, which would be a barbaric step.”
More than 900 people were injured on Sunday after Spanish police attempted to halt the vote by raiding polling stations, beating would-be voters and firing rubber bullets at crowds.
Despite the Spanish authorities’ attempts to stop the referendum, which both the government and the country’s constitutional court had declared illegal, 2.26 million of Catalonia’s 5.3 million registered voters took part.
The figures suggest that that turnout was only around 43% as many Catalans who oppose independence boycotted the poll for fear of lending it legitimacy.
According to the Catalan government 90% of participants voted for the region to become independent.
Puigdemont told the BBC on Tuesday that Catalonia would not abandon its quest for independence and warned the Spanish government that any move to stop the independence process by using article 155 of the constitution to take control of the region could be the “ultimate mistake”.
The EU’s executive on Wednesday had called for the Spanish and Catalan governments to begin talks over the biggest political challenge Spain has faced since its return to democracy four decades ago – but said Madrid had the right to use “proportionate force” to uphold the law.
Addressing the European parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European commission, said the images emerging from Catalonia were saddening but it was clear that the regional government had “chosen to ignore the law” when organising the referendum.
“Let me be clear: violence does not solve anything in politics. It is never the answer, never a solution. It can never be used as a weapon or instrument,” he said. “Europe knows this better than anywhere else … It is a duty of any government to uphold the rule of law and this does sometimes require proportionate use of force.”
Timmermans said it was “time to talk” and backed the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, to bring the dispute to a peaceful resolution. He said the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was in touch with Rajoy but stressed that the vote on Sunday was “not legal” and it was “an internal matter”.
Puigdemont and other senior Catalan politicians, including the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, have called repeatedly for the EU to weigh in on the issue.
Earlier this week thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona to protest against the actions of some Guardia Civil and national police officers during the referendum.
Amnesty International said it had documented a “dangerous and disproportionate” use of police riot equipment on Sunday. “In several cases the actions of national police and civil guard officers involved excessive and unnecessary use of force and the dangerous use of riot control equipment, injuring hundreds of peaceful protesters,” said John Dalhuisen, the group’s Europe and central Asia director.
