MADRID — The leader of Catalonia, the region that accounts for one-fifth of Spain’s economy, told Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a meeting on Wednesday that he would go ahead with a vote on independence in November that the central government in Madrid has vowed to block. The meeting, in Madrid, was the first between Mr. Rajoy and Artur Mas, the head of the Catalan regional government, since Catalonia’s governing coalition agreed in December on the timing and format of an independence vote. For that reason alone, the meeting was considered something of a breakthrough. But afterward, Mr. Mas told reporters that his secessionist plans remained on track and that there was “no proposal on the part of the state to resolve this political conflict.” Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Admission of Tax Fraud Precedes Talks in CataloniaJULY 27, 2014 Mr. Mas said that the meeting had been characterized by “a climate of open dialogue” and that he had presented Mr. Rajoy with a set of economic proposals, including plans to increase infrastructure spending in Catalonia, which the prime minister agreed to study. But the outcome did little to decrease the sense of crisis looming before the country if no agreement can be reached to head off the vote Mr. Mas started his secessionist push in 2012, after a huge pro-independence march in Barcelona, the Catalan capital. Another giant protest march is expected on Sept. 11, which Catalans celebrate as their national day. The date falls a week before an independence referendum in Scotland that is seen as a bellwether for Catalonia’s prospects. Mr. Rajoy reiterated on Wednesday his opposition to any Catalan vote that violates Spain’s Constitution. His veto of any such vote also received backing this week from Pedro Sánchez, the newly elected secretary general of the main Socialist opposition party. But little has blunted the momentum toward the secessionist vote. For now, the biggest challenge may have erupted last week, when Jordi Pujol, the patriarch of Catalan politics, admitted to committing tax fraud by hiding money offshore. At least three of his children are targets of separate investigations for suspected financial crimes, including money laundering and bribery. The legal problems of Mr. Pujol, 84, and his family threaten to discredit Catalonia’s governing party, Convergence — which Mr. Pujol founded and ran for more than two decades, until 2003, and which Mr. Mas now leads. Mr. Mas has argued that the Pujol scandal is a personal issue that affects neither his government nor his secessionist push. But some politicians and Madrid newspapers have jumped on Mr. Pujol’s confession to question why Catalans would want to secede when their own politicians are caught in the same kind of fraud scandal that has surfaced in Madrid and other regions since 2008 and the bursting of Spain’s property bubble. Mr. Mas started his secessionist drive in September 2012 after Mr. Rajoy refused to grant Catalonia better financial treatment as part of a tax redistribution system that means Catalonia and other large and powerful regions help maintain poorer regions of Spain. Catalonia has 7.5 million citizens and contributes about 19 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product through sectors including car production and tourism. “To seek independence from Spain is a simulacrum in order not to have to admit that what we want to escape from is from ourselves,” wrote Salvador Sostres, a columnist at El Mundo. Another columnist, Xavier Vidal-Folch, suggested on Tuesday in El País that the fiscal crimes of Mr. Pujol and his family should help debunk the separatist argument that Catalonia was a victim of an “economic plunder” by the central government.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 13:57:05 +0000
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