The leader of Catalonia said Monday his cabinet will not “jump into the void” and declare independence from Spain during his time in office.
The Catalan government will respect the law and “stick to dialogue” while seeking independence from Madrid in the future, Carles Puigdemont told Spain’s economic daily Expansion. “We want a government that talks and negotiates, which the current one has not done,” he said.
However, Puigdemont called for financial autonomy, saying the region’s economy was “viable and dynamic” and should not be under the auspices of a minister in Madrid. It’s “not only unfair but unwise,” he said.
When he took office in early January, Puigdemont said Catalonia’s current parliamentary setup would not allow for a breakaway, but he aimed to declare independence within 18 months. “We are a power at the international level,” he said then, adding that the time “to start the process of setting up an independent Catalan state” had come.
To deliver independence, a majority of Catalans must endorse a new constitution in a referendum. If the region’s 7.5 million inhabitants approve that constitution, Catalonia could officially declare independence from Madrid.
For now, a collision course with the central government in Madrid has been put on hold because of the political deadlock that followed December 2015 national elections.
All the main parties involved in negotiations on a new government oppose Catalan independence, except for the far-left Podemos (We Can), which supports holding a referendum on the issue.
In 2014, Catalonia held a non-binding vote on independence, in which 80 percent of votes cast were in favor of disconnecting from Spain. However, the validity of the ballot was contested as only one-third of the Catalan electorate participated. In November 2015, Spain’s Constitutional Court declared the Catalan push for independence unlawful.
Puigdemont does not expect acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party to change its view on the Catalan question and hopes a new government will allow a referendum.
“If a prime minister or prime ministerial candidate suggests it, we will take a position and help them,” he said.