Catalonia’s separatists looked increasingly isolated as the region’s biggest bank announced plans to leave and political pressure rose in both Madrid and Barcelona to bring the standoff to a head.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was resisting calls from his main ally in Madrid to suspend the regional government, according to a person familiar with their talks. The premier’s office is gathering details on what it would need to execute such a move, another person said. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, meanwhile, was negotiating the text of a declaration of independence with his group’s more radical partner, El Mundo reported.
Thousands of people wrapped in flags gathered at Madrid’s Plaza Colon on Saturday to rebuff the separatist movement. As music blasted, demonstrators chanted “long live Catalonia, long live Spain, long live the Constitution” and “Puigdemont to prison.”
“It’s not only about the economy,” said Santiago Abascal, one of the main speakers at the Madrid protest. “The worst thing that can happen to Catalonia is to leave Spain. That is what we want to say here.”
As both sides plotted their next move before next week’s showdown, the focus was on the financial toll secession talk was taking. The board of CaixaBank, the biggest symbol of the rebel region’s wealth, decided to relocate its legal base at a meeting on Friday.
“It’s very sad what we are seeing, the departure of extremely important companies from Catalonia,” Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said at a press conference in Madrid on Friday. “This isn’t the fault of the companies. It’s clearly the fault of irresponsible policy which at the end of the day generates uncertainty and anxiety.”
Puigdemont risks economic damage and being cast adrift by Europe if he pushes ahead with his secession plans based on a referendum that breached Spain’s constitution.
For their part, if Rajoy and his minority government have to step in again to reassert control, they will be loathe to risk a repeat of last Sunday’s scenes of police violence against peaceful voters that drew international condemnation and inflamed the separatists.
On Friday, Rajoy’s proxies sought to ease the anger over that crackdown. “We are profoundly sorry because this was not out wish, we didn’t want a single person getting hurt,” Enric Millo, the central government’s chief representative in Catalonia, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
The government’s official spokesman, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, also issued a collective apology during a press conference at the same time. “If there were incidents – and there were – and people were affected, obviously we are all sorry,” he said.
A new law approved by the cabinet on Friday eased the way for companies to change domiciles, sending a clear message to Catalan leaders that the government will use its administrative muscle to encourage the exodus.
Banco Sabadell confirmed late on Thursday it will move its headquarters further down the coast to the Spanish city of Alicante, while CaixaBank’s board decided on Valencia.
Gas Natural also announced that it was moving its registered office to Madrid from Barcelona on political concerns.
The new headquarters of “La Caixa - CaixaBank” is pictured in Valencia yesterday. CaixaBank, Catalonia’s biggest lender, shifted its legal headquarters out of Catalonia due to the uncertainty caused by the referendum vote outlawed by Madrid and the announcement by Catalan government of a possible declaration of independence.
CATALONIA
