Spain court blocks Catalonia’s move for independence

As reported in 'The Japan News' Reuters Marta Silva, a lawyer from the Spanish Prosecutor Office, has documents stamped by a registry worker after she presents the government’s appeal with the Constitutional Court in Madrid on Wednesday.

MADRID (Reuters) — Spain’s Constitutional Court blocked Catalonia’s attempted secession process on Wednesday by agreeing to hear a Spanish government appeal against it, deepening a standoff over the potential breakaway. Catalonia’s regional parliament passed a resolution this week setting out a plan to establish a republic within 18 months in the highly industrialized and populous northeastern region which accounts for about a fifth of Spain’s economic output. “This is a warning to [Catalan leaders] that if they fail to comply with the suspension, they may commit disobedience,” read the ruling by the Madrid-based high court. As Catalan leaders elected in September have specifically vowed to ignore the rulings of the Constitutional Court, it is unclear what the next move in the confrontation could be. The row over Catalonia has escalated dramatically weeks ahead of a national election in December, dominating political campaigning as parties such as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s centre-right People’s Party (PP) call for Spanish unity. Strikingly, it has relegated discussion of the economy to a secondary role, even though years in or near recession before 2014 have left one in five Spanish workers unemployed. “The will of the Catalan people cannot be suspended. We are committed to continue with our democratic mandate,” the leader of one of the Catalan independence parties, Oriol Junqueras, said on his official Twitter feed. Earlier on Wednesday, Rajoy said the region would not be allowed to split from Spain. “It’s not just a reaction to a motion passed in parliament, this is about defending a whole country,” the prime minister told a news conference. “This is blatant disregard for the state’s institutions. They are trying to do away with democracy. I will not allow it.” With its own language and distinctive culture, Catalonia was once a big textile producer and is now trying to reinvent itself as a technology hub. Its Mediterranean beaches and art-rich capital Barcelona already draw in huge revenues from tourism. Separatist feeling has been fueled by demands for greater recognition of Catalonia’s cultural identity, dismissed by the central state, and demands for a referendum. Opponents to a Catalan breakaway argue that many other Spanish regions also have a distinct identity and language, and that conceding to one would open a Pandora’s box of nationalist demands across Spain. The Constitutional Court’s decision to hear Madrid’s appeal means the Catalan assembly’s resolution, which calls for state institutions such as a tax office to be set up in preparation for independence, will be suspended for several months.Speech