After confirming he will stay as Spain's foreign minister instead of taking his new seat in the European Parliament, Josep Borrell has restarted his offensive against the Catalan pro-independence movement. His ministry will appeal the planned opening of three new Catalan government delegations abroad. Two days after the Catalan government announced the opening of the new offices in Tunis, Buenos Aires and Mexico City, the Spanish government has given instructions to Spain's state solicitors to appeal, asking for precautionary measures "with the aim of preventing activities that are revealing themselves to be harmful to the interests of the State"
The foreign affairs ministry, led by Borrell, is basing the appeal on a negative report sent to the Catalan government on Tuesday. According to this report, the opening of these three new delegations "is at this time detrimental to the interests of the State, taking into account the stated objective of the current Catalan government to use all available means for the so-called internationalisation of the Catalan conflict, which is clearly harmful for the state's foreign policy as well as the normal development of its international relations"
Ministry sources highlight that the autonomous communities have the right to have offices abroad for the promotion of their interests, but that "it is evident that the actions of such offices have to confine themselves to the Spanish constitutional framework".
The government says that "recent experience" proves the delegations are "a fundamental tool for promoting the secessionist thesis and denigrating Spain's international image".