The Spanish government, through the Ministry of Public Works, has prohibited the Port of Barcelona from taking part in trade missions until after the 21st December elections, Catalan public broadcaster TV3 has reported.
Josep Rull, Catalan minister for Territory and Sustainability, imprisoned last week, and Sixte Cambra, the president of the port organisation, had planned to head an institutional and trade mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay, from 11th to 17th November, but the Spanish ministry has told the Port to not take part.
Port sources have explained that the ministry told them that "they couldn't carry out institutional events abroad related to Catalonia" due to the "political circumstances". They added that the request came at the insistence of the Foreign Ministry.
With the application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and Rull's imprisonment, the government was dropped from the missions, so it fell on the Port to head it alone.
The Port and government have organised such international trade missions since 1998, to countries such as India, Morocco, Cuba and Panama.
Only businesspeople
The Port communicated the Public Works ministry's decision to the Port Community and businesspeople on Monday. The decision was taken to continue with the mission to not lose the investment already made, but outside the remit of the Port: "It is no longer an institutional and trade mission to being a trade mission driven by the Port Community and its businesspeople".
Puertos del Estado (Ports of the State) have confirmed that they recommended against the Port of Barcelona leading the mission to Argentina and Uruguay given the political context. "It was recommended to the Port of Barcelona to not lead the mission. It's a different thing whether they can attend or not as part of the Port Community," added the sources.