The first consequences have hit for Catalan minister Lluís Puig's event at the Catalan delegation to EU, under Spanish government control since the application of article 155 of the Constitution. This Friday, the Spanish cabinet will order the firing of the Catalan government's director general of External Relations, Marina Borrell.
The firing comes after, this Wednesday, minister Lluís Puig took part in an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer Manuel de Pedrolo which took place at the Catalan government delegation to Brussels as part of Brussels Catalan Week. The minister was invited by the local Catalan cultural centre.
As soon as they found out about Puig's participation in the event in Brussels, the Spanish government announced it would take the "appropriate measures" with "immediate consequences". This morning, foreign affairs minister Alfonso Dastis confirmed the government's intentions and described the minister's presence at the event as a "disagreeable incident".
The Spanish foreign ministry -which has overseen its Catalan counterpart since article 155 was enacted last October- says it had given "precise instructions to not organise any kind of political event" at the Brussels office.
Borrell, who started in the role in February last year, has a BA in Advertising, Marketing Communications and Public Relations from London Metropolitan University and a Master's in Intercultural Communication for Business from Birbeck College, University of London. She has been president of Catalans UK, an organisation bringing together the expatriate community in the United Kingdom. Also in the UK, she has been a consultant for Crown World Mobility and Communicaid and the NGO Global Witness.
More firings
Also to be fired this Friday is the director of the Catalan School of Public Administration, Agustí Colomines, similarly using powers from article 155. The historian and professor at the University of Barcelona has held the role since early 2016.