The Spanish Senate has urged the government to defend the unity of Spain and the Constitution through a motion passed with votes in favour from PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos and Foro Asturias. The motion received 208 votes in favour, 45 against and 2 abstentions. It calls for the country's unity to be defended "in the face of any attempt for a secession referendum by one part".
The motion was proposed by Clara San Damián for PP, calling on Pedro Sánchez's government to take a stance either "yes to the unity of Spain or yes to the independence supporters". According to San Damían, PSOE has moved ever further away from its obligations "to draw closer to Spain's enemies".
The senator accused Sánchez, the prime minister, of "ceding" to the threats of the Catalan president, Quim Torra, and proposing a referendum on self-government. "They should return once and for all to the constitutionalist consensus which allowed us to face up to the independence challenge," she said.
For PSOE, Marcelino Iglesias defended their vote in favour of the motion as it proposes "something obvious", but called on PP to respect article 2 of the Constitution in its entirety, not only when it refers to Spanish unity. That article also establishes that the Constitution "recognises and guarantees the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions of which [Spain] is composed, and the solidarity amongst them all".
