After the passing of the Spanish Penal Code reform affecting the crimes of sedition and misuse of funds, prime minister Pedro Sánchez has asserted, with respect to Catalonia: "The unilateral route [to independence] is not contemplated, the process is over." In response to these statements, the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, told radio station SER: "This has not finished," and added: "Everyone's entitled to an opinion, but the fact is that we are not giving up our positions. If anyone thinks that because we have reached agreements, we have given up our convictions, they don't understand what is happening in Catalonia".
Aragonès then referred to the dialogue table between the Spanish and Catalan governments, insisting that the next step is to "address the fundamental issue": the relationship between Catalonia and Spain. According to the president of the Generalitat, the best scenario to deal with this is to agree with the state on holding a referendum. Asked about alternatives if an accord on this cannot be reached, Aragonès refused to put alternative scenarios on the table. "The best way for a referendum to take place is for there to be an agreement between the parties," he remarked.
President Aragonès recalled that in Parliament and in opinion polls, a clear majority in Catalonia wants to vote to resolve the conflict. In order to achieve this, he does not close the door to any route, such as, for example, reforming the Spanish Constitution. "If the issue is with the Constitution and not with political will, let's address it," he declared. He stated that in the coming months he would like to discuss this way of resolving the conflict with the Spanish executive: "We would like to address this in the coming months, because in the end it is the nature of the conflict. We must go into this understanding that there are several positions and they are all legitimate."
Reform of the Penal Code
Aragonès gave a positive evaluation of the passing of the reform of the Penal Code and denied that there was misuse of public funds with regard to the 1st October 2017 referendum. Thus, he backed the changes made to the legal definition of this crime when there is no profit motive, to prevent it from being used to "pursue actions that are merely political." Asked how these changes in the legislation might affect the case of Carles Puigdemont, the president said: "No-one is making his legal situation more difficult. We are responsible for the content of the reform, not for the interpretation that the judiciary might make of it."
Pedro Sánchez asserts that there will be no referendum
For his part, the Spanish prime minister has made it clear that, from his point of view, the independence process is over. "There will be no consultation on self-determination in Catalonia, not only because it has no place in the Constitution, but because we must contribute with solutions that help overcome the fracture in Catalan society," he affirmed.