The Catalan government has called on the Spanish executive and the European Union to "make a careful reading" of the result of the elections held this weekend in Catalonia, in which the votes for pro-independence parties exceeded 50% of the total.
After the acting Catalan cabinet analyzed Sunday's results at its weekly meeting, the minister for the presidency, Meritxell Budó, told a press conference that "the message of the public has been clear" and "once again the option of working for a political solution to the conflict has been clearly strengthened." "The parties committed to an amnesty and self-determination have garnered more support than ever before, this time surpassing 50% in votes for the first time," she noted.
The conflict is not resolved
All this must enable "Madrid and Brussels to see that the conflict is unresolved, that they must face it directly and that it must involve self-determination and an amnesty."
The Catalan minister avoided any self-criticism of the functioning of the governing coalition between JxCat and ERC and limited herself to pointing out that it is up to the political forces of the Catalan chamber "to build a majority that allows a new government".
"The polls have once again said that in one way or another, the parties have to reach an understanding," admitted Borràs, who asked the groups "to be able to dialogue and to do their job."
Meritxell Budó, Catalan government minister: "A clear message for Madrid and Brussels in favour of a referendum"
Voter turnout
Giving the Catalan executive's views on the functioning of the election process, she recalled that the government, with the support of the parliamentary parties' table, had preferred to delay the elections until after the third wave of Covid-19, but despite everything, the government and local administrations deployed the necessary protocols to celebrate the election day normally and without notable incidents.
Budó said she very regretted the decline in turnout (from 79% in 2017 to under 54% this year), especially given the growing trend in recent elections.
When asked about the entry of far-right Vox into Parliament and what the response should be, she recalled that it was up to the parliamentary parties to decide on the functioning of the house but admitted that "it is not good news that the populist far-right is in Parliament". The minister did not hide her concern about the entry of a political group with a discourse that, among other issues, denies the existence of sexist violence.
Hasél's arrest
Budó also gave her views on the arrest of Pablo Hasél, which took place this morning at the University of Lleida. "It is another example of the retrograde movement of rights in Spain, which we have been denouncing and suffering from Catalonia for some time," she said.
The minister criticised the extreme action of imprisoning a rapper for his songs, and also recalled the case of Valtónyc who left for Brussels in 2018 in order to avoid the same fate.
"We must denounce this degeneration of rights in Spain that we have been suffering for too long in Catalonia," warned Budó, who avoided giving any opinion on the action of the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police who had to execute the arrest warrant, which, she said, was because of their role as judicial police in Catalan territory.
In the main image, the Government during the cabinet meeting / Rubén Moreno