After the four Catalan towns of Cornellà de Terri, Sant Cebrià de Vallalta, Vilobí d'Onyar and Amer, two more municipalities - Arenys de Munt (Maresme county) and Ponts (La Noguera county) - have constituted their own "Local Councils for the Republic" this Saturday.
Thus, both the pro-independence municipal councillors of Arenys de Munt and the town's mayor, Joan Rabasseda, have become part of this new local body which "will be the only local institution that is free and not subject to the powers of the Spanish state," as Rabasseda said.
Translation:
"Arenys de Munt also declares itself free and sovereign territory not subject to the powers of the Spanish state.
Not one step back. Without disobedience there is no independence!" — Tossudament alçats
As the Arenys mayor said in his speech, the Arenys Local Council will recognize "only" the Council for the Republic as a free and sovereign institution of the Catalan Republic "until the effective independence of Catalonia is achieved".
The Belgium-based Council for the Republic is the body created by the exiled Catalan leaders, with participation from the Catalan pro-independence political parties, civil groups, and others. It has just approved a new Framework Document for the promotion of the Local Councils, to build "bottom-up" spaces of Catalan sovereignty.
"At noon, the elected representatives of Arenys de Munt met in front of the Town Hall together with local residents to establish the Local Council for the Republic and reaffirm ourselves as a free and sovereign territory. Here you can read the manifesto."— Junts Per Arenys de Munt
The manifesto explains that the Local Council for the Republic of Arenys de Munt will work for the implementation, at local level, of actions to restore the legitimate government, recover the sovereignty of the institutions, put the independence of the Catalan Republic into effect and complete the approval of the Catalan constitution.