Moncloa to Puigdemont: "National sovereignty is unconditional, period”

Spanish vice president Sáenz de Santamaría claims that "we will always be there” when it comes to money matters

MARIONA FERRER i FORNELLS
2 min

MadridYesterday saw the eighteenth "no" from Mariano Rajoy's government to a negotiated independence referendum in Catalonia. Even with the new conditions set last Friday by Carles Puigdemont, the President of the Generalitat: the possibility of postponing the date of the vote, provided there is an agreement with Spain. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, acting Vice-President of Spain, reiterated that "national sovereignty is unconditional, period”.

During a press conference following the Cabinet meeting, the spokeswoman for the Spanish executive branch signaled that when it is about the "fundamental rights, it's not a question of sitting at a table" to negotiate. "What Puigdemont is asking for cannot be negotiated by us, nor by Congress or the Senate, because it doesn't belong to us, to Puigdemont, or to the chambers. What Puigdemont wants is to negotiate an issue that belongs to all Spaniards, 47 million people", she asserted.

She did say that to comply with budgetary stability and so that the Generalitat doesn't go bankrupt, "we will always be there". Indeed, Cristóbal Montoro, acting Minister of the Treasury, announced that they had spoken with both the PDC —Puigdemont’s party, formerly Convergència-- and ERC to obtain enough support in Congress to be able to overcome the limitations imposed by being merely a caretaker government and pass a bill so that the regional governments may approve their budget.

Sáenz de Santamaría warned Puigdemont that if he moves forward with a referendum, he will be breaking the law. On Wednesday she had already mentioned that the President of the Generalitat was "repeating Artur Mas' mistakes". "If all Spaniards are subject to the law, then Mr. Puigdemont, Mr. Montoro, and I are the first ones that must comply with it", she added. And she warned that "to go further is to exceed the mandate of the Spanish people, and it disrespects national sovereignty".

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