Spanish press ignores Puigdemont's Madrid trip, focuses on Trump instead
Only La Razón’s editorial deals with the Catalan president's event, stressing that no Spanish ministers were in attendance
BarcelonaLast Monday Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was in Madrid for a morning get-together with media, during which he argued for the need to find a "political solution" to hold an independence referendum in Catalonia. Among the event’s attendees, however, were no representatives of the Spanish government, the PP, and Ciudadanos. Also giving scant attention to the words of the president was the Spanish press: while they mentioned the event, Spain's main newspapers did not dedicate their editorials --the space where media voice their opinions-- to Puigdemont's visit. Instead, on Tuesday they chose to express their views on Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US presidency, and to the controversy surrounding FC Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué.
The only media outlet to dedicate its editorial to Puigdemont's visit was Madrid daily La Razón, which accused the President of the Generalitat of "repeating his proposal to ignore the law", in relation to the referendum on independence. The article explains that "this attack has been repeated since it was pioneered by Artur Mas” and "nobody from the pro-independence ranks dares to challenge it, as traumatic and frustrating as it might be.”
La Razón’s editorial states that —despite all the "offers, proposals, and infinite negotiations”— Puigdemont “must face the facts”; namely, that "the law cannot be ignored". The Madrid paper writes that “Puigdemont's disregard for the rule of law can only lead to growing frustration for those who believed his fantasy” and notes that the president made his address to an audience "devoid of ministers", and that only Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias wanted to hear “the same old speech which is now in the hands of the courts”.
The Spanish daily, in this vein, slams Puigdemont and the leader of Podemos for meeting in a restaurant, "a space far removed from any institutional representation". The editorial ends by saying that "the transparency of the president's separatist attack was seen by nobody. Not even over dessert”.
The other newspapers dedicated their editorials to Trump's controversial path to the White House. This was the case with El País and El Mundo, as well as Catalonia’s El Punt Avui and El Periódico. Another editorial subject was Piqué's announcement that he is to quit the Spanish national football team; this was the focus of La Vanguardia and El Periódico.
