Rajoy exposed when reminded he cannot withdraw nationality from any Catalan

BarcelonaMariano Rajoy was made to look foolish in an interview on Onda Cero Radio when he was unable to respond to host Carlos Alsina as to how he proposed to withdraw Spanish and European citizenship from Catalans when the Spanish Constitution (Article 11.2) prohibits doing so for all "Spaniards by birth", regardless of country of residence, as long as they express their desire to keep it. Rajoy did not answer, but implied that the European citizenship was a different case. The host reminded him that European citizenship is a simple consequence of being a Spanish national. "This is an argument that leads nowhere", Rajoy declared, as he tried to move on to another subject.

European citizenship follows as a direct consequence of Spanish nationality. Even in the case of an eventual expulsion of an independent Catalonia from the EU, Catalans would maintain their European citizenship and, with it, the right to free movement.

Paradoxically, however, the rest of Europeans would have their freedom of movement in Catalonia limited. This is one of the arguments wielded by the pro-independence movement to underline that Catalonia´s membership in the EU would be uninterrupted, as this also defends the acquired rights of all European citizens.