The Catalan government said it wanted to avoid a “traumatic break” from Spain and appealed to the EU to help mediate with Madrid, in signs it was holding back from an early declaration of independence after Sunday’s referendum on secession.
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said that after Sunday’s vote, when 90 per cent of the 2.3m ballots cast were in favour of independence, Catalonia now had the right to be free from Spain. But he hinted that this would not happen immediately.
“There is no button to push for independence, it does not exist,” said Mr Puigdemont at a press conference. He called on the EU to help broker negotiations: “It is not a domestic matter . . . It’s obvious that we need mediation.”
Financial markets have been rattled by the vote, which brought clashes between voters and the police and raised fears of an immediate break with Spain. Madrid’s main equities benchmark, the Ibex 35, closed down 1.2 per cent and yields on 10-year Spanish bonds were up 7 basis points.
Sunday’s referendum, while illegal and invalid under Spanish law, was also a historic challenge to the authority of the Spanish state which threatens to plunge the country into a political and constitutional crisis.
As Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy met other party leaders on Monday, his government gave little sign it was open to talks as long as the separatist Catalan government pushes for full independence from Spain, in contravention of the law and the constitution.
Fernando Martínez-Maillo, a senior member of the governing Popular party, said on Monday that the election had been a “grand farce” and the Catalan regional government has been “delegitimised”.
Rafael Catalá, the justice minister, said the government would use all the tools at its disposal — including if necessary the suspension of Catalonia’s autonomy — to enforce the rule of law. “We have always said that we would use all the force of the law,” he said told Spanish television.
There were also hawkish calls by Albert Rivera, the head of the liberal Ciudadanos party which supports the PP government, to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy immediately.
The government on Monday rejected taking these steps right away, although has left the option open for the future.
Meanwhile, Mr Puigdemont demanded that the central government pull out the national police reinforcements it deployed to the region over the weekend to thwart the poll, forcibly in many instances.
The Catalan leader, emboldened by Sunday’s vote, has still left the door open to a unilateral declaration of independence unless talks with Madrid can start. The referendum was “valid and binding”, he said.
“My government, in the next few days, will send the results of today’s vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies,” he said.
The parliament had previously promised independence within 48 hours of a Yes vote