In recent days King Felipe had cleared parts of his schedule to deal with developments in the divided Catalan Parliament. He had said, “These are difficult days.”
Today Don Felipe added, “The Constitution will prevail. Let nobody doubt that. Our Constitutional order and the Constitutional principles that dictate our coexistence will remain fully in place.”
King Felipe cleared parts of his schedule this week to deal with the Catalan Parliament’s pro-independence resolution, local media outlets reported.
Catalan leaders approved the resolution in recent days but have yet to form a government. Pro-independence parliamentarians are not on the same page when it comes to economic and other policies.
The King has met with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on the secessionist defiance, as its being called. Rajoy is turning to the constitutional court to invalidate the resolution.
The Catalan Parliament decided to move ahead with the non-binding pro-independence resolution despite not getting a majority of votes during the recent elections.
Don Felipe said, “Political action and the use of military means, while necessary, are not sufficient to prevent and confront the number of conflicts rooted in the terrorist phenomena.”
He went on, “That’s why there’s a need to analyze and put into practice a strategy that incorporates non-traditional security measures, concrete foreign policy actions and fundamental actors, like young people, women and local communities.”
King Felipe has strengthened his calls for Spanish unity amid ongoing talks in region of Catalonia about secession.
Pro-independence candidates recently won elections to the Catalan Parliament, but failed to get a majority of overall votes.
His Majesty addressed the issue indirectly during remarks at events surrounding the prestigious Princess of Asturias awards — formerly knows at the Prince of Asturias Awards.
This week the King and Queen watched as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also indirectly rejection secessionist sentiments during a Madrid Royal Palace gathering.
Kerry was on a brief official visit to Spain following an agreement over U.S. troop presence there.
Spain and the U.S. also penned a deal to clean up pollution stemming from an accident involving nuclear weapons during the 1960’s.
The Secretary of State was scheduled to be in Madrid earlier this year but suffered a cycling accident in France.
Other appearances
Members of the Royal Family have had a busy several weeks. Also on Monday, King Felipe and Queen Letizia held a gathering of the Cervantes Institute leadership and Ibero-American ambassadors at El Pardo Palace.
King Felipe met briefly with Catalan President Artur Mas since the Autonomous Community’s recent elections, in which Mas was helping lead a pro-independence ticket.
Roughly 2,000 people received invitations to the palace reception and Albert Rivera, head of the rising party Ciudadanos, was among the big names in attendance.
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