King Felipe this evening delivered a rare and fiery speech against the Catalan government’s move toward independence from Spain.
The King, who spoke from Zarzuela Palace, called this week’s illegal pro-independence referendum and other developments a threat to “national sovereignty.”
Catalan leaders have been pushing for a legal referendum for years, something the central government has rejected, fearing many people will use the occasion to cast a protest vote over economic and other grievances.
The Catalan leadership is now threatening to declare independence even though polls show most Catalans don’t support the move.
Don Felipe is calling their actions “unacceptable disloyalty,” and against Democracy and the rule of law, reiterating constitutional protections and Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy.
The King’s speech is almost unprecedented. His father, King Juan Carlos, delivered major messages during his abdication and during an attempted coup in the early 1980’s.
King Juan Carlos in 1981.
Left wing and pro-independence parties slammed the speech for not focusing enough on dialogue. The King, however, has pressed for dialogue numerous times before.
“These moments are hard but we will overcome,” said the King, stressing Catalonia would continue being Spanish.
He said the Crown would continue standing by Democracy and the Constitution, and the “unity and permanence of Spain.”
King Felipe once again used his bully pulpit to address the crisis in Catalonia, where pro-independence parties are looking to force a referendum on independence.
The King, during remarks in recent days at an awards ceremony related to culture, spoke about Spain’s “constitutional democracy” and national “coexistence.”
Don Felipe said the Spanish Constitution would prevail as the guarantor of liberty and progress, and against those who seek to break it.
Don Felipe, who carried the Spanish flag during the opening ceremonies in 1992, said participants “represented all we are and all that we can achieve together.”
The King also met with Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, known for her left leaning views but also her discomfort with independence.
The King, speaking to an audience that included Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, who favors a referendum on independence, expressed “sincere and firm commitment” to Girona and Catalonia.
The King also called on the audience to recall actions and values that “have made Catalonia great” and, as a result, “all of Spain.”
The King and the Madrid government have repeatedly stressed territorial unity, coexistence and the rule of law.
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 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.
Don Felipe said the Spanish constitution is a “grand pact that defends, preserves and embraces the rights and liberties of citizens.”
The King also said the 1978 document “defends the communities of Spain in the exercise of its diverse cultures and traditions, languages and institutions, and consecrates the liberty, justice, equality and political pluralism as essential values of our coexistence.”
His Majesty also spoke about Spain’s commitment to European integration and said he felt “profoundly European.”
King Felipe also met with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who have expressed solidarity with a united Spain and suggested opposition to Catalan nationalism.
King Felipe highlighted Spain’s role in the international arena and called for unity amid strong divisions at home, particularly from Catalan separatism.
Don Felipe, speaking at the United Nations last week, noted the soon to be celebrated 40-year anniversary of the Spanish transition.
The King said the transition “allowed us to pass from a dictatorship to a politics of freedom and human rights, marked by a commitment to historic reconciliation and a spirit of coexistence.”
King Felipe, marking the first address to the General Assembly of his young reign, said Spain had a “profound sense of equality, and rejects fanaticism, violence, intolerance and loves piece.”
Even though the King’s speech as international in nature, it’s hard for observers not to attempt ties to the current controversy in Spain.
The Spanish government either helps write or approves His Majesty’s messages. It’s the same government calling for unity amid separatism, and rejecting the Catalan Government’s planned referendum on statehood or independence.
Noting a version of Pablo Picasso’s famous painting Guernica, which shows the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, which was particularly harsh on Catalonia and is seen as the true beginning on World War II, King Felipe called for “more unity against fanaticism, intolerance and barbarism.”
He called for “more unity to fight poverty, misery and marginalization. More unity for education and health care for all. And more unity to defend with resolve the dignity of all human beings.”
LOS BORBONES 