Statement by the President of the Government in the Upper House of Parliament

2017.10.27

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Madrid

President of the Government.- A very good afternoon to you. I would like, in the first place, to thank the Members of the Upper House of the People's Party, of the Socialist Party, of Ciudadanos and of the Canary Island Coalition, and of all those people allied with us (Union of the People of Navarre, the parties in the Canary Islands, etc.) for their support for the proposal made by the government to trigger Article 155 of the Constitution.

What has taken place today in the Regional Parliament of Catalonia is unequivocal proof of the necessity of the Upper House approving this government proposal. Today the Regional Parliament of Catalonia has approved something which, in the opinion of the vast majority of people, is not only in violation of the law, but is also a criminal action, because it means declaring something that is not possible: the independence of Catalonia.

At any event, what I want to say is that, with this authorisation from the Upper House, the government will take such decisions as are necessary to recover legality, and we will do so this afternoon. We will hold an ordinary Council of Ministers at 5 pm and an extraordinary Council of Ministers at 6 pm. The goal, I repeat, is to recover legality.

Hence, I would call for calm from all the people of Spain and of Catalonia; things will be done well, they will be done with moderation and they will be done effectively, as we have to date. Spain is a serious country, it is a great nation and we are not prepared, under any circumstance whatsoever, to allow certain people to try and wipe out our Constitution, our rules on co-existence and the rules of the game that have served for Spain, over the last 40 years, to become one of the most democratic and prosperous countries in the world.

Hence, I call for calm. The State will react, it now has the support of the Upper House and rest assured that we will rise to the circumstances.

I will appear before you again later this evening.

Thank you very much.

Non official translation