Letter from President of the Government to President of Regional Government of Catalonia

Dear President,

I write in response to the letter you sent with an attachment on the agreement approved by the Regional Government of Catalonia, in which you ask the Government of Spain to start negotiations on the terms and conditions under which a referendum will be held in Catalonia, together with Motion 122/XI, approved by the plenary session of the Regional Parliament of Catalonia on 18 May.

As you are aware, my interest in dialogue and in reaching agreements with the Regional Government of Catalonia, as with any other regional government, is full and sincere. This interest in dialogue and cooperation between public authorities has been made patently clear over recent years, during which we have reached many agreements and collaborated fully with the Regional Government of Catalonia. The people of Catalonia have benefitted greatly in many areas from this collaboration.

This interest in reaching understandings is subject to the sole restriction of respecting national sovereignty and the rule of law that prevails in our country. As I have had the opportunity to declare on many occasions, including in the meetings we have held, neither you nor I have the power to negotiate those issues that do not fall within our scope of competence. That would mean usurping the rights of the Spanish people as a whole, and consequently, of the people of Catalonia, and no legitimate governor can proceed in this manner.

I have had the opportunity to reiterate to you, both in public and in private, the constitutional obligations incumbent upon both my position and on yours. The first of them, unavoidable for me, is the defense of the constitutional order. It will not go unnoticed to anyone that the political proposal I am invited to subscribe to consists of reaching an agreement with the regional government that you head up which breaches the fundamental basis of the Spanish Constitution.

Allow me to remind you that our constitutional system, which enshrines a democratic State for all of us under the rule of law with full guarantees, also provides for mechanisms to propose all forms of political aspirations, provided that this follows the democratic channels established and commands the necessary parliamentary support. In this regard, as you are aware, my government has invited you to debate your proposal in the Lower House of Parliament as the seat of our national sovereignty, since that is the venue for debating the aspirations that our political pluralism provides for. What cannot be done is to propose a negotiation without involving the true democratic channels provided by the law, which protects us all and imposes obligations on us all, and to this end, the obligation of my government is and will always consist of acting in defence of liberty, peaceful co-existence and the rights of all the people of Catalonia and all other Spanish citizens.

In light of the foregoing, I find it inexcusable to have to once again reiterate not only the impossibility of taking part in what you put forward, but also the impossibility of your regional government proposing such a serious threat to our co-existence and the constitutional order.

Moreover, whilst you are calling for the Government of the Nation to accept the holding of this referendum, you are also preparing a raft of legal initiatives that represent the absolute liquidation of our constitutional order. The dialogue you purport to offer is badly received when you threaten to declare independence in the event that your claims are not met.

As governor and State representative, I invite you to return to the approaches which, far from generating discord and frustration, are in line with the common framework for co-existence and respond to the real needs of the people of Catalonia, from which position, we will be able to find room for understanding to the benefit of everyone.

Mariano Rajoy Brey

President of the Government