​Now is an important time for some people to reflect and return to reason, common sense and legality", says Mariano Rajoy

2017.9.16

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Santiago de Compostela

The President of the Government considers what happened in the Regional Parliament of Catalonia on 6 and 7 September to be "extremely serious" because in just a few hours the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia were wiped out, and a new form of legality was established, something for which the regional parliament is clearly not empowered". The most serious aspect, added the President of the Government, is that this was done by "running roughshod over the rights of the members and regional MPs of several political parties who were clearly not in agreement with this".

Mariano Rajoy insisted that neither the current government nor any Government of Spain can consent to what is happening in Catalonia and stressed that neither the rule of law nor democracy will accept this.

In this regard, the President of the Government called for the citizens of Catalonia to remain calm because the State will guarantee their rights. "You can be totally and utterly sure that things will soon return to their rightful course", stressed Mariano Rajoy, who declared his interest in things returning to normal "on a voluntary basis by those who have organised the spectacle we are witnessing".

Uphold the law

Furthermore, the President of the Government urged the mayors of Catalonia to uphold the law and not collaborate with the holding of an illegal referendum because "we all have a duty to follow the law".

Once again, the President of the Government a reiterated that the referendum will not be held because "this means liquidating the majority will of the Spanish people, and the rights of the vast majority of the Spanish people and, furthermore, this is prejudicial to the rights of our citizens".

During the closing ceremony of the "Gerardo Fernández Albor and his time" International Symposium, the President of the Government underlined that "when one works against the bounds of the law and indeed against reason, one must appreciate that nothing good can come out of these actions", but clarified that "when one is capable of mending one's ways, thought must be given to all the good that can come of this, above all, for others".

Award of the Gold Medal for Merit at Work

The President of the Government awarded the Gold Medal for Merit at Work to Gerardo Fernández Albor, which was granted by the Council of Ministers back in June. Mariano Rajoy highlighted the legacy of the former President of the Regional Government of Galicia. "His actions in public, political, scientific and cultural life form part of our great collective successes; from the rise of the culture of Galicia - through the leading role played by the publishing house Galaxia - to the expansion of the healthcare system and the first steps of the Regional Government of Galicia to Spain's membership of the European Union".

"Characters such as Gerardo Fernández Albor constitute the finest possible defence of the nobility of politics" and the "vocation for public services", concluded the President of the Government.

Non official translation