Pedro Sánchez calls on political forces to preserve social harmony and dialogue over unilateralism

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

Pedro Sánchez highlighted the parallels and connections between Brexit and the situation in Catalonia, for which there is a single common response: the need to strengthen the European project and the Spain project. He believes that "Catalan independentism stifles the European project by challenging the collective Spain project" and that "the strength of union is based on integration, never segregation".

The President of the Government defended the Spanish Constitution, a plural Spain, proud of its territorial diversity, the self-rule of its autonomous regions and dialogue over unilateralism. "Self-rule", said Pedro Sánchez, "means social harmony, and that is what we must preserve as political leaders; our social harmony is what is at stake here, not independence".

He also recalled that the Government of Spain will not allow the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra [Regional Police Force of Catalonia] to be derelict in their duties and, if that attitude continues, the Government of Spain will deploy the State law enforcement agencies to Catalonia to ensure public security. The Government of Spain will not accept constitutional order to be violated and "everything found to be outside the framework of the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy will receive a calm but firm, proportional and resounding response from the Social and Democratic State under the Rule of Law".

In his speech, Pedro Sánchez confirmed that a Council of Ministers will be held on 21 December in Barcelona and that it will approve an increase to the minimum wage in 2019 to 900 euros, which is an increase of 22% and the largest increase since 1977. "A rich country", he said, "cannot have poor workers".

Guarantees for the people living in Campo de Gibraltar

Pedro Sánchez stressed that, as is the case with the Catalan pro-independence movement, Brexit "was launched on an unprecedented campaign of lies and misinformation" and that "we are facing a movement that goes against history and against reason" that "will bring dire consequences for the United Kingdom", he warned.

Pool Moncloa / J.M. CuadradoAs regards the Withdrawal Agreement signed by the Member States of the European Union on 25 November in Brussels, the President of the Government stressed that it safeguards the rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom and vice-versa, "an absolute priority for the Government of Spain", he said. In terms of markets and services, it also guarantees the free movement of goods commercialised following the end of the transitional period established, ending on 31 December 2020.

Pedro Sánchez highlighted the Government of Spain's priority to offer peace of mind and security to the people living in Campo de Gibraltar and said that Spain "has more than achieved the goals proposed at the start of negotiations", going on to stress that "Article 184 does not include Gibraltar within the territorial scope of the future relationship" and saying that the Political Declaration from the European Council and the European Commission firstly requires prior agreement from Spain to negotiate any agreement by the European Union that applies to Gibraltar and, secondly, excludes Gibraltar from the general negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

The President of the Government went on to mention the postponement of a vote on the agreement by the British Parliament on Tuesday and stressed that "the Government of Spain has adopted the necessary measures to ensure the least possible impact on Spain and its citizens if the Withdrawal Agreement is not approved". He then stressed that the Declaration from the European Council and European Commission will remain in effect even it is not ratified by the British Parliament, meaning "that we have defined the framework for relations between the European Union and Gibraltar for the decades ahead" and that "those relations include Spain".

Non official translation