Statements by President of the Government after attending speech by Chairman of the People's Party of Andalusia at Europa Press Informative Breakfast

Madrid

Q.- President of the Government, what do you expect from the declarations by Francesc Homs in the Supreme Court this morning?

President of the Government.- I expect things to unfold normally. Mr Homs is someone for whom the Supreme Court asked for a waiver of immunity from Parliament, which was duly given and there is now a trial. Mr Homs is subject to the law as indeed all 46 million Spaniards are subject to the law. The only thing I hope is that this takes place in a situation of normality, that Mr Homs defends himself, which he is fully entitled to do, and that the Supreme Court administers justice, as it sees fit. I will obviously uphold and respect, as I always do, the decisions of the Supreme Court, whatever they may be and whether I agree with them or not. Hence, normality.

Q.- Can the government guarantee that there will be no further public consultations in Catalonia on this question?

President of the Government.- Consultations on this issue? What do you mean?

Q.- On the independence of Catalonia; on whether a new public consultation will be held.

President of the Government.- A referendum cannot be held, and everyone knows that this is illegal, even those people who are saying that they will call it or are supporting those who want to call it. I believe that one of the basic obligations of all citizens, but above all of those people who hold a responsibility for governing, is to follow the law, and hence, absolutely no-one is, or can be, above the law.

Q.- Do you believe that this is the end of the Spanish State if Mr Homs is convicted?

President of the Government.- Those are things that Mr Homs has said, probably without thinking too much about his comments. What is important here is for the courts to act and for us all to uphold their decisions. Spain is clearly in very good health, it is the oldest nation in Europe, it has been around for a long time and there is a majority interest in remaining together. I believe that a very exciting project exists for Spain's future; we have overcome a very serious economic crisis, we are viewed in Europe at this time as a country that has known how to stand up for itself at difficult times. We now have a lot more business leaders exporting, the economy is better, we are the country that receives the most tourists and the most Erasmus students and, in all honesty, I believe that we can all feel proud of our country even though some people only want to point out what is wrong, and clearly these things exist, but there are more positives than negatives.

Thank you very much.