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Spain asks court to close three Catalan ’embassies’
BARCELONA, July 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Spain’s central government said Tuesday
it has asked a court to order Catalonia to close three office’s representing
the separatist-minded region’s interests abroad.
The government filed the request on Monday with the High Court of Justice of
Catalonia demanding that the Catalan “embassies” in Berlin, Geneva and London
close their doors, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The activity of these missions “clearly responds to the goals of
Catalonia’s separatist process, which has been declared unconstitutional by
the Constitutional Court,” the statement said.
Spain’s central government imposed direct rule over Catalonia in October
2017 after the wealthy northeastern region declared independence to no avail
and ordered all of its foreign missions closed except the one in Brussels.
But Catalonia, which has its own language, has reopened missions aboard
after Madrid’s direct rule over the region ended in June 2018 and Catalonia
regained its autonomy.
“We are not worried. Having a presence in the world is not just out will,
it is also our obligation,” the head of foreign relations of Catalonia’s pro-
independence regional government, Alfred Bosch, told AFP.
The activity of these foreign missions, which aim to improve Catalonia’s
foreign relations in preparation of a possible independent Catalan state, is
“legal and legitimate,” he added.
Polls show Catalonia’s population of around 7.5 million people — roughly
the size of Bulgaria’s — are divided almost 50/50 on the issue of
independence.
BSS/AFP/RY/1915 hrs