Spain’s Cabinet prepares

An extraordinary cabinet meeting in Madrid tomorrow will be told the details of the central Government’s intervention in Catalonia, while yesterday the PSOE and the Spanish government began putting the finishing touches to an operation which will effectively deprive the Catalan institutions of self-government. With almost no details known at this stage, it seems likely that the extent of Mariano Rajoy’s implementation of Article 155 will be far from cosmetic and go further than the areas of Economy and Security. What is obvious is that the measures will attempt to relegate the office of the President of the Generalitat to that of a mere figurehead. The office must remain intact as Carles Puigdemont is the only person legally empowered to dissolve Parliament and call elections.

The PSOE has from the beginning attempted to present its participation as a guarantor of a “light” 155, aimed at controlling only the two key areas mentioned earlier while at the same time, ensuring early elections. The legal status of the office of President may complicate that. The PP, on the other hand, wishes to show Catalonia, Spain and Europe that it is firmly in control and unwilling to bend. Ciutadans, which also supports the Government, takes a much tougher line. Both Cs and the PSOE reacted to the mandatory reply from Carles Puigdemont to Spain’s PM as “unacceptable blackmail” which comprised a “threat”.

The implementation of Article 155 leaves the role of Parliament up in the air as its provisions are so imprecise that they can be interpreted and implemented in whichever way the Spanish PM deems to be appropriate.