Catalonia determined to secede from Spain: Officials

The Catalonian government says it will use its democratic mandate to push forward with secession from Spain because Madrid has failed to cooperate on the issue.

The Spanish state "has left us feeling that we just don’t have an alternative," Catalan Foreign Minister Raul Romeva told the British daily The Guardian on Wednesday

Romeva said the enduring hostile policy from the Spanish side had left the region with no choice but to pursue the independence agenda, with or without the approval of Madrid.

"We have always said that we would have preferred a Scottish-type scenario, where we could negotiate with the state and hold a coordinated and democratic referendum. We keep talking to Madrid, but all we get back from them is an echo.”

The president of the Catalan parliament Carme Forcadell also recalled a recent scandal involving Spain’s Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz and head of Catalonia’s anti-fraud office Daniel de Alfonso.

The two have been secretly recorded discussing possible probes which could be launched against pro-independence politicians in the region.

“How can they say that when the interior minister, who’s meant to defend the interests of all citizens, is caught conspiring to find evidence against citizens solely because they think differently? Romeva said.

The Catalan pro-independence parties adopted a resolution on the separation process in November 2015 after winning a majority in the 135-seat parliament in September that year. Madrid has hit back and declared the move unconstitutional.

In November 2014, then Catalan President Artur Mas staged a symbolic independence referendum after the government in Madrid blocked his bid to hold an official referendum.

Nearly 80 percent of the 2.2 million people who took part in the vote backed secession, though the turnout was slightly more than 40 percent. Spain's Constitutional Court immediately ruled the poll illegal.

The Catalan nationalists regarded the vote as a defining moment. They said that the September 2015 election, through which a pro-independence coalition government came to power, was a de facto referendum on the region’s independence.

Catalonia already has autonomy in health, education and policing. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, however, wants to create a central bank, armed forces and diplomatic services.

The Spanish government has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of independence for Catalonia. 

The resource-rich region provides at least one-fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) and many of its residents believe they are disproportionately taxed by the government in Madrid.

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