Iñaki Ellacuria 4/02/2020
After a season of internal turbulence, Catalan Civil Society (SCC) has once again placed itself at the forefront of Catalan constitutionalism and prepares informative actions in Brussels against pro-independence propaganda. The president of the entity, Fernando Sánchez Costa, participates this Wednesday in Madrid in a colloquium of “The Spain that gathers”.
You have always claimed the unity of constitutionalism, what do you think of the sum of PP and Cs in the Basque Country? And the possibility of being repeated in Catalonia?
We will not go into partisan issues. We have always welcomed positively any initiative that allows to add constitutional vote and more if it is in Catalonia. What we will do is work so that Catalan constitutionalism comes to vote in mass as happened on 21-D of 2017. It is decisive.
It seems difficult to recover the “spirit of October 8”, the great constitutionalist demonstration of Barcelona with the PSC, Cs and PP …
It hurts us to see the inability of the constitutionalist parties to weave tunes that are fundamental at this decisive moment for Spain. A great state agreement that allows us to overcome the hegemony of the nationalists is urgent. That requires shared strategies and the will to win the battle in the field of ideas and politics.
How do you see the government dialogue table with separatism?
We support the dialogue within the Constitution, but the formula chosen is not the most appropriate. This table has no lace in the Carta Magna. There is a double risk: the temptation in which all governments have succumbed for 40 years to give the keys of Catalonia to ERC, as was done before with Pujol, to guarantee stability in Madrid. That would lay the foundations for future independence. Second, to confuse nationalist demands with those of all of Catalonia, thus obviating the vindications of Catalan constitutionalism.
Does Catalan constitutionalism feel abandoned today?
There is a risk of reverse disaffection in Catalonia. The real danger that those Catalans who remained loyal to the Constitution and who defend the unity of Spain in a very difficult context will again be ignored by the State. There is fear and some melancholy because lately we have not found the echo and support of before. It is normal that the Catalan crisis ends up depleting, but it is the crisis of Spain and the future of the country not only depends on what happens in Moncloa, it is in everyone’s hands.
Has this concern been transferred to President Sánchez?
We have a good dialogue with the PSC. Now we ask Sánchez to receive SCC as the main voice of Catalan civil constitutionalism. Without taking into account there will be no solution in Catalonia, we cannot return to the previous status quo and accept a consensus dictated by nationalism to guarantee stability. From a constructive point of view, we want our voice to be taken into account in the public discussion agenda.
What do you ask the president?
A fair and balanced electoral law in Catalonia; that the presence of Spanish be normalized in Catalan public life as its own language. Guarantee the neutrality of public spaces and administration; the depoliticization of public media, Mossos and Education. As well as a greater presence of the State in Catalonia.
You have organized a mobilization this Friday to protest the pro-independentist cuts of the Avenue Meridiana of Barcelona
We are also a social movement and we want to prevent pro-independentist ANC from taking control of professional associations and doing whatever they want in the urban space without anyone answering them. Our mobilization is a symbolic and effective gesture to raise public awareness of a very serious event, which for 150 days a separatist group cuts one of the main arteries of the city, disturbing the neighbors. We are convinced that if these cuts were in the upper area of Barcelona, where there is a lot of nationalist voter, they would have already been dissolved by the Mossos.
https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2020/03/04/5e5eb641fdddff1d558b457d.html
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