Statement by Government of Spain on resolution adopted by Regional Parliament of Catalonia on Wednesday

This resolution states that "the people of Catalonia are legitimately entitled to launch their own constituent process that will consist of three stages: a preliminary participatory process; a subsequent period of disconnection from the State and the calling of constituent elections to form a Constituent Assembly, which will draw up a draft constitution. This text will be endorsed by the public in a referendum to be held during the third stage".

The Government of Spain understands that said resolution from the Regional Parliament of Catalonia seriously violates the Ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court on 2 December 2015, which declared, as unconstitutional and void, Resolution 1/XI, of the Regional Parliament of Catalonia, on the start of the so-called 'disconnection process', approved on 9 November 2015, as well as the recent Ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court on 19 July 2016, which warns "the competent bodies involved and the individual representatives thereof, especially the Parliamentary Board, under its own responsibility, of its duty to prevent or suspend any initiative that ignores or avoids said mandates".

The meeting of the General Committee of State Secretaries and Under-Secretaries held at the Moncloa Palace Complex on Wednesday morning studied this issue and agreed to submit it to the next Council of Ministers for approval.