The main objective for Catalonia is to begin a new period of "peace" and "social harmony", says Mariano Rajoy

Telecinco, Madrid

The President of the Government again recalled that "a parallel legal situation was invented" in Catalonia, something "genuinely unbelievable in a democratic country such as Spain". Although he admitted that triggering Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution was not an "easy" decision, he acknowledged that it served to change "many things".

In this regard, he also stressed that legality has been restored in Catalonia and elections have been called within a legal framework, and "we now face a situation of much greater normality". "The goal now is for Catalonia to recover peace and social harmony following the elections on 21 December", he added.

21 December

As regards Article 155, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, stressed that "it is a democratic act" provided for under the Spanish Constitution, which states that, "under exceptional circumstances, the State is entitled to defend itself".

As regards the elections on 21 December, the President of the Government is convinced that "things will go well for those of us who believe in the law", "in the rule of law", "in national sovereignty and in the unity of Spain".

Reform of the Spanish Constitution

When asked about the possible return of Carles Puigdemont to Catalonia before 21 December, the President of the Government stressed that "we should expect anything" from him, although the former President of the Regional Government of Catalonia "has a duty to obey the law and comply with the Spanish Constitution" in any case.

Pool Moncloa/Ramos

As regards a possible constitutional reform, Mariano Rajoy said he is willing to talk about it but "it is not one of my priorities" because "there are much more important and pressing things to be done in Spain".

However, he added that such a reform "cannot ever be undertaken as a reward for those who sought to destroy the Spanish Constitution" because "that would be ridiculous" and "a poor message for everyone".

The process of lies

As regards the campaign launched on social media networks on the Catalan process, the President of the Government stressed that "it is an objective fact" that "55% of the accounts dealing with the topic of Catalonia were false" and "came from Russia", and 30% from Venezuela. At any event, Mariano Rajoy recalled that similar campaigns were launched for Brexit, during the French presidential elections this year and in the German election campaign.

As regards the statements made by Marta Rovira, the General Secretary of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) [Republican Left of Catalonia], on the alleged use of violence by the State in response to the unilateral declaration of independence, Mariano Rajoy stressed that it is "a lie", "slanderous", and "shameful" because "the Government of Spain threatened absolutely nobody".

Pool Moncloa/RamosIn this regard, Mariano Rajoy added that "all this stems from a process of huge lies". According to Mariano Rajoy, first it was said that "Europe was going to support them", that "they were never going to leave Europe" under any circumstances and that it would not affect the economy. "As we saw", he said, "not one of the 28 countries that currently make up the European Union" offered any support to "what the Regional Government of Catalonia did" and, furthermore, 2,700 companies have already abandoned Catalan soil.

1 October

As regards the events in Catalonia on 1 October, the President of the Government defended the police action. He stressed that "the State law enforcement agencies fulfilled their duty" because, "under instruction from the Judiciary", they tried to prevent the celebration of "a referendum that the Constitutional Court said was illegal".

Furthermore, Mariano Rajoy did not wish to assess the role played by the Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra. He simply stressed that, at present, there is someone leading the regional police force who "is doing things reasonably".

Fractured society in Catalonia

After recognising that the sovereignty process has led to a fractured society in Catalonia, the President of the Government stressed that "the main objective in Catalonia" is to begin a new period of "social harmony". "People want peace and want their leaders to do their jobs", he said.

He went on to say that, "everyone" needs to make a joint effort to "heal the wounds" and recover the economic growth that had already begun. "If we can establish a situation of certain normality as from January, things will continue to go well for us in Spain", he said. Pool Moncloa/Ramos

In this regard, the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, stressed that the "Spain is robbing us" slogan bandied about during the sovereignty process is just another "lie" because "Spain has never robbed Catalonia"; quite the opposite, "Spain is based on solidarity" just as "the people of Spain have been". In his opinion, "we should learn our lesson" because "we have achieved many things together over the course of many years".

Public prosecutors

Finally, the President of the Government also said a few words in memory of the two members of the Public Prosecutor's Office who died recently. He said that the two public prosecutors were "people loyal to their country and its constitution" and "a symbol for Spain" because they represent "many civil servants who have defended the State by fulfilling a wide range of duties".

Non official translation