Spain’s Catalan president proposes fresh referendum on independence

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Catalan President Pere Aragones on Tuesday proposed an idea for a fresh independence referendum in the northeastern region of Spain.

Presenting a study on the legality of such a vote, Aragones said: “Voting on independence is possible within the current legal context — just like the amnesty law, it’s only a matter of political will.”

According to the study, the best path for holding a vote on whether the region would split from Spain would be using Article 92 of the Spanish constitution regarding a “consultative referendum.”

The referendum question proposed by Aragones is: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state?”

But before anything, the vote would have to be agreed upon by Spain’s king, proposed by the prime minister and authorized by parliament.

On Tuesday, the Spanish government spokesperson quickly ruled out the proposal, saying that a referendum is “clearly and radically opposed” to the government’s policy on Catalonia.

Aragones’s new proposal for a referendum comes ahead of snap elections that he called for the region, which will take place on May 12.

While his separatist party ERC had never ruled out a referendum, negotiating amnesty and more concessions from the Spanish government have been prioritized in recent years.

But with Carles Puigdemont, the hard-edge conservative former president of Catalonia who has been exiled since the botched independence attempt in 2017, now in the running for Catalan president again, the separatist rhetoric could be increasing.

The campaign for the Catalan government has not officially begun, and the Popular Party formally denounced Aragones to the electoral commission, accusing him of using a government press conference for electoral ends.

In 2014, the Catalan government authorized a non-binding referendum on Catalan independence. After voters opted for a “yes” to independence, with participation unclear, the government vowed to hold a binding referendum.

In 2017, that is exactly what the Catalan government tried to do. However, Spain tried to block the vote, including using police forces to stop some voters.

With no legal minimum participation required, the Catalan government said 90% of voters supported independence and tried to unilaterally declare independence from Spain.

That’s when the Spanish government took over the rule of Catalonia, arresting the leaders behind the independence push who did not flee.

But since then, popular enthusiasm for independence seems to have been dwindling.

A 2024 poll by the Political and Social Science Institute of Catalonia (ICPS) found that just 39.5% of Catalans would vote “yes” to independence, while 52.5% said they would prefer to stay in Spain.