Spanish FM calls for Catalan separatism to be "suffocated"

Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, described moves for the independence of the Catalan region of Spain a "fully fledged uprising" and said it must be "suffocated," in an interview on Spanish television on Monday morning.

Garcia-Margallo pulled no punches when speaking on Antenna 3 television 24 hours before the first meeting of the Board of Spokespeople called by the president of the Catalan National Assembly, Carme Forcadell, in order to take the first steps to transmit the resolution passed by Junts Pel Si and CUP to initiate the independence process they announced last week.

He said the resolution for Catalan independence, which ignored the dictates of Spanish institutions such as the Constitutional Court, was nothing less than a "fully fledged revolution," adding that "we see tensions every time there is a crisis in Spanish history," citing the years 1640, 1714, 1931 and 1934.

He ruled out any attempts to negotiate with Catalan separatists less than two months ahead of the Spanish general election saying "it is not the time for seduction. What we have is a fully-fledged uprising which is made more serious by two problems, firstly that it is being directed by an institution of state and secondly that it is splitting Catalan society in two."

Garcia-Margallo added that the coalition headed by Artur Mas had also "promised a paradise lost," to Catalans while at the same time setting them "against the rest of Spanish society." Endit