QUAN ELS GOSSOS BORDEN, ALGUNA COSA SENTEN...: President Mas: "Right now, the best thing for Catalonia is to freely decide its own future"

• Official statement of the president of the Catalan Government with respect to the abdication of the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I

I would like to offer an official statement on the decision of King Juan Carlos to abdicate the throne.

In the first place, I would like to express, as president of Catalonia, our respect—that of the Catalan institutions and mine in particular—for this decision. After an almost 40-year reign, it might seem to be a logical decision, congruent with what we might call normalcy. It is also true that throughout the Spanish State there is a series of circumstances that we might consider special and that would recommend prudence with respect to all of the causes of King Juan Carlos’ decision.

I insist: there is maximum respect on our part for this decision. It might seem to be a logical decision, and it probably is, within this normalcy of a generational change, but it's also true that at this time, in the whole of the Spanish State, there is a series of special circumstances, that we might even term exceptional, that would recommend prudence when considering the causes of this decision.

Secondly, I would like to also point out that the Catalan people made a sincere and very committed bet, forty years ago, in 1978, on the constitutional pact, with the Spanish Constitution of 1978. A bet embodied by majority support for that Constitution, that was not only sincere and committed but also very widespread, that in short, was a bet on the institutions of the State that were being born, or reborn, and that in part, came out of the content of that constitutional pact. Not only did the institutions give it form, but they also represented the content of the constitutional accord of 1978 itself. And not only did they give it form and represent its content, but in addition, they were to be the guarantors of its completion.

The important institutions of the State, not just the Monarchy, not just the Crown, but the important institutions of the State: the Monarchy, obviously, the Constitutional Court, the General Courts, and some others, were to be the guarantors of the proper completion of that constitutional pact, entered into by the majority of the Catalan people with great sincerity and with a great commitment.

From that moment until now, a generation has gone by, we might even say after close to 40 years, a generation and a half. And that bet made by the majority of the Catalan population in the most sincere and committed fashion, in part, we might even say in good part, has not been fulfilled, not been successful. Indeed a significant and probably majority portion of the Catalan people feel a distance, some might even call it a disaffection, even so much as a disconnection with the majority of the institutions of the state.

I'm not going to get into, on today of all days, an analysis of how King Juan Carlos has acted. Because, obviously, as in any long project and trajectory, as his have been, there are pluses and minuses, it couldn't be any other way. But I believe now is not the time, at least for me, to go into detail in such an analysis. Simply, and I think it is my place to say, that like any public servant, and I underscore that expression "public servant", he also, logically, should be appreciated for the positive contributions that he has made in the whole of the Spanish State during these last four decades.

Thirdly, we wish all the best luck and success to the new monarch, that today is Prince Felipe. From our point of view, that of the Catalan institutions, and I am convinced that this is also the attitude of the majority of the people in Catalonia, there is always the desire for things to go well for Spain. In fact, we wish the best for the whole of Spain and as much as the Monarchy institutionally represents the Spanish State, we also wish it the best.

But, besides that, and I want to underline this most carefully, and if you will, emphatically, we also wish the best for Catalonia and for its people, for the 7 million Catalans who make up our Catalan society. And the best for Catalonia right now is to be able to decide freely, democratically, and peacefully its future as a nation.

I have had the opportunity to listen to King Juan Carlos' announcement, and he has spoken about the Spanish nation that we, obviously, don't deny. But next to the nation that he refers to, there is also a Catalan nation to which these very walls of the Palace of the Generalitat de Catalonia are a clear, living testimony. There is also a Catalan nation and the best thing for Catalonia is that, given the point to which we have arrived in the relationship between Catalonia and the Spanish State, that there be this possibility to decide our future as a nation freely, democratically, and peacefully.

We have a date with the future as a country on November 9, this year, 2014. This is the date with our future that also, the same way that we wish the best for Spain, we wish the best for Catalonia.

There will be, after today's announcement. and I say so solemnly and emphatically, a change of the king of Spain, a change of Spain's monarch. But the Catalan political process will continue forward. There will be a change in king, but there won't be a change in the political process that the people of Catalonia are following so that on November 9th we can decide with this degree of freedom, democracy, and above all peaceful spirit, our collective future.

We ask in this sense of all of the institutions of the State, and I mean all of them, that they respect the will of the Catalan people to freely decide its collective future and that this be done with an attitude of mutual respect, open dialogue, and loyal collaboration.

Se adjunta también la declaración traducida al castellano.