Catalonia crisis shows Spain's constitution is no longer fit for purpose

Amid reports swirling that Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont, was either set to call new elections to the Catalan parliament or declare full independence from Spain, he abruptly cancelled a scheduled press conference on October 26. When he did speak, he did not call elections and said it was up to Catalonia’s parliament to decide how to act.

For Puigdemont, calling new elections would be a high-risk tactic. Even though many have come to deeply dislike the government’s violent response to Catalonia’s independence referendum on October 1, there is also dissatisfaction among Catalans who do not want independence. Puigdemont cannot guarantee that another poll will deal him a stronger hand. It could be seen as a tactic to remove the threat of an imposition of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which would revoke Catalonia’s powers of autonomy – although the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has not officially confirmed that this would be the case.

Following Puigdemont’s semi-declaration of independence on October 10, he called for an opening of negotiations with Rajoy. But due to errors on both sides, the possibility for constructive dialogue remains feeble.

The decision of Catalan nationalists to commit to a legally binding referendum, despite the Constitutional Court ruling it to be illegal, was a statement intended to draw a line in the sand. The Rajoy government, however, fanned the fire rather than put it out. By bringing the Civil Guard onto the streets of Barcelona, and using every little bit of the crowd control legislation passed in July 2015, the government succeeded in turning an increasing amount of Catalans against them. The arrests of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez, the leaders of the two main nationalist organisations in Catalonia, also sparked further outrage.
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