BARCELONA, November 7 (RIA Novosti) — In order for Catalonia to remain part of Spain, Madrid authorities must introduce constitutional reforms and turn the country into a federation, Socialists' Party of Catalonia spokesperson Esther Niubo told RIA Novosti on Friday.
"We hope that an agreement to carry out a constitutional reform in the area of federalism will help achieve a new relationship between Catalonia and the rest of Spain," Niubo said, noting that such a reform would help "acknowledge the multinationalism and multilingualism" of Catalonia and establish a "common but fairer tax code."
"We support a federal Spain, which would recognize the national specifics of Catalonia, its language, culture, provide better financing. But we believe that Catalonia and Spain should continue their journey together," she added.
On November 9, Catalans will be called to the polls to answer two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" and "If so, do you want Catalonia to be an independent state?"
According to Niubo, the results of the upcoming consultation are easy to predict, as those who oppose independence will simply not vote. "The results will be in favor of independence because only sovereignty supporters will vote, and the campaign has been aimed only at a "yes-yes" result," she said.
"The Catalan government initially did not agree to hold the vote with the Spanish government … It will not be a referendum like in Scotland, not the referendum citizens were promised, with legal consequences, but it will enable a large part of the people to express its opinion. Therefore, we believe that challenging it in the Constitutional Court was wrong. But as it has happened, we believe that Catalan authorities must follow the court's orders," Niubo stressed.
Catalan President Artur Mas signed a decree on September 27 scheduling an independence referendum for November 9. The Spanish government announced that it would block the motion by appealing to the Constitutional Court. On September 29, the court suspended the referendum, declaring it illegal.
Mas then suggested an alternative, stating that the voting in November will not be carried out as an official referendum, but as a consultation. However, Spanish central authorities again turned to the Constitutional Court, which blocked the vote. Catalonia has stated that will carry out the consultation despite central government's protests.
