Spain Says Will ‘Immediately’ Arrest Catalan President If He Declares Independence

If you thought the Catalonia issue was going to just go away, you were wrong, because there’s trouble brewing in Spain on Tuesday.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont is holding a presser and apparently, Madrid is ready to “kidnap” him.

Spanish police are ready to arrest Catalan President Carles Puigdemont immediately if he declares independence in the regional parliament,” two people familiar with the government’s plans told Bloomberg, adding that “while a final decision on whether to act has not yet been taken, Spain’s National Police force has elite officers deployed in Catalonia who are prepared to join a raid if Catalan police try to shield Puigdemont.”

 

Regardless of what Puigdemont says here in a few minutes, that underscores how truly tenuous this situation has become, and the IBEX ain’t lovin’ it:

IBEX

Needless to say, the banks are getting hit hard. Here’s CaixaBank and Banco Santander:

Banks

So stay tuned. For now, we’ll leave you with the EU’s position which is unambiguous – they are not going to recognize Catalonia irrespective of what happens, which I suppose is a short-term positive for the euro, but you’ve got to think that over the longer haul, this poses significant risks…

  •  “In the light of the Spanish constitution, the referendum was not legal,” says Alexander Winterstein, spokesman for the European Commission.
  • “This is an internal question for Spain which needs to be settled within the rules of Spain’s constitution,” Winterstein tells reporters in Brussels
  • “If a referendum were organized in line with the Spanish constitution, that would mean that the territory in question would be outside the European Union,” Winterstein says
  • “We called upon all those concerned to get out of this confrontation as quickly as possible and to start dialog,” Winterstein says
  • “Violence can never be a political tool,” Winterstein says
  • “We expressed our confidence in the capacity of Prime Minister Rajoy to manage this delicate process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and the basic fundamental rights of the citizens,” Winterstein says
  • “I won’t speculate on what will happen this evening,” Winterstein says

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