2014/12/06

6 December: Spanish Constitution Day

On December 6th Spaniards celebrate Spanish Constitution Day.



The Spanish Constitution no longer belongs to everyone


The 1978 Constitution was designed to allow flexibility and room for political compromise. But its interpretation has now been taken over by the two main political parties in Spain, which have insisted on taking a very restrictive view of devolution and multiculturalism. Such an interpretation might represent the opinion of a majority...

Why Spain is not Federal: the regional model of the Spanish Constitution of 1978


Freedom is not dear because it is rare but rare because it has to be won. Joan Salvat-Papasseit, Mots propis (Proper Words) 1919 «Always» is a word that has no value in history, and thus has no value in politics. Manuel Azaña, Defensa de la autonomía de Cataluña (Defence of the autonomy of Catalonia) 1932 Spain has revealed a whole...


A Constitution that “imprisons” Democracy


Spain is different, it is very often said. And indeed it is. The Spanish experiment with democracy is one of the most limited in Western Europe. The last dictatorship under the fascist General Franco, which ended after almost 40 years, was not the result of a popular dismantling; it was a monitored dissolution after the dictator’s death...

The Catalan Government: an Historical and Democratic Legitimacy


In the ongoing so-called Catalan process for democracy and in the face of the Spanish government's denial of it —along with that of the vast majority of the Spanish political class— there are some who have tried to focus the debate solely on legality versus legitimacy, ignoring all too often that this is also a debate on popular will versus...
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No separation of powers in Spain


Recent events concerning limiting the scope of democracy in Catalonia by the Spanish government convince us that it is about time the international community knew that Spain is not as democratic as it seems. The Spanish Constitutional Court, who has the final say on constitutional matters, and who was in charge of ruling on the appeals...
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FAQ: The Democratic Farce that is the Spanish Constitution 


This week, you’re likely to see #resacelebrar pop up on Twitter’s trending topic list. The hashtag, translated quite literally, means “nothing to celebrate”. What Catalans will be refusing to celebrate is the Spanish holiday dedicated to Spain’s Constitutution. There are many reasons behind that refusal, chief amongst them the fact that...

No Law Against Democracy


The very same day Messrs. Cameron and Salmond sealed the institutional pact for the Scottish referendum, Spain was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (this time for not looking into evidence of torture of Basque journalist Martxelo Otamendi, arrested and imprisoned under anti-terrorist legislation, and later cleared of all...


Catalonia: Spearheading Constitutionalism in Europe


About the author of this article for Help Catalonia Miquel Perez Latre Doctor of History, Archivist and Blogger In the next few years, when Catalonia becomes part again of the free nations, we will finally be able to recover a political tradition of our own, built over more than five centuries of sovereignty....

Better together? Seven big Noes from Spain to Catalonia


They will be topped by legal prosecution and criminal charges against the President of Catalonia because of the symbolic independence vote This past 9 November, more than 2.3M Catalan citizens went to the polling stations to participate in a symbolic vote on independence. They went to vote despite the obstacles placed in front...
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In Spain there is no separation of powers, no democracy at all


Download and share The President of the Court that refuses to allow the Catalans to vote, Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, was a member of the governing party while he was a judge, even though the article 127 of the Spanish Constitution forbids it. He was not dismissed. In Spain there is no separation of powers. They call it democracy,...

Constitutional Court Judge Violates Constitution


Unbelievable but true, the president of the Spanish Constitutional Court Francisco Perez de los Cobos, publicly admitted recently that he had been a member of the governing Popular Party while a magistrate of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court in Spain, specifically between 2008 and 2011. He took the oath as a Constitutional...

Catalonia's President Lluís Companys


Arrested by the Gestapo, executed by Franco, still a convict in Spain 2014. At dawn on October 15, 1940, Lluís Companys, then President of Catalonia, was put before a firing squad in the moat of Montjuic Castle in Barcelona and shot. The detail of soldiers executed the sentence of a court martial, pursuant to regulations recently imposed...
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Spanish Government bans Catalan decree that was to help families in need keep energy supply in winter 


The Spanish Constitutional Court has accepted the Spanish Government's appeal against the decree approved by the Catalan Executive in December 2013 by which families in need are protected from their household electricity and gas being cut off by energy supply companies during winter months. This represents that the decree is temporarily...
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