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Updated at 3pm
CATALONIA’S DEPOSED LEADER Carles Puigdemont has urged “democratic opposition” to the Spanish government’s takeover of the region overnight.
“The best way to defend what we have achieved to date is democratic opposition to the application of article 155,” Carles Puigdemont, who was officially deposed by Madrid yesterday, said in a carefully-worded televised statement that appeared to indicate he did not accept his dismissal.
Speaking at a press conference today, the deposed leader vowed to keep working for a “free country”, but called for people to use peaceful methods to protest, and to show understanding to others who do not want independence.
Flanked by a Catalan and EU flag, he did not clarify whether he would carry on as leader of a new republic that is not recognised by Madrid or abroad.
In a copy of his speech sent to AFP, he signed off as “president of the Catalan government,” implying he considered himself to still officially be head of the semi-autonomous region.
He stopped short of signing off as president of the republic, though.
This morning, Catalonia woke up this morning under the direct control of Madrid as the Spanish prime minister took drastic measures to quash secession, deposing the region’s leaders and dissolving its parliament hours after lawmakers declared independence.
In a dramatic escalation of a political crisis that has stoked alarm in Europe and sent shockwaves through Spain, Mariano Rajoy also decided to call snap Catalan elections on 21 December to “restore normality” to a region in turmoil.
All eyes this weekend will be on how Catalonia’s separatist executive will handle the transferral of power, and if independence supporters will carry out a peaceful resistance to Madrid’s takeover.
In the Spanish capital, protesters were due to hit the streets Saturday against Catalonia’s declaration of independence, which while lacking any legal basis has caused strife in a region deeply divided on whether to split from Spain.
Yesterday in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, thousands celebrated their regional parliament’s motion for independence, which passed with 70 votes for, 10 against and two absentions in a 135-seat chamber that anti-secession MPs had deserted in protest.
Demonstrators in Barcelona broke out in ecstatic shouts of: “Independence!” as the result was announced, while separatist MPs cheered, clapped and embraced before breaking out in the Catalan anthem.
But others glumly assessed the fallout to what they viewed as a hugely damaging and illegal vote.
“They’re forgetting part of the people, the majority,” said Josep Reina, a 34-year-old salesman.
Fears of unrest
The move to take over Catalan powers is likely to anger many in a region of some 7.5 million people that enjoyed considerable autonomy, with control over its education, healthcare and police.
It is the first time that the central government has curtailed regional autonomy since dictator Francisco Franco’s repressive 1939-75 rule.
Independence supporters have warned they will resist the temporary measure, implemented under Article 155 of the constitution, devised to rein in rebel regions.
“We won’t cave in to Rajoy’s authoritarianism nor to 155,” tweeted the far-left CUP party, an ally of Puigdemont.
The resistance could come in the form of street protests and strikes, all of which have already happened since October 1 when an outlawed independence referendum was marred by police violence as central authorities tried to stop people from voting.
Catalan leaders hold up the unregulated referendum that had been banned by the Constitutional Court as a mandate for independence, saying 90 percent voted “Yes” even if only 43 percent of voters turned out.
Federico Santi, Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, warned there could be “more serious clashes between national police and pro-independence activists,” echoing widely-held fears.
Momentum
Speaking after the parliament proclaimed an independent republic, Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont urged activists to “maintain the momentum” in a peaceful manner.
Other measures adopted by the government include the dismissal of the director of the Catalan regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, as well as Catalan government representatives in Madrid and Brussels.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria is due to meet Saturday with secretaries of states, who will likely take charge of Catalonia’s regional ministries.
The Spanish government has received unwavering support from his European allies and the United States.
The European Union in particular is wary of nationalistic and secessionist sentiment, particularly after Britain’s dramatic decision last year to leave the bloc.
EU President Donald Tusk insisted Madrid “remains our only interlocutor” in Spain.
But he also urged Madrid to exercise restraint, tweeting: “I hope the Spanish government favours force of argument, not argument of force.”
First published at 7.25am – © AFP 2017.
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The fact that it says it comes from Anti-Corruption Ireland tells you all you need to know. A bunch of misfits banded together by a shared delusion under the guidance of some extremely nasty pieces of work. Excellent for the fireplace on these cold evenings.
@OnlyHereForTheComments: Admit that the leaflet omitted one of the most sophisticated conspiracies ever: SLICED BREAD! As we now know – metal blades are used to cut the bread. The special blades leave tiny metal particles on each slice you ingest. Those particles then circulate in your bloodstream and settle eventually in your brain causing corrosion. Corroded brains are frankly easier to be subverted. If you eat a lot of sliced bread or sliced buns – like the ones in burgers you may turn ginger. In extreme cases your skin may show orange tinge…Mental effects can manifest (but are not limited to) as urge to inject bleach, or insert UV light source inside your body. You may also be more prone to adultery and violence but touting family values and protection of life (especially life if somebody else’s womb). Weird ha? Believe it or not – but NGO,WHO,BMW,KFC,FBI,deep state and Johnny Depp are all in it.
@OnlyHereForTheComments:
Who pays for these to be printed? where’s that money coming from?
The best article I’ve seen on The Journal in a while. Well done Nicky Ryan, you clearly put a lot of effort into this and it paid off. Informative, factual and debunking the ridiculous information thats been circulated. Great job, I’m very impressed
@Robert Edwards: even122 of his buddies think so too
@Robert Edwards: Agreed Robert !! Fantastic and so necessary journalism
104% of people who say Covid is a conspiracy are aliens. Fact!
@Dave Gibney: prove it’s not
@Michael Maher: It’s up to you to prove that it is.
Humans can’t keep secrets, don’t give them so much credit.
@Michael Maher: I spoke to the aliens and they told me in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t them. This was backed up by their lizard people friends. They even took off their skin suits to tell me.
@Conall: can I sign up for your newsletter ?
I just want to cry. Because of these nut jobs, it’s impossible to have a proper debate about how to live with Covid and the fact that debate is so limited allows this nonsense to profligate. There are legitimate questions re how cases are counted, for example. They are counted according to WHO guidelines. WHO guidelines are important for the monitoring of the extent of the virus, but not its impact. They’re important for the study of epidemiology, but not necessarily for public health reasons. But we can’t have debates because of the likes of those people.
@Anne Marie Devlin: if we can’t have a debate, it’s not the fault of these individuals, it’s the fault of media and government for creating a situation where debate is impossible. Not all the experts agree with NEPHET and many are in complete opposition to the current plan. Only problem is that mainstream media has made debate on this issue very difficult.
@Adam Conroy: Actually it is the fault of the individual that can’t properly debate. Stop blaming everything and everyone else for your ignorance
@Adam Conroy: The people who published this leaflet have made a number of statements. The author of this article has rebutted these statements with facts, showing them to be mostly incorrect. Sounds a bit Iike a debate to me.
@Anne Marie Devlin: exactly Anne Marie
@Kavsie: you are correct in your statement, however in March, the view concerning masks was that they would NOT prevent the person wearing it from contracting the virus and that particular piece of advice has NOT changed. The difference now is that they realised that it could prevent someone already infected from transmitting the virus, and since the virus has an incubation period of up to a couple weeks before symptoms show, if ever, it is safer for everyone to wear some form of face covering rather than unknowingly spread it.
@Anne Marie Devlin: Sure I debated your assumptions re “There are legitimate concerns re how cases are counted”& you didn’t answer me!
Also re your assumption re “They’re important for the study of epidemiology but not necessarily for public health reasons”,I gave he definition of epidemiology.Epidemiology is the foundation of public health & epidemiology and public health are studied together in Universities.
Public health is ‘often defined as the organised efforts of society to prevent disease and to promote health’
@Anne Marie Devlin:
you’re just twisting things there – trying to imply that our lack of objectivity in the media is caused by these people who released the pamphlet. In fact it is the EXACT opposite.
This type of pamphlet is being released because there is no objectivity left in the media. And yes, the pamphlet goes to the other extreme I agree.. and thats the unfortunate reality when you lose that objectivity.
Question : take Luke O Neill etc. When did you ever see him challenged on TV/Radio by one of his peers with a counter-viewpoint. The answer is simply NEVER. He talks alone, un-challenged. Almost nightly !! And that type of thing is the root cause of your problem. You say you want to see things discussed openly. Well take that up with the media, not with whoever released the pamphlet. Its easier to blame them, because it means youre still part of the groupthink, but youre zoning in on the wrong culprit this time.
@Domhnall O’Sullivan:
There are doctors, medics, thousands of them worldwide who think the reaction to this virus is dis-proportiante and mis-placed. They don’t align with 90% of what is written in the pamphlet but they still disagree with the measures being taken.
when you lose the objectivity, all of these people get lumped into the one pot. the “against” pot – but theyre viewpoints are very varied and different. that pamphlet is the full on extreme side of it..
How many of you actually know someone who had or has Covid?
@Teresa Ryan: your point Being?
@Teresa Ryan: I personally know three families that got it, none of whom are connected. What’s your point?
@Teresa Ryan: know around five only one made hospital and was quite ill but recovered.
@Teresa Ryan: I know a nurse in James’s. Frightened the sh*#e out of her when she got it. She was severely affected by it.
A neighbors 17 year old grandson also had it. He couldn’t train for 2 months as his fitness was wiped out
@Teresa Ryan: I know this guy off the TV… I think his name is Donald.
@Teresa Ryan: I don’t know anyone from Argentina, therefore it mustn’t exist!
@Paul Furey: It’s not a difficult question. How many people do you know who had of has Covid?
@ruairi: Not the question I asked though.
@Joe Bloggs: You are one of the few who actually knows someone. That’s my point.
@Teresa Ryan: that’s not a point.
@Teresa Ryan: Donald Trump?
@Teresa Ryan: I’ll answer you clearly Teresa, I know 2 people that had COVID, one died back in April from it and the other had very minor symptoms and none of his family contracted it.
How many do you know?
@Teresa Ryan: I know 8 people between here and the UK.
One was hospitalised for a couple of days, but is now fine.
3 were in bed for days and said it was horrible. 2 said it was like a bad cold, but with loss of sense of smell and taste and
2 hardly noticed they had it at all.
But 4 of the above weeks later still are out of breath walking up stairs etc.
I also know my mam has friends that have had it. My neighbour told me 5 people in her workplace had it.
I’m amazed you don’t know anyone who has had it.
@Teresa Ryan: I know 3 lads that had it. Want thier names? They can tell you how rough they felt.
@Teresa Ryan: two who recovered and one who died.
@Teresa Ryan: If you can’t see the correlation Teresa, you exhibit your inability to see how silly your question was in the first place. BTW, I’ve had two neighbours die from it. My cousin had it. Two people I work with are off currently with covid. So yeah, to answer your question; it does exist and it’s not made up.
@Teresa Ryan: I personally know someone who died of it.
@Teresa Ryan: Ruairi’s point was absolutely spot on and a perfect reply to you . . .but it was lost on you.
@Teresa Ryan: One person in my family, a friend of ours and my parents neighbours just got over it.
The morans that post these flyers and march really madden me! Do they not get it, if the hospital get overwhelmed by this virus it has a knock on affect on every aspect of health and the economy. These honestly have too much time, self importance and not enough brainscell to understand that they need to cop on to them self! We are all trying act in solidarity and dont need to listen to this nonsense by people who are too thick to find themself a productive hobby for themselves!
@Claire Joyce: Very good comment,Clare.Re your second sentence,I’ve tried to highlight that for months now but you’ve put it better!
Some who constantly criticize the public health advice and guidelines often talk about people waiting for hospital appointments, procedures and about jobs, businesses and the economy but fail to realise that the very basic public health advice and guidelines thry are critical of are the key to substantially reducing transmission of the virus, therefore more& more patients can be seen, businesses can remain open thereby protecting jobs,etc.
@Nuala Mc Namara: i am one of those who criticize the public health advice, there is a big difference between the likes of me who think that hospital procedures and consultations should have kept going under tight health restrictions and the likes of these people who are basically saying the whole thing is a pack of lies. You have been very vocal on here with you3 respect for the government and thats your opinion which is fine, respect those who may not agree with everything that’s issued as it doesn’t mean we have the same views as these.
@Madethyme: You obviously haven’t seen my other comments re Government!
More patients are been seen since initial lockdown and more could be seen if people try their best to follow the public health advice and guidelines.
We don’t know the full fact yet. There is no proper evidence. There is propaganda on both sides.
@Dolphins: Yes, the truth is always nestled somewhere in the middle.
@Dolphins: yeah apart from the facts we already know…
@Dolphins: Ah I see you skipped the article and jump straight to the comments. Try reading it for facts and evidence. Then read again because it prop take you a few attempts to understand. This method is called learning. You should try it all the time in life.
They got one part right staying indoors most definitely does weaken your physical health, your not gonna get proper exercise sitting on your sofa, and it’s good for your mental health to get out and about.
@SB: and if we follow the guidelines, no one needs to stay indoors…but if these nut jobs continue spreading the misinformation that they do, some will believe them, and end up spreading this damned virus, and we will end up back where we were….indoors in a lock down. One point right out on a page of wrong ones does not justify their actions
@SB: The ironic thing is that the people complaining that we were “only” allowed exercise for one hour during the last lockdown are probably looking at 4chan in their parents’ basements all day.
This would be hilarious if it weren’t for the vulnerable people few who will believe it
Covid Facts by ACI. 60% of the time, it works every time.
There’s no way I’m reading all that.
The media loves this type of stuff because it discredits alternative views.
The rational argument is that Sweden has not had a massive amounts of deaths with no lockdown. And that we would predict in the region of 5000 based on their outcome. So we should be having a debate about what is a lesser evil, 5000 dead from covid or mass societal damage from lock down.
Why are they posting from Gemma and not from the experts who spoke about a controlled spread last week
@Niall Dunne: The Swedes claim they had a lockdown, just that it was “lighter” than others. In any case, in spite of their “light” lockdown, they had 6 times the number of deaths as Germany and Denmark, nine times the Finnish death toll and eleven times the Norwegian toll. If Sweden had done as well as the neighbouring countries, who jumped on the virus early and hard, about five thousand Swedes could still be alive.
The second wave is not causing nearly as many deaths so far in any European country – and won’t if we have the common sense to abide by the guidelines – because the vulnerable are being careful and because treatment is better, but that’s too late for 5,000 Swedes. And imho, 5,000 is a massive amount of dead people.
@Niall Dunne: Oh Sweden again…this utopian myth has been totally debunked – even they admitted there were mistakes made. They now have common sense rules similar to ours and their numbers are going up again so the whole herd immunity argument is shot.
Anyone who believes nonsense from the anti corruption group who promote this conspiracy theorists stuff need to have reality check on there life and the direction its going
Thank you for addressing this dangerous far right disinformation. Sadly it’s becoming all too common in Ireland.
Saw that leaflet mentioning 5G and anti-vaccine conspiracies, that’s all you need to see before throwing it in the recycle-bin.
@Dave O’Shaughnessy: please don’t recycle it. It’s toxic material and should be disposed of accordingly
@Anne Marie Devlin: I may not agree with everything you say, but that one brought a smile to my face. Thanks.
@Dave O’Shaughnessy: Your children and future generations will not thank you.
Thank you. It’s about time someone took the loons on head on. the traction they have been getting on social media is worrying. I think people’s ability to think for themselves is being affected by their frustration with the necessary restrictions. It leaves people open to manipulation by the far right as it easier to dismiss the need for restrictions if you can dismiss the virus as over hyped or a hoax etc again thanks for the good work on debunking their crap all in one place.
I love your use of the word “nonsense”. The tinfoil hat brigade in full flow. They are off their rockers but the sad thing is people believe their nonsense.
@Fi Harte: Amazing that some new commenters on here since February who have put forwards some of these ideas are not commenting on this article!
Anyone read all of that?
@Gary Mc Aree: maybe that’s what it is with me so Gary, my lungs working harder, I find it hard to breathe when my mask goes on it the morning, I find myself taking huge breaths as if trying to get more oxygen, I asked the doctor I work with why and he said it’s lack of oxygen, nothing that’s going to kill me but that’s what it is
@Lucille Ball: sounds more like emphysema to me babe
Thank you for your fact checking. But of cource the Germans are just as full of world order theories as well as the Irish. These leaflets etc. appear to be well organised. What is the point behind it all?
@Eamonn Ferry: Leaflets like these appear well organised because these days, even stupid people have access to desktop publishing, the internet, etc. Centuries ago, they could only have talked nonsense to their immediate community, but now they can see each others’ nonsense online and their fist thought is “hey, that person agrees with me – we must both be right!”, when in fact they’re both talking nonsense. Add in manipulative people leaving nonsense for them to find, and we have today’s situation.
Excellent rebuttal to dangerous nonsense
this pamphlet is full of BS.
bring back media objectivity. discuss the important issues openly. are the measures necessary? Is the test for cases way too sensitive? was immunity even partially built during the summer – how could it be built more?
Let the medics/experts who disagree with the narrative debate these things openly and then pamphlets like this will disappear or become so marginalised they wont matter..
This was a great laugh to read! It’s these type of conspiracy theories that have these nit wit anti maskers out on the streets protesting!
@Edel Quinn: You wont be laughing for long after you get your vaccination The question is will you do some real research or just go with the Journal’s spin. You really should.
Thanks for this article. Can you put it in a nice leaflet and send it out now please?
A little behind the curve with this article. There’s been various forms of this same leaflet doing the rounds for a few months. Unfortunately some people are starting to believe this nonsense because they’re disillusioned with what has happened.
If some of these lies had been debunked publicly earlier they might not have gotten any traction but sadly more and more people are getting swayed in their thinking.
have your say