"Hispancising of Catalonia a bad idea" : King Juan Carlos

 

During last Friday's Military parade to commemorate la dia de Hispanidad, King Juan Carlos took Education Minister José Ignacio Wert to task over his controversial vow to "Hispanicize Catalan students."

"I told Wert that the issue of Hispanicizing the Catalans was a very bad thing" the king said to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as they watched the parade.

However, Wert remained insistent over the issue, commenting that "I am very proud about what I said."

The Minister of Education made his remarks after the Catalan parliament voted in favor of holding a referendum to ask Catalans if they want to be independent from the rest of Spain. Regional premier Artur Mas of the Catalan nationalist CiU bloc has called early elections for November to seek a mandate to push for greater autonomy for Spain's richest region after Madrid rejected his request for a fiscal pact that would provide Catalonia with greater revenue-raising powers.

The Rajoy government insisted that the Constitution empowers it to block any such referendum.

Also attending the parade, Prince Felipe told journalists that Catalonia is not a "problem."

"I believe more in the real Catalonia than the froth of statements we're seeing now. Politicians and institutions should help lower tensions," he said. "Let everyone do their job."

One notable absence from the podium was Princess Elena. The Royal Household had decided that only the king and queen and the crown prince and his wife should be on the podium. Princess Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin, who faces corruption charges, were also absent.