Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has said that his government "already has everything ready" for the 1st October referendum on independence and that, in his opinion, it will have full legality and "all guarantees". The comments came in his message for the Diada, the Catalan national day on 11th September.
The president made it clear that the Catalan government will pay no attention to the bans from the Constitutional Court and the Public Prosecutor's Office, because he considers the sovereign decision of the Catalan parliament above them. "It's a legal referendum, in accordance with the laws passed by the Parliament, seat of the popular sovereignty. Only the Parliament of Catalonia can disqualify the government that I preside over. There's no other judicial or political petition that can do so. We would have wanted this to be a referendum negotiated with the [Spanish] state, like the one held in Scotland under terms agreed with the British government. But that hasn't been possible because the Spanish government has rejected all petitions for agreements that we've sent. It hasn't even wanted to talk, nor has it put any alternative proposal on the table to allow for a different ending."
Puigdemont said that citizens will be able to go to vote in the 1st October referendum "as they've always done, with full normality" and insisted that both 'yes' and 'no' supporters will be able to take part. "The ballot boxes are for everyone, for those who want an independent Catalonia and for those who legitimately want to remain part of Spain." On this topic, he assured that ballot boxes don't divide, in contrast to what pro-union supporters who are against the referendum argue. "There's space for everyone" in the referendum. "The thing that divides, the thing that degrades democracy, is to not let [people] vote."
According to Puigdemont, for this reason, his government has committed itself to going ahead with the referendum. "We're doing what we'd said we'd do. We're fulfilling our promise and that dignifies politics and strengthens the democracy," he said.
The president noted that, in this context, this year's Diada, "isn't just any Diada", and called for it to be celebrated actively and "with the civility and joy that characterises us". He started his message remembering the victims of the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils last month and saying that Catalonia knows how to respond to aggression.