Barcelona city council has censured Spanish monarch Felipe VI and given its support for the abolition of the "out-dated and anti-democratic" institution of the monarchy. The statement was proposed by CUP and was signed by BComú, PDeCAT, ERC, and the councillors Gerard Ardanuy (Demòcrates) and Joan Josep Puigcorbé.
Today's council statement was based on the text of a motion passed by the Catalan Parliament on 11th October.
El proper divendres demanarem als Grups Municipals de l'Ajuntament que acceptin tirar endavant una declaració de reprovació de l'atac de la monarquia al poble català, i per l'abolició d'aquesta institució.#PleBCN pic.twitter.com/fyhFZHDWUA
— CUP Capgirem Barcelona (@CUPBarcelona) October 22, 2018
Translation (tweet): On Friday, we'll ask the municipal parties of the city council to accept to move forwards with a declaration condemning the monarchy's attack on the Catalan people and in favour of abolishing this institution.
También el Ayuntamiento de BCN reprobará hoy a Felipe VI. Porque efectivamente somos libres de hacerlo, y porque como bien explica Pérez Royo la Monarquía se ha convertido en un obstáculo para los avances democráticos que necesitamos en el siglo XXI.https://t.co/0KUflu1Ysm
— Gerardo Pisarello (@G_Pisarello) October 26, 2018
Gerardo Pisarello (first deputy mayor): Barcelona city council will today also censure Felipe VI. Because we are free to do so and because, as [law professor] Pérez Royo explains well, the monarchy has become an obstacle to the democratic advances we need in the 21st century.
The text approved by the Catalan Parliament "rejects and condemns the stance of king Felipe VI and his intervention in the Catalan conflict" and "supports the abolition of the outdated and anti-democratic institution of the monarchy".
Other developments
The council also declined a proposition for an institutional statement from the PP calling for a rejection of last year's unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan Parliament and the "social fracture" it caused. PDeCAT, ERC, CUP, Gerard Ardanuy and Joan Josep Puigcorbé voted against the bill, BComú abstained, and PP, Cs and PSC voted in favour.
The local president of ERC, Alfred Bosch, on the other hand, read an institutional statement that was approved. This statement was in support of the consular corps in Catalonia, Spain having forced the firing of multiple consuls in recent months and years. The text condemns the Spanish state's attempts to "restrict [the consuls'] freedom of expression".
Finally, the council has accepted to study changing the name of some important street or space in the city to "1st October", the date of last year's independence referendum, a proposal brought by ERC.