"The public prosecution service is independent and takes action". That was the reaction this Friday from Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez to the decision from prosecutors to investigate president Quim Torra over the yellow loops controversy. From Brussels, where he was attending the European Council meeting, the prime minister insisted that everyone has to obey rulings from the Central Electoral Commission.
After the meeting, which first discussed Brexit, giving the UK an extension to the Article 50 deadline, Sánchez was asked about yellow loops. He said the controversy "shows that the problem in Catalonia is one of social harmony, not independence".
The prime minister defended prosecutors' independence of action after being asked about the Catalan president's lawsuit against the Central Electoral Commission. Like spokesminister Isabel Celaá in Madrid earlier, he limited himself to saying that Spain has a system with full guarantees and that Torra has the right to use the means he believes appropriate.
To explain the claim of a "conflict of social harmony", he argued that "there is a not minor percentage [of the Catalan population] that doesn't feel spoken to or identified by a symbol which is clearly partisan, which is linked to the independence movement". He said that institutions have to "safeguard their neutrality" during elections.
"The Electoral Commission's rulings are like the rules in democracy, they have to be observed," he said. The prime minister added that his government is "at the service of the Electoral Commission for its rulings to be enacted".
Brexit
The prime minister was also asked about Brexit, the main topic of conversation in Brussels. On the variable extension offered to the UK, he said "we've given a new opportunity to the agreement". He concluded that "we hope that the situation in the UK is clarified once and for all".