The Spanish government has announced it will file an appeal against the Catalan government reopening six of its delegations abroad. They claim they haven't met the requirements set out in the relevant legislation for an autonomous community to create such international offices.
The appeal, presented by the foreign affairs ministry, is critical of the Catalan government only giving them 24-hours' notice it was reopening its delegations in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France. This meant the Spanish government didn't have enough time to produce reports on the suitability of the delegations.
To be precise, there are three reports it could have made: one from the foreign ministry on how the proposal fits within the guidelines; one from the treasury relating to efficiency in management of public resources; and one from the territorial policy ministry on how it fits within the powers devolved to the autonomous communities.
The foreign affairs ministry, headed by Josep Borrell, says that in conversations its Catalan counterpart explained they were not opening any new delegations, simply reopening those closed by the previous Spanish government last year when it suspended Catalan autonomy.
The ministry does not question the Catalan government's right to establish delegations abroad, within the limits established by law. They do say, however, that "the creation of these delegations has to fit within the law on the state's action and service abroad".
In the statement, the ministry expresses "regret for having to present appeals" on the matter, but say they are left with no other option to preserve their legal mandate. However, according to the ministry, it will not "obviously" affect the Catalan government's 40 delegations which are trade offices, its 13 tourist offices and the 8 cultural offices, which have been created following the normal procedure.