Catalans are "taught to despise Spanish culture," claimed chief justice in 2005

The Catalan government on Tuesday asked for "a proper rectification" from Constitutional Court Judge Francisco Pérez de los Cobos for remarks he made in 2005, saying that Catalans are "taught early to despise" Spanish culture.

Government spokesman Francesc Homs said he was "stunned" by the justice's comments, which appeared in EL PAÍS on Tuesday. Catalonia has asked for the chief justice's recusal in 25 cases pending before the bench.

"We were stunned and angry, and we want a proper rectification," Homs said. "This goes in line with what we have been saying all along, and strengthens our legal arguments," he added.

De los Cobos has already come under fire for being a card-carrying member of the conservative Popular Party (PP) while in his role, and is being challenged by the Catalan regional government for bias in his rulings.

He made the remarks about Catalans at a ceremony marking Constitution Day in his hometown of Yecla, in Murcia, while he was still a university professor specializing in labor law.

"The real problem - and you know what I am talking about - is that because of the consequences of past errors, there have been a number of generations of Catalans who have been taught to despise Spanish culture, whether publicly or subtly."

He went on to say that the Estatut - the charter that had been tabled by Catalonia to secure the region more autonomous rights - "was a political manifestation of that contempt."

In the same address, De los Cobos also criticized the then-government of Socialist PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for its "anti-clerical" policies.

On Tuesday, the full Constitutional Court began a three-day session to rule on the Catalan government's motion that De los Cobos should be recused from presiding over any of 25 pending cases involving the region that are before the bench. The Catalan nationalist CiU government of Artur Mas filed the petition after EL PAÍS reported in July that De los Cobos had been a member of the PP while on the court, and continued paying his membership dues until 2010, when he was appointed as chief justice.

De los Cobos acknowledged that he paid party fees but denied any wrongdoing.

As chief judge of the Constitutional Court, De los Cobos holds a crucial position as a tie-breaker. His vote can be a determining factor in any ruling between the 12 justices on the bench: seven conservatives sitting alongside five liberals.

When the court begins to discuss the recusal petition, De los Cobos will leave the courtroom for his colleagues to decide.

Judicial sources have said that the chief justice has successfully pushed for the rest of the justices to side with him in this matter after an extensive lobbying effort. There are at least three among the liberal bench who want to reject the Catalan government's petition, sources said.

In 2007, the court agreed to accept a recusal filed on behalf of the PP against Justice Pablo Pérez Tremps to step aside in a challenge to the Estatut. The vote was six to five. Pérez Tremps had been paid 6,000 euros by the Catalan government to write a legal opinion over the constitutionality of the autonomous charter.