King Juan Carlos calls for national “unity and coexistence” in festive address

The regional premier of Catalonia, Artur Mas, on Wednesday responded to the king’s Christmas address to the nation during which Juan Carlos I emphasized the need for Spain to pay heed to “that which unites us” and the importance of the Constitution and national law.

At his own annual address at the tomb of Francesc Macià, a nationalist premier of Catalonia who died on December 25, 1933, Mas stated that Catalonia “has always positioned itself in favor of coexistence” and asked that the region’s desire to decide its own political future be “listened to attentively and respectfully.” In his Christmas Eve speech, the king had alluded to “voices in our society that want our fundamental agreements to be updated.”

“In 2014, Catalonia will be asked to decide its future as a country peacefully and democratically,” Mas posted on the regional government’s Twitter account, in reference to a four-party announcement this month that a referendum will be held next year. The Catalan leader added that 2014 will be a year “of great historic symbolism, but above all a transcendental year for the present and future of Catalonia.”

The Catalan Socialist Party spokesman, Jaume Collboni, said the king’s address was a “clear message of dialogue, agreement and reform,” adding that the monarch had gone “much further” than Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who, he said, is “rooted in a do-nothing policy.”

The government viewed the king’s speech as reflecting the “spirit of the Transition” after the death of Franco, which far from being merely a “look into the past” of Spain should be construed as a valid path “to resolve the country’s current problems.”

However, the Basque Nationalist Party warned that the monarch cannot be seen as an “intermediary” in the question of coexistence when referring to “a great Spanish nation” because the “reality is that there are various nations in this state.”