Spain’s king says unity vital to beat current crisis

Published on 19/09/2012 00:00

Spain’s king has called on Spaniards to remain united to combat the economic crisis, in an apparent reference to a massive independence rally in the powerful north-eastern region of Catalonia last week.

In a message posted yesterday on the palace’s website, King Juan Carlos said these were decisive moments and that “chasing chimeras” and “inciting dissention” was the worst way out.

“We are at a decisive moment for the future of Europe and of Spain. We can either assure or destroy the well-being we have struggled so hard for,” he wrote after presiding over the opening of the country’s judicial year in the capital.

“The worst thing we could do is to divide our strengths, incite dissent, chase chimeras and deepen our wounds.”

About 1.5 million people rallied on 12 September in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, many to demand independence.

The king wrote: “I am surely not the first or the last Spaniard in thinking that we cannot avoid two fundamental things at the present difficult economic, political and social juncture.

“The first is that we can only overcome our difficulties by acting in unity, walking together, joining our voices, pulling in the same direction. The second is that in unity we must recover the values that prevailed at the best times of our complex history, and especially during our democratic transition: work, effort, merit, generosity, dialogue, the ethical imperative, and sacrificing the particular in favour of the common interest.”

Catalonia is Spain’s most economically powerful region but also the one most in debt and in need of financial help from the central government in Madrid.

The regional government said it did not consider the message alluded to it.