19.06.2014 - 17:20
“Felipe said that he was a new king for a new era, but his speech was nothing new,” said president Artur Mas to journalists from the offices of the Generalitat de Catalunya, after Felipe VI’s coronation. Mas, who did not applaud the Spanish monarch when he entered the Congress, or when he finished his speech explained, “My gesture of politeness was simply to be here. I could have not come, but I came, because one must show respect to the institutions. But once here, the speech could have been applauded or not. And I did not applaud the speech because there was nothing new in it. Nor did I expect there to be.”
For Mas, Felipe VI’s reference to a “united and diverse” Spain is part of the “same speech that we’ve heard before”. “I would have liked to hear him talk about Spain as a plurinational state, of a state formed by various nations, among which is the Catalan nation.” For that reason, he said he preferred to “wait and see” [in English].
President Mas said that he was at the disposal of the new Spanish king “for any kind of dialogue” and also at the disposal of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whenever he “wishes to return to dialogue”.
