Catalan leaders have reacted with defiance this Friday after the Spanish government announced that it will take the first step toward judicially blocking Catalonia's current foreign action plan, on the grounds that it exceeds the powers of the country's Autonomous Communities in this area and therefore violates the Constitution. Catalonia's foreign minister Alfred Bosch has labelled the judicial move as "yet another arbitrary action" by the Spanish government, which Catalonia will "stand up to", while president Quim Torra has reacted by saying that "democratic confrontation" is the only path open to Catalonia.

"The Catalan foreign action plan projects Catalonia as a state", explained Spanish government spokesperson, Isabel Celaá, after Friday morning's cabinet meeting in Madrid. On these grounds, Spain's acting government will now present an injunction for a lack of jurisdiction, a step under which the Sánchez executive will call for the Catalan authorities to repeal or withdraw the initiative within a month. If Quim Torra's government does not respond, the Spanish government can then take the case to the Constitutional Court.

Pedro Sánchez's cabinet has had two months to take this step and finally decided to move judicially on the eve of the deadline, since the Catalan government approved its plan on June 25th. According to the minister Celaá, this foreign action strategy presents the idea that Catalonia is not a Spanish Autonomous Community but rather a state and it "omits" the state's competencies in this area, which are reserved exclusively for Spain's central government under the 1978 Constitution. The Constitutional Court itself, said Celaá, had emphasized that foreign action by Autonomous Communities "must respect the exercising and direction that the State possesses in this area", and the Catalan plan failed to mention either the Constitution or any reference to Spanish foreign policy.

In response, Catalan president Quim Torra stated that "there is no course possible other than democratic confrontation". The president declared in a tweet that in addition to the Spanish government's "financial asphyxiation" of Catalonia, denounced by his vice president Pere Aragonès in recent days for its "default" on payment of advances - which the Catalan administration is itself taking to court - the Pedro Sánchez executive has now shown its will "to put an end to Catalan foreign action". "There is no course possible other than democratic confrontation and the defence of our social and political rights", he affirmed.

A l’ofec financer denunciat ahir pel Vicepresident -que portarem als Tribunals-, el Govern espanyol avui ens fa saber que vol acabar ara amb l’acció exterior catalana. No hi ha cap altre camí que la confrontació democràtica i la defensa dels nostres drets socials i polítics. https://t.co/RWvYXOQPt0 — Quim Torra i Pla (@QuimTorraiPla) 23 d’agost de 2019

Meanwhile, Catalan foreign minister Alfred Bosch commented that the Catalan government will "stand up to yet another arbitrary move by the Spanish government". Catalonia's external action, said Bosch, "is not only legal and legitimate, but also necessary".

L’acció exterior de Catalunya no només és legal i legítima, sinó que és necessària. Farem front a l’enèsima arbitrarietat del Govern espanyol. — Alfred Bosch🎗 (@AlfredBosch) 23 d’agost de 2019

In statements to the media, the Catalan minister added that "like any other administration, Catalonia must have an external projection to be present in the world and to be able to act with all its tools." And he added that they will defend it because "they are convinced that it is absolutely correct."

A third Catalan minister pointed out that, with this action, Pedro Sanchez's PSOE government was acting almost identically to its predecessor, the PP administration under prime minister Rajoy. "I have trouble seeing a difference with Mariano Rajoy," said digital policies minister Jordi Puigneró, adding sardonically: "After this, people are surprised that we don't want to facilitate Sánchez's formation of a new government for free."

Luego algunos se sorprenden que no queramos facilitar gratis la investidura de @sanchezcastejon.

Respecto a su política hacia Catalunya me cuesta ver alguna diferencia con @marianorajoy. — Jordi Pu1gnerO (@jordiPuignero) 23 d’agost de 2019