Last night at the Palau de la Generalitat, President Artur Mas presided over the presentation of de Laguérie’s "Les catalans". As the title indicates, the book by renowned French journalist, Henry de Laguérie, attempts to describe the current situation in Catalonia through his own research from academic, journalistic and civil society spheres along with extensive interviews with other specialists in the subject matter.

 

Artur Mas thanked de Laguérie for explaining the Catalan state of affairs to a broader French public and making “Catalans more known and better recognised in France”. Furthermore, during his intervention, the Catalan President asserted that Catalans “want the same as the rest of world’s nations; we want to decide for ourselves, just like any other country, to protect our language, our culture and better guarantee our economic growth”.

 

The Chief Executive confessed that there was still some uncertainty whether there is a majority in Catalonia in favour of independence but that “the only way to know for sure is to organize a referendum”. Mas acknowledged that this was not an easy task within the Spanish State but assured that “it is the only way so that a nation like the Catalan one can build its own future just as the other nations of the world would”.   

 

In addition, Artur Mas emphasized that Catalonia is a nation “with the same objectives, aspirations as many other nations in the world”. In this respect, the President made reference to the broad majority in the Catalan Parliament and the 95% of Catalan municipalities in favour of Catalonia’s right to democratically decide on its political future.