The Minister for Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency, Alfred Bosch, has condemned the decision of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia to suspend the Catalan government’s delegations in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia as a precautionary measure.

“This is one of the worst attacks on the Government of Catalonia we’ve seen since Article 155 was invoked” [to suspend Catalan self-rule], said the minister. “It’s an attack on the freedom of expression and freedom of action of a democratically constituted government.”

In response to the suspension, which Bosch consider “unacceptable”, the Government of Catalonia will study the legal aspects of the case and mount a defence. According to the minister, the legal grounds for lodging submissions include the fact that the decision “prejudges intentions based on the establishment of three delegations, which have barely begun to operate, under the current framework of competences”. (The creation of the delegations was only recently approved.)

The Executive Council passed decrees to establish the delegations in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia at the end of June and appointed representatives to head them (David Poudevida, Lleïr Daban and Ahmed Benallal, respectively) in early October. The three appointments brought the number of Catalan government representatives abroad to 15 and the number of countries served by delegations to 39. Minister Bosch stressed that “Catalonia’s internationalisation is essential in a globalised world”, and that Catalan foreign action is both legitimate and necessary.