Catalonia referendum: After violence Spain's Rajoy sets stage for bigger battle
Mariano Rajoy
But Madrid had little interest in any exercise of Catalan self-determination. In a speech Sunday evening   Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy  pinned the blame for what happened on Catalan secessionists  who engineered the confrontation by staging what Madrid deems an illegal vote. “Today there has not been a self-determination referendum in Catalonia ”  Rajoy  declared. “The rule of law remains in force with all its strength.”
But although  Rajoy  thwarted the immediate prospect of independence   he  — not  his  Catalan opponents — looks like the day's big loser.  His  government took a heavy-handed line with Catalonia's secessionists in the buildup to the vote  and  Rajoy  is being slammed by opponents both inside Catalonia and elsewhere for making a mess of the proceedings.
 “Rajoy  faces an extraordinarily difficult task.  He  is adamant that it is  his  government’s fundamental duty to uphold the law and preserve the integrity of the Spanish state ” wrote Tony Barber of the Financial Times. “Yet the police’s use on Sunday of batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the referendum risks deepening the confrontation and putting off the moment when Madrid and the Catalonian authorities sit down to find a way out of the impasse.”
Critics say  Rajoy 's own right-wing nationalist politics made it impossible to deal with Catalan secessionists  a coalition of pro-independence factions who came to power in 2015 regional elections and swiftly signaled their intent to stage the referendum. From the outset   Rajoy  treated their aspirations as both illegal and intolerable.
 Rajoy  probably has little time for Puigdemont's proclamation.  The prime minister  built  his  political reputation in the mid-2000s by fiercely opposing a Catalan charter for greater autonomy  which a Socialist government in Madrid at the time had agreed to and was later ratified by a referendum in Catalonia. In 2010  a Spanish constitutional court struck down a series of key provisions in that charter  based on an appeal filed by  Rajoy 's center-right People's Party. That  in turn  kicked off Catalan rumblings toward independence.
But  Rajoy  is also on rocky ground in Madrid  where  he  presides over a fragile  minority government in parliament.
Pablo Iglesias  leader of the left-wing Podemos party  tweeted against the “repressive strategy” of  Rajoy  and his allies  warning that it has “deteriorated democracy and coexistence [in Spain] to unprecedented limits.” Pedro Sánchez of the center-left Socialists called for political negotiations and seemed to blame  Rajoy  for not seeking talks earlier  saying that “doing nothing is the worst way of solving any problem.”
Now  though  the political conversation is far more polarized. A tense standoff is in the cards in the coming weeks  with the possibility of further protests and mass strikes rocking Catalonia.  Rajoy  will have to own the crisis  and  his  opponents already have one idea of how  he  should do so.
“ He  is a coward who does not live up to  his  state responsibilities ” said Ada Colau  Barcelona's mayor. “As a result   he  must resign.”
But Madrid had little interest in any exercise of Catalan self-determination. In a speech Sunday evening   [TGT]pinned the blame for what happened on Catalan secessionists  who engineered the confrontation by staging what Madrid deems an illegal vote. “Today there has not been a self-determination referendum in Catalonia ”  [TGT]declared. “The rule of law remains in force with all its strength.”
But although  [TGT]thwarted the immediate prospect of independence   [TGT]  — not  [TGT]  Catalan opponents — looks like the day's big loser.  His  government took a heavy-handed line with Catalonia's secessionists in the buildup to the vote  and  [TGT]is being slammed by opponents both inside Catalonia and elsewhere for making a mess of the proceedings.
 “Rajoy  faces an extraordinarily difficult task.  He  is adamant that it is  his  government’s fundamental duty to uphold the law and preserve the integrity of the Spanish state ” wrote Tony Barber of the Financial Times. “Yet the police’s use on Sunday of batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the referendum risks deepening the confrontation and putting off the moment when Madrid and the Catalonian authorities sit down to find a way out of the impasse.”
Critics say  Rajoy 's own right-wing nationalist politics made it impossible to deal with Catalan secessionists  a coalition of pro-independence factions who came to power in 2015 regional elections and swiftly signaled their intent to stage the referendum. From the outset   Rajoy  treated their aspirations as both illegal and intolerable.
 Rajoy  probably has little time for Puigdemont's proclamation.  The prime minister  built  his  political reputation in the mid-2000s by fiercely opposing a Catalan charter for greater autonomy  which a Socialist government in Madrid at the time had agreed to and was later ratified by a referendum in Catalonia. In 2010  a Spanish constitutional court struck down a series of key provisions in that charter  based on an appeal filed by  Rajoy 's center-right People's Party. That  in turn  kicked off Catalan rumblings toward independence.
But  Rajoy  is also on rocky ground in Madrid  where  he  presides over a fragile  minority government in parliament.
Pablo Iglesias  leader of the left-wing Podemos party  tweeted against the “repressive strategy” of  Rajoy  and his allies  warning that it has “deteriorated democracy and coexistence [in Spain] to unprecedented limits.” Pedro Sánchez of the center-left Socialists called for political negotiations and seemed to blame  Rajoy  for not seeking talks earlier  saying that “doing nothing is the worst way of solving any problem.”
Now  though  the political conversation is far more polarized. A tense standoff is in the cards in the coming weeks  with the possibility of further protests and mass strikes rocking Catalonia.  Rajoy  will have to own the crisis  and  his  opponents already have one idea of how  he  should do so.
“ He  is a coward who does not live up to  his  state responsibilities ” said Ada Colau  Barcelona's mayor. “As a result   he  must resign.”