Spain Holds General After Remarks
By RENWICK MCLEAN
Published: January 7, 2006
MADRID, Jan. 7 - A Spanish Army general was put under house arrest on Saturday after he suggested that military intervention might be necessary to quell demands for greater autonomy from the northeastern region of Catalonia, the Defense Ministry said.
Recalling the dispute over Catalan autonomy that was a partial cause of the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's, Lt. Gen. José Mena Aguado, 63, said on Friday night that history appeared to be repeating itself as the nation debated Catalonia's recent requests for more self-government, and that the military was ready to act.
"It is our obligation to warn that there could be serious consequences for the armed forces as an institution and for its members if the Statute of Catalonia is approved in its proposed form," he said during a speech to members of the military in Seville.
"The Constitution establishes a series of impassable limits for any statute of autonomy," he said, referring to the type of law that describes the relationship between Spain's regional governments and Madrid. "But if those limits are exceeded, which thankfully is unthinkable at this time, it would be necessary to apply Article 8 of the Constitution."
Article 8 establishes that the armed forces are responsible for defending Spain's "territorial integrity" and "the constitutional order."
The proposed statute, which was approved overwhelmingly by the Catalan regional Parliament in September, says that Catalonia is a nation unto itself whose powers of self-government are not restricted by the Spanish Constitution.
Critics of the proposal, who include both liberal and conservative politicians, say it could set the stage for an eventual declaration of independence if it were passed in its current form.
Although democracy has taken root in Spain since the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975, the military's history of intervening to settle political disputes continues to cast a shadow over Spanish politics. Today, many Spaniards remain wary of a strong military, and refuse to support significant increases in military spending.
Most political parties immediately condemned General Mena's comments, although a spokesman for the conservative Popular Party, the main opposition group in Parliament, said that statements like his were inevitable because Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had failed to vigorously oppose the Catalan proposal.
In comments to the Spanish news agency Europa Press, the spokesman, Gabriel Elorriaga, said that Mr. Zapatero had stood idle while the Catalan proposal created a "serious constitutional crisis."
Mr. Zapatero has said that the proposal is unconstitutional and must be modified before he will support it.
Catalonia, a region of about seven million people in Spain's northeastern corner, has been home to a potent separatist movement for more than 100 years.
The region is one of Spain's economic engines, and supporters of more autonomy say that it provides Spain with much more than it gets in return, particularly in taxes that go to support poorer regions, like Andalucia and Extremadura.
In announcing the detention of General Mena on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said it would propose to Mr. Zapatero that the general, who is scheduled to retire in March, be relieved of his command.
During his speech on Friday, Mr. Mena, who was scheduled to retire in March, suggested that others in the military shared his views.
"I have an obligation to know the feelings, concerns, and preoccupations of my subordinates," he said. "It is their express wish that I transmit them to the top authorities of the Army and to make them public."
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