24/10/2012

_ “Rebuilding from the base a real national project is essential to return to the road of progress”

_ “There’s no possibility of appealing to democracy when acting outside the orders of the Rule of Law"

_ “Nationalism and Europeanism are actually opposing concepts”

_ “The Constitution was our entrance gate to Europe. Breaking with the Constitution is the way out of Europe”

_ “Nationalism’s problem is not just with Spain or the Constitution; but with the Rule of Law”

_ “Spain’s not going to break. […] Spain would only break if before that, Catalonia should go through with its own rupture as society”

_ “Catalonia will not be able to stay united if it doesn´t stay Spanish”

_ “Whoever thinks that the unity of Spain is the only thing at stake here is wrong. What’s at stake before that is Catalonia’s integrity”

_ “The least that could be expected in exchange for the historical agreement was loyalty to consensus. But instead we’ve received disloyalty with democracy and with the law”

_ “Assuming the reciprocal demands of consensus and coexistence, yes; assuming the Price of disloyalty, no”

_ “The Constitution and its effects stem from the agreement between Spanish citizens, not between territories”

_ “Any federal, confederal or any other formula whatsoever requiring the rupture of national sovereignty is unfeasible”

_ “Spain’s historical continuity depends on our yearning for coexistence, commitment to freedom and leadership and convening power”

_ “We cannot relinquish Spain […] we must do for Spain more than anyone could ever manage to do against it. Because Spain means liberty”

_ Freedom is achieved "without accepting transactions that diminish it. Like the victims of terrorism have done”

The former Prime Minister of Spain and president of FAES, José María Aznar, has stressed that “Reforms must be made to secure the foundations of a Spain that’s strong and modern”. He added that “Rebuilding from the base a real national project is essential to return to the road of progress”. Aznar delivered these statements on Wednesday, October 24, during the award ceremony of the FAES Freedom prize to the Nobel Prize Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa.

In his address, Aznar declared that “Nationalism and Europeanism are actually opposing concepts”. “The Constitution was our entrance gate to Europe. Breaking with the Constitution is, for whoever does it, the way out of Europe”, he stressed. He added that “Nationalism’s problem is not just with Spain or just the Spanish Constitution; its problem is with the Rule of Law, with open societies, with diversity, with globalisation”.

Furthermore, Aznar asserted that “Spain’s not going to break. And I’d like to add, for those who like to play irresponsibly with important things, that Spain would only break if before that, Catalonia should go through with its own rupture as society, as culture and as tradition”. “Catalonia will not be able to stay united if it doesn´t stay Spanish”, he remarked.

Read here his address (in Spanish)

Audio by José María Aznar (in Spanish) | Mario Vargas Llosa (in Spanish) | Javier Zarzalejos (in Spanish)