Madrid - The 12 top newspapers of Spain's wealthy Catalonia region on Thursday published an unprecedented joint editorial urging Spain's Constitutional Court not to weaken plans to enlarge the region's self-government. Alleged plans by the court to cancel parts of the region's new autonomy statute threatened "the democratic maturity of a pluralistic Spain," the editorial said.
The Spanish and Catalan parliaments and a Catalan referendum have approved the new autonomy statute of the north-eastern region of more than 6 million residents.
However, Spain's conservative opposition People's Party (PP), which favours a stronger central state, lodged a complaint against the statute at the Constitutional Court.
Three years later, the court is still to take decision on whether the planned degree of autonomy is in line with Spain's constitution.
The editorial of the Catalan newspapers followed reports that the court was planning to cancel parts of the autonomy statute, such as classifying Catalonia as a "nation" and a stronger promotion of the Catalan language.
Catalans were "fed up" with those presenting their "identity" as something negative, the editorial said.
Separatism could also be on the rise in Catalonia, where 150 localities intend to stage unofficial referendums on independence on December 13, analysts said.
