The president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pasqual Maragall, visited Manresa yesterday to launch the PSC ‘yes’ referendum campaign on the new statute of autonomy for Catalonia. A victory for the ‘yes’ camp, Maragall believes, would be positive for a plural Spain and the achievement of a ‘dream’ for more self-government and resource for Catalonia. The referendum vote is due to take place 18 June.

During the presentation, and accompanied by the PSC’s first secretary José Montilla, Maragall warned that a ‘no’ vote would ‘paralyse Catalonia.’ Both unveiled the latest slogan used by the party at Manresa’s Museo de la Técnica: ‘Sí, gana Catalunya. No, gana el PP’.

Montilla criticised the decision of the Partido Popular to question the constitutionality of the statute, accusing its leader, Mariano Rajoy, of ‘insulting democracy’.

The CiU launched their own ‘yes’ campaign in the L'Illa Diagonal in Barcelona, with leading figures Artur Mas and Josep Antoni Duran Lleida to the fore. After an informal dinner with party supporters, the CiU unveiled their own campaign slogan: ‘¿1979 o futuro? Sí al Estatut, Sí a Cataluña’.

The ERC, meanwhile, travelled to Miravet (Tarragona). Both Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira, party leader, and second-in-command, Joan Puigcercós, were present to unveil their own party’s slogan: ‘Ahora toca no. Cataluña merece más’.

The PPC launched its own campaign through a presentation by party leader Josep Piqué - a campaign which, like the one for the ERC, seeks a ‘no’ vote - in Barcelona, at Port Vell. The PPC’s slogan is: ‘Piensa en Cataluña. Di no’.

The ICV-EUiA party leadership convened their presentation in Parque Ciutadella, again in the Catalan capital. Joan Saura and Jordi Miralles revealed their campaign slogan to be: ‘De izquierdas, catalanista y ecologista. Sí al Estatut’.

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