BARCELONA
Jordi Pujol (82), a former Catalan president who now supports independence, admits that the task is hard but says more Catalans do not want to stay as a part of the Spanish state anymore.
"We are aware that independence is very difficult but we also know that we will be doomed to a worse political and financial situation if we fail to react," Pujol told the Anadolu Agency in an interview in Barcelona.
Last September, hundreds of thousands of Catalans marched in their capital, demanding independence which prompted the Catalan president, Artur Mas, to ask from Madrid for more autonomy in financial issues, a request swiftly rejected by Madrid.
Despite a constitutional ban and opposition from Spain's ruling and main opposition parties, the Catalan president had called for a referendum scheduled for 2014.
"The 34-year-old Spanish political system has expired. Catalans do not want to live with the existing agreements in economy, social structure, culture and language and with the Spanish maltreatment for another 30-40 years," Pujol said.
Pujol also said he believed that in case of independence the new Catalan state would not be left out of the European Union. "If we have a clear and decisive majority who want independence, we will sort out a solution."
