The TSJC orders the Spanish flag to be hung "immediately" on the facade of the Parliament
The court orders that penance be performed every day outside the chamber, not just during plenary sessions.
BarcelonaThe Fifth Chamber of the Administrative Court of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has issued an injunction requiring the Parliament of Catalonia to display the Spanish flag on the exterior of its building "immediately and permanently." The decision comes in response to the fact that, until now, the Spanish and Catalan flags were only flown together on the façade on days when plenary sessions were held, as acknowledged in the report prepared by the Parliament's own legal counsel.
The ruling, resulting from an appeal by the pro-Spanish unity group Impulso Ciudadano, partially upholds the requested measures, considering that the current practice of removing the flag on days without parliamentary activity could constitute "an administrative action that completely disregards the legally established procedure." The judges based their decision on Supreme Court jurisprudence, which interprets the expression "to fly" in Law 39/1981 as implying daily and constant use in official buildings where sovereignty is exercised, as is the case with the Catalan Parliament.
Furthermore, the court has rejected the request to mandate the display of the flag in all interior areas of the chamber. Although the organization demanded its presence in rooms such as the Auditorium and the Speaker's office, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) points out that the symbol is already present in the plenary chamber. The judges consider that the law does not sufficiently clarify the concept of "preferred location" for interior spaces and have left this issue for substantive debate in the ordinary proceedings.