THE HEAD of the Spanish Army has been placed under house arrest for threatening military intervention to stop Catalonia’s drive for greater autonomy.

The detention of Lieutenant-General José Mena Aguado was ordered after he told military officers in Seville of “serious consequences” for the armed forces if Madrid granted the northeast region, one of the richest parts of Spain, broad fiscal and legal powers.

Addressing army officers in Seville, Lieutenant-General Mena said that, if limits set by the Spanish constitution to stop any region from overreaching its set powers were exceeded by Catalonia, the army would have to act. His speech met an angry response from Spain’s Socialist Government. José Bono, the Defence Minister, ordered him to be placed under house arrest and is expected to seek his expulsion from the armed forces.

It became clear yesterday that Lieutenant-General Mena enjoyed some support within the armed forces. Retired Colonel José Conde Monge, President of the Spanish Military Association, applauded his remarks and criticised his arrest.

“We are in a dangerous situation that the politicians do not want to acknowledge but which threatens to break up Spain,” he said.

The Catalan plan has split Spain, causing a widespread backlash among many Spaniards against the region.

Catalonia wants control over its own taxes, to pay less towards the poorer parts of Spain, and to be called a nation.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister whose minority Government depends on the support of Catalan nationalist parties, may have to change the 1978 constitution to grant some of the demands; but many Spaniards fear break-up of the country could result if other regions demand more powers.

Lieutenant-General Mena said: “I have always insisted soldiers must not get involved in political reflections (but) it is our duty to warn of the serious consequences that the approval of the Catalan statute in the terms in which it is drafted could bring, both for the armed forces as an institution and for the people who make up the armed forces.”

The decision by the Defence Minister to place a serving lieutenant-general under house arrest is the most severe punishment against the military since democracy was re-established in 1978. The role of the armed forces is highly sensitive after the military uprising of the former dictator General Francisco Franco and the Civil War between 1936 and 1939.

The last attempted military coup d’état was in 1981, when Colonel Antonio Tejero burst into parliament and fired shots during a debate. The coup was a failure.

The modern Spanish constitution expressly states that the army must be neutral. However, under Article 8, the army is authorised to intervene to maintain national unity.

Lieutenant-General Mena, who was due to retire this year, is likely to be dismissed or demoted. Known as a cautious figure, he has never spoken out publicly on politics before.

All political parties yesterday voiced their support for his arrest. Gabriel Elorriaga, Secretary-General of the conservative opposition Popular Party, condemned the remarks but said they were “inevitable given the political situation”.

Gaspar Llamazares, general co-ordinator of the left-wing United Left party, called the comments “unacceptable and totally unconstitutional”.

CATALONIA: THE DEFIANT LAND

• Population 6,813,319 (2004), greater than that of Norway, Finland or Denmark
• Contributed 18.4 per cent to Spain’s total GDP in 2004; the Madrid region contributed 17.4 per cent
• Sided with the Republic against Franco in the Civil War until its fall in 1939
• Catalan language was banned under Franco
• Autonomous since 1980
• Catalan and Spanish have been official languages since 1978