The acting Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has given instructions to the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, that he shouldn't visit the leader of Catalan pro-independence party ERC, Oriol Junqueras, in Lledoners prison, according to El Confidencial Digital. The order comes as the parties continue negotiations to reinvest Sánchez as PM after November's repeat general election. Iglesias had visited Junqueras on previous occasions to try and bring ERC and PSOE closer to reaching an agreement.
Sánchez has told Iglesias that "if you want to be a deputy prime minister, you've got to act like one." For Sánchez, this also includes refraining from attacking the banks, as Iglesias did during the election campaign.
PSOE says visiting the pro-independence leaders in prison "can be done when you're not in the government, but not when you'll form part of it." The instructions come days after the leaders of the unions UGT and CCOO made their own trips to see Junqueras last week to discuss the possibility of an investiture vote in the Congress.