Spanish foreign affairs minister Alfonso Dastis has said, in an interview with German financial newspaper Handelsblatt (in German), that Spain discounts mediation in its conflict with Catalonia. "Mediation through a third party would be a victory for Puigdemont which he didn't win at the ballot boxes", he is quoted as saying.
After the newspaper noted that "German politicians are offering themselves as mediators", the minister, however, batted away such suggestions: "that is frankly nonsensical", he said, "Catalonia is a part of Spain".
Dastis also gave a second veto. For the Spanish government, president Carles Puigdemont cannot take part in any hypothetical negotiation with Madrid: "He broke the law, abused Catalan society for his own purposes and fled justice. And now he prevents his own followers from forming a new government because he only proposes candidates for president who are legally tainted and cannot take office. This is not somebody one can negotiate with."