Catalan president, Quim Torra, and Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, held their first meeting today in Madrid. They managed to change the mood of relations between Catalonia and Spain, but the specific nature of this new relationship remains to be seen.
Torra didn't hide his satisfaction that Sánchez had finally admitted the existence of a political problem, but wanted more. "We have to see how we can find a solution which doesn't just involve admitting that it's a political problem, but that there has to be a vote", he said during a press conference in Madrid this afternoon.
By the time of the president's statement, the Spanish government had already explained its version of events. The deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, had reduced the results of the meeting to the setting up of bilateral commissions.
The president said this was only a small part of the conversation which was centred on calls for a referendum, the conclusion being that there is a political problem which has to be resolved politically.
"We won't renounce anything, because we cannot renounce anything, because it's a right which belongs to the people of Catalonia", the president said, referring to the right to self-determination. He said his government will not discount any path to achieve independence and that any political solution to the situation will involve a self-determination referendum. Despite repeated questions, however, he couldn't give more details as to how the debate should be solved, nor had he got any commitment from Sánchez on the matter. "Our positions are very different", he admitted at the very start of his appearance.
The limited new developments included the confirmation of a second meeting, as Torra had announced in the Catalan Parliament last week, which is to be held within two months. No exact date has yet been set, however. That and the new climate. From now on, relations between the two governments should be through the relevant commissions, but also through a new relationship between the heads of the two governments.
The president said that Sánchez talked to him about the plurinationality of Spain, which he described as a "nation of nations", but didn't have any proposal regarding the right to self-determination. He was hopeful, however, that "in two months' time", the willingness to resolve this debate politically will result in a specific response. Torra admitted himself that he didn't raise the prospect of calling a referendum.
"We have to be capable of applying all our political intelligence. The government of Catalonia has a mission which involves the restoration of the Catalan Constitution. As such, we will move forwards on our path," he warned.
Changes
Torra did describe changes relating to the judicialisation of politics. "I saw a prime minister worried by the matter, who took notes, who believes that this situation cannot be accepted. I hope that there are changes and immediately", said the president, who demanded that "the persecution of people for their ideas has to end, whatever they argue for". He expressed regret he had to start the meeting protesting the appeal against a motion passed by the Catalan Parliament last week.
The president denounced to the prime minister that there are political prisoners in Spain, that it's a "political indecency" for there to be prisoners for opening schools or allowing a debate and emphasised the different legal situations they face in comparison with those in exile. Whilst criticising the situation in the press conference, he said they hadn't negotiated anything with regards to the prisoners.
Although Torra insisted he wants to "look forward", the two heads of government also talked about PSOE's support for last year's central government intervention in Catalonia. Sánchez reportedly "argued that it wasn't an easy position".
The pair also talked about the proposed overturning of the so-called ley mordaza "gag law" and eradicating Francoism from Spanish political life. On the other hand, they didn't "go into detail" about PSOE's proposal for constitutional reform.
Torra started the press conference saying it shouldn't be him there, but Carles Puigdemont, but "the result of the obstacles there have been over these months [is that] he couldn't be invested [president]". That said, he admitted that he hadn't discussed the contents of the meeting with his predecessor.
He said that the meeting was "long and sincere and frank", "a working meeting". "We talked about everything and that was very important for us. It had been months, or years, since meetings between the heads of government didn't talk about everything," he said.