The main unionist party in Catalonia, Ciutadans (Cs), believes that direct rule should still be in force in the country. Its leader, Inés Arrimadas, said on Wednesday that suspension of self-rule “should not have been lifted” in an interview on Spanish public televsion (TVE). Among the reasons she gave were some remarks the Catalan president made on Monday over the need to create “another October 1 [date of the independence referendum] in order to implement the Republic.” This, for Arrimadas, is evidence that Torra’s cabinet is “violating” the rights of Catalans.
She also criticised the new Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez, for “saying that nothing is happening and everything is normalised” in Catalonia. “What is happening in Catalonia is still very serious,” she claimed. The Ciutadans leader also expressed concerns over the parliamentary motion put forward by the far-left CUP party to reaffirm a 2015 text stating that the road to independence had started. The chamber bureau brought it to the floor on Tuesday, although the parliament lawyers suggested not to do it.
Arrimadas also referred to the leaders in jail, saying that they should only be transferred to prisons closer to home for technical criteria, and not as a “bargaining chip” after the pro-independence parties supported Pedro Sánchez’s bid to oust Mariano Rajoy from power. The nine leaders are incarcerated in Madrid prisons, around 700 km away from their families.
Torra-Sánchez meeting
Regarding the meeting between Torra and Sánchez set for July 9, she called on the Spanish leader to take into account that when speaking to his Catalan counterpart, “he will be negotiating with the pro-independence parties and not with Catalonia.” According to her, the country is broken in half and Torra is only representing one such half.
