Newly elected Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez will meet with Quim Torra, president of Catalonia, in Barcelona on 6 February. They will discuss the on-going political crisis over the Catalan independence issue, as confirmed by Spanish government spokeswoman María Jesús Montero.
Sánchez and Torra have not held any official talks since 20 December 2018.
To gather enough support to stay in power, Sánchez’s socialist PSOE party forged an agreement with the Catalan pro-independence Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party to commit to dialogue over the Catalan political crisis.
The ERC-PSOE agreement sets out the creation of a bilateral negotiating table between the Spanish and Catalan governments up to 15 days after the formation of the Spanish government and states that ‘political means’ should be favoured whilst ‘overcoming the judicialization’ of the Catalan independence conflict.
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Spokesperson Montero said that the new coalition government between the PSOE and left-wing Podemos is ‘committed to advancing territorial dialogue’ and to the ‘commitment’ of meeting with Quim Torra.
Montero said that dialogue is ‘key to solving a conflict that has been going on too long.’ She also said that after meeting Torra in Barcelona, Sánchez ‘will continue to visit the other capitals of the regions over the coming months.’
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