Spanish King willing to negotiate with pro-independence parties

Spanish King Felipe VI is willing to negotiate with pro-independence parties in order to "repair" their damaged relationship since the October 1 referendum. This, according to the president of the Balearic Islands' Parliament, Baltasar Picornell, who met with the monarch in Mallorca on Monday.

According to Picornell, the Spanish King considers it necessary to start a mediation between pro-independence and unionist parties and is willing to "build bridges" in order to help find a solution to the conflict. "Now is the time to build bridges and he is willing to do it," Picornell said.

The announcement came as a surprise for pro-independence parties, which accuse the Spanish King of having created "wounds" in Catalan society by not having condemned police violence on referendum day and having clearly taken sides with the former Spanish executive during the crisis.

The leader of the pro-independence group ERC in Barcelona, Xavier Bosch, wondered which King is urging dialogue now. "Is he the same Monarch that on October 3 said that all the force of the Spanish State had to respond against Catalonia and Catalans' desire to decide their future by voting?" he said.

Meanwhile, pro-independence PDeCAT said that in order to engage in any conversations, Felipe VI should first "apologize" for his speech after the referendum. "I don't have any information of him trying to reach us, but anyone that wants to speak to us knows we are here. But if he wants to speak, he should know that the first we'll ask him is to apologize," said PDeCAT's new president David Bonvehí.

An MP from Carles Puigdemont's party Junts per Catalunya said the King is not the person to engage in negotiations. "Can you imagine a democratic process that would recognize as interlocutor someone who hasn't been voted by anyone? Someone who is the son of a father appointed by a dictator? I can't," tweeted MP Francesc de Dalmases.

Meanwhile, from the unionist block, Ciutadans took the alleged willingness to negotiate of the King with caution. "It doesn't seem to be a firm proposal," said MP Sonia Serra. Cs is against any concessions to pro-independence parties and, in fact, has always advocated for the Spanish government to maintain direct rule over Catalonia.

Meanwhile, a party not aligned with neither the pro-independence nor unionist blocks welcomed the news that the Spanish King could be willing to engage in negotiations. However, Catalunya-En Comú Podem said the king's speech on October 3 was an "unacceptable disloyalty" that  "fractured" Catalan society, and urged the monarch to not repeat the mistakes of the past.