Basque leader 'mediator' testifies in Catalan trial

The president of the Basque Country, Íñigo Urkullu, was the first witness to testify in the Catalan trial on Thursday.

He is understood to have played the role of "mediator" between Catalonia and Spain at the height of the conflict between the governments of both territories in autumn 2017.

According to several sources, Urkullu tried to persuade Catalan officials not to declare independence in exchange for avoiding direct rule of the country, but in the end he was not successful.

After Urkullu, several Catalan political representatives will take the stand, including an MP for the Esquerra Republicana party in the Spanish Congress, Gabriel Rufián, and the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau.

In the afternoon session, the former Spanish home affairs minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, will also testify, after his former cabinet leader, Mariano Rajoy, did so on Wednesday.