Barcelona mayor calls for EU dialogue to de-escalate political tension

Barcelona mayor, Ada Colau, called for a “multi-level dialogue platform” under the European Commission’s (EC) supervision in order to de-escalate the political standoff between governments in Catalonia and Madrid. In a meeting with European consuls on Thursday, Colau laid out her proposal for a temporary settlement that could cool off tensions amid an imminent declaration of independence and the expected backlash from Spain.

“Finding a solution to the profound political problems is difficult,” Colau admitted. “But it would not be that hard to de-escalate the tension, which is what most of the population want regardless of what their opinion on independence is.”