Catalan and Spanish presidents agree on preparing meeting between governments

The Catalan and Spanish presidents have agreed on preparing a meeting between both governments in Barcelona in the near future.

On Monday afternoon, Quim Torra and Pedro Sánchez spoke over the phone and decided to have their teams work on an agenda for what would be the second meeting of the Catalonia-Spain negotiation table on the independence issue.

Both executives launched the talks in February in Madrid, where they agreed to convene once a month to find a way out of the "political" conflict, as both sides called it.

Yet, Covid-19 forced plans to a halt and the handling of the pandemic prompted clashes between both governments over the authority of each to tackle it.

Over the past few months, Torra said that he would only accept a second meeting if self-determination and amnesty for the pro-independence jailed and exiled leaders was discussed – something brought up once again during Monday's call.

The Spanish Socialist-led government has always ruled out allowing for a referendum on Catalonia's independence to be held.

As for the Catalan coalition government, some discrepancies over the talks have also been present since February: while the president's political force, Junts per Catalunya, is more reluctant to sit at the negotiation table and has vowed for a "peaceful, democratic confrontation" with Spain instead, Esquerra insists in prioritizing dialogue with Madrid.