Catalan independence referendum would solve current political stalemate, Aragonès says 

Catalan president Pere Aragonès has demanded that acting Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez "move" if he wants to be reelected to the post by congress following the stalemate in July's general election. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Aragonès urged Sánchez to comply with "established commitments," to end the fiscal, infrastructure and public service deficits, to put an end to "repression" of the independence movement, and to move forward to resolve the political conflict via a referendum on Catalonia's future. 

The head of the Catalan executive confirmed that there has been "initial" contact with Spain's Socialist party, but that "negotiations have not started." 

Aragonès maintains that it is Sánchez who must move in the first instance, and not the pro-independence parties. 

Hung parliament 

Sánchez's gamble to call a snap election paid off insofar as the right and far-right were denied a majority, but if he wants to serve another term as PM, the Socialist leader will need support from Catalan pro-independence parties, and others. 

Aragonès: End repression 

Aragonès said that it was now necessary to take "maximum" advantage of the "opportunities" of the post-electoral scenario, with the aim of ending "repression." 

"Those who want to govern [Spain] must comply with the Catalan agenda," he stressed. 

He emphasized that he managed to "make Sánchez move" during the first half of his term as Catalan president.

While the Spanish PM at first defended full compliance with the sentences handed down to pro-independence leaders for the 2017 referendum, he subsequently gave them pardons, and agreed to repeal sedition. 

Aragonès urged the Socialists to resolve the political conflict "without fear" of what the conservative People's Party and far-right Vox might say, and once again called for Sánchez to show "courage."