Catalan leaders send letter to Spanish president and king urging dialogue on referendum

The election campaign for the October 1 referendum has already started. Yes campaigners have more than 1,000 events planned throughout Catalonia; unionist parties and organizations do not recognize the vote. The clash of wills between the Catalan and Spanish administrations is in full force. Yet the top Catalan officials think that a dialogue on the referendum is still possible. That is what they said in a joint letter sent to the Spanish president and the Spanish king.

In the letter, the Catalan president and vice president, the Catalan parliament president and the mayor of Barcelona made "a call for dialogue in order to tackle how we can find an agreement so that Catalans can hold the referendum. An open dialogue, without conditions". 

The letter asks for a “political dialogue to be opened, based on the legitimacy that each of us represents, to make something possible that in a democracy is never a problem, and much less a crime: listening to the voice of the people”.

Additionally, the Catalan dignitaries said that “Spain has gone on the offensive with unprecedented repression”. The Spanish attorney general has opened an investigation against 75% of Catalonia's mayors for collaborating with the vote. The Catalan high court, part of the Spanish judiciary system, also warned Catalan media that publishing the government's ad about the referendum is illegal.

Barcelona mayor supports referendum

The mayor of Barcelona had been hesitant about supporting the referendum and facilitating sites to be used as polling stations in the Catalan capital, in which some 20% of Catalan voters are concentrated. Yet on Thursday she announced that her local government had reached an agreement with the Catalan executive over the sites to be used for the vote. On Friday her party confirmed that it would call citizens to take part on October 1 after an internal vote. However, it does not consider the referendum binding.