Catalan president calls for ‘dialogue without conditions’ with Madrid

Catalan president Quim Torra repeated his offer to the Spanish government for “dialogue without conditions” on Wednesday. On a trip to Belgium to meet with the deposed Catalan ministers in exile there, Torra said his “message” to the Spanish executive is that it has no choice but to “negotiate with the President of Catalonia, to talk, negotiate and then talk and negotiate again.”

Torra also said he would listen “very attentively” to the proposals for Catalonia from Spanish Socialist opposition leader, Pedro Sánchez. “We want to know what proposal he [Sánchez] has for Catalonia and on what specific measures it might be based,” added Torra. Sánchez is behind a vote of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy which, if successful, could see him replace the Spanish prime minister.