Catalan president Salvador Illa meets King Felipe VI in historic Zarzuela visit

Catalan president Salvador Illa met with Spain's King Felipe VI on Wednesday at the Zarzuela Palace, the monarch's residence.

It is the first Catalan leader to meet with the king at his residence in nine years, since Artur Mas visited the Madrid palace in July 2015.

With the meeting, the two institutions are "restoring institutional normality," said government spokesperson Silvia Paneque. 

"Respect between institutions will also be one of the fundamental principles of this government's political action," Illa said in a post on X.

The previous Catalan governments severed ties with the monarchy on October 3, 2017, three days after the October 1 referendum, which was deemed illegal by Spain.

Following the vote, Felipe VI delivered a special institutional address, a rare move previously made only four times: during the 1981 coup d'état attempt, the 2004 Madrid terrorist attacks, the 2014 death of former PM Adolfo Suárez, and his father Juan Carlos I's abdication in 2014. 

In his speech, the King urged the Spanish government to "restore constitutional order," indirectly endorsing the use of Article 155, which allowed Spain to suspend Catalonia's self-government.

The speech outraged pro-independence politicians, and since then, his successive pro-independence Catalan presidents - Carles Puigdemont, Quim Torra, and Pere Aragonès- have refused to visit Zarzuela.