Catalan president: Spain must engage in 'unconditional dialogue and propose political solutions'

Catalan president Quim Torra insists on calling Spain's acting president Pedro Sánchez to engage in "unconditional dialogue and propose political solutions" in a statement given to the press on Tuesday after the Catalan government passed an agreement to pressure him to "sit and talk" with Catalan institutions.

While appealing to Sánchez's "statesmanship" in trying to encourage him to speak to him about the issues Catalonia currently faces, Torra also stated that he would always defend the "right to self-determination."

The Catalan president described how he has attempted to speak to Sánchez for four days straight and has not yet been able to get through to him as Madrid has repeatedly claimed that he must condemn the protests that took place following the Supreme Court's announcement of the jailed independence leaders' sedition sentences ''without nuances'' and in ''an expressive way.''

Torra calls for investigation into Catalan police actions

The president explained on Tuesday that he had asked interior minister Miquel Buch to launch an investigation into the actions of the Catalan police, to study whether "actions were in line with protocols" when responding to the protests against the verdict of the Catalan trial.

Torra also defended the need to create an "investigation commision to study and analyze the events of last week with total transparency," speaking about behaviour in the protests and the actions of police.

The Catalan president hopes that these measures will help to maintain "confidence in the body of the Mossos d'Esquadra."