Catalan President suggests “necessary” referendum debate in Congress

The president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, wrote a letter to the president of the Spanish Congress on Friday asking her to hold a debate in the chamber about the independence referendum plans. "I think it's important for all members of Congress to be able to hear from me, as president of Catalonia, the reasons why we are in this situation and why my government asked to negotiate a referendum proposal with the Spanish executive," Puigdemont wrote in the letter to Ana Pastor.

According to him, a debate in the Spanish Congress about the referendum is "necessary" and would be "significant". However, the Catalan president rejected putting his plans to a vote, arguing that previous attempts by Catalan groups to do so have always "regretfully" been rejected and insisting that the independence ballot is already scheduled for October 1.

In his letter, seen by the CNA, Puigdemont reminded Pastor that Mariano Rajoy's government had refused to negotiate the possibility of a referendum. He also explained that the Spanish executive wanted him to present the referendum plans before Congress, something that Puigdemont was only willing to do in the event that there was a prior agreement between Madrid and Barcelona on the terms of the vote.