Catalan president will go to Senate to defend amnesty 'before reactionary right' 

The Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, will attend a meeting of the Commission of Autonomous Communities in the Spanish Senate in Madrid this Thursday, to defend the prospect of an amnesty for pro-independence figures. 

The Spanish conservative People's Party (PP), which has a majority in the upper house, called the meeting. So far, the only other heads of regional governments who have confirmed their attendance are PP representatives. 

The meeting is to address the subject of an amnesty for individuals involved in Catalonia's independence push, with Aragonès' presence justified by government spokesperson Patrícia Plaja as an opportunity to defend the measure "before the Spanish reactionary right." 

"We will never leave an empty space when they are talking about Catalonia, and talking about an amnesty is talking about Catalonia," Plaja insisted at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Aragonès does not want to "leave a debate on amnesty in the hands of the PP and its [regional] presidents, when they have been one of the main advocates of the repression of pro-independence figures," Plaja said. 

"On Catalonia, Catalonia speaks, and there is no one better than the president to talk about amnesty," she added. 

An amnesty is one of the demands of Catalan pro-independence parties Esquerra Republicana and Junts as they negotiate with the Spanish Socialists over the possible reelection of Pedro Sánchez as prime minister. 

PP, who won the most votes in July's inconclusive general election but fell short of a majority, are against an amnesty.