Catalan Socialists leader ‘can’t imagine independence without an agreement with Spain’

Dialogue between Spanish and Catalan governments is needed, even if the latter aims for independence. This is what the leader of the Catalan Socialists, Miquel Iceta, said on Tuesday in an interview with the RAC1 radio station. “I can’t imagine a process culminating in independence that doesn’t start with an agreement,” claimed the unionist leader.

Although he ruled out a Spanish Constitution reform in this term, he hopes the path to this aim could start with Sánchez’s rule. The Socialists advocate for a new Carta Magna bringing Spain closer to a federal state, yet the People’s Party, despite being dethroned, is still the largest party in the lower chamber and has an absolute majority in the Senate. He also said that Catalonia has no right to self-determination because that right only extends to former colonies. Additionally, he ruled out a vote on independence taking place in this term either.

Iceta also commented on the nomination of Josep Borrell, an outspoken critic against independence. “I am very happy about it and I am sure he will do brilliantly,” he said. Iceta also rejected that his appointment as minister is “a prize for his words” against the independence movement. Borrell claimed last December that Catalonia would be “a sick country” if the majority of its citizens supported going on their own outside Spain.

The Catalan Socialists leader avoided taking a stance on the jailed leaders in three Madrid prisons. In December, during the Catalan election campaign, he supported reprieving them if found guilty. On Tuesday, he claimed that he would only comment “once a verdict is known.” With the jailed officials being more than 600km away from their relatives, Iceta said that his party will do everything in their hands so that their situation is “as good as possible.”