'Completely ruled out' that Socialists would back Puigdemont's presidency bid

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says it's "completely ruled out" that the Socialists would support Carles Puigdemont's bid for the presidency of Catalonia.

"Puigdemont must accept the reality, which is that there is no pro-independence majority in parliament, and that all roads lead to the same protagonist, the winner of the elections, Salvador Illa," Sánchez warned in an interview with Spanish television station La Sexta.

"The reality is the reality, he doesn't have the numbers to be elected president," the leader of the Socialists in Spain remarked.

According to Sánchez, the results of last Sunday's Catalan election show that support for independence is waning and that the Catalans have opted, instead, for a "progressive option," as three left-wing parties can form a majority in the chamber.

This, however, is far from a foregone conclusion, as it would encompass a party explicitly in favor of Spanish unity, in the Socialists, as well as another whose objective is to split from Spain, in pro-independence Esquerra Republicana. In between are Comuns-Sumar, who are pro-referendum, but not aligned on either side of the independence question.

Asked about the possibility that Junts will withdraw its support for Sánchez's executive in the Spanish Congress in Madrid if Puigdemont is not named president, the Socialist leader argued that the majority that supports the Spanish government is "broad" and can move forward.

"You should not make a mistake because, last July 23, Catalan society was quite explicit, I would say resounding in its support for the progressive coalition government," he added.