New elections on October 13 if no new Catalan president named by August 26

Catalan parliament speaker Josep Rull has revealed that no candidate has put themselves forward for a presidential investiture debate, and the Catalan chamber will instead hold an "equivalent act" in full form next Wednesday 26, which will activate the two-month countdown to elections being automatically called.

During the round of consultations held between Tuesday and Wednesday, both the Socialist Party and Junts+ have communicated that their candidates, Salvador Illa and Carles Puigdemont, intend to stand for the investiture debates, but have also asked for more time to negotiate support.

Parties will thus have until August 26 to elect a new president of Catalonia or elections will be automatically called for October 13. Rull has urged political groups to "build consensus" and avoid a repeat of the vote.

The plenary session next week will be a formality, with parties given five minutes to speak and Rull informing lawmakers that no candidate has been put forward and the two-month countdown will begin to elections being called if no president can be named in that time.

During a brief institutional at the chamber, Rull explained that both the Socialists and Junt+ have expressed to him their "will to propose a candidate in the next two months and to explore the possibilities of reaching agreements."

Rull added that he was "convinced" that the parties would be able to build consensus, bridges, and dialogue to make an investiture debate possible.