Puigdemont denies “negotiations” with Rajoy, as report assures both presidents secretly met in January

Barcelona (CNA).- The meeting which Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont and his Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, are said to have held on the 11th of January in ‘La Moncloa’ palace in Madrid, remained unnoticed until this Wednesday. A report published by newspaper ‘La Vanguardia’ has assured that such a meeting took place, adding fuel to the fire started by the delegate of the Spanish Government in Catalonia, Enric Millo, who affirmed that the Spanish and the Catalan governments have held meetings “at all levels” and that some of them “were not made public”. However, Puigdemont denied any “negotiations” with Rajoy. “There are no negotiations and they are not expected either”, he stated during the plenary session. The Catalan President added that “as soon as such negotiations happen to take place” the Parliament “will have all the information required".

Rajoy has neither confirmed nor denied that such a secret meeting between the two representatives took place. 

Munté denies any meeting

“There was no secret meeting [between Puigdemont and Rajoy]. Indeed, a meeting is what we are all looking forward to” assured this Tuesday the Catalan Government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, aiming to put an end to the controversy. Moreover, Munté considered Millo’s statements a “confusing manoeuvre” for the public opinion. According to Munté, the Catalan Government has not received any proposal from the Spanish Government “other than the suspension notices, threats of banning elected representatives from public office or warnings from the court”. 

The leader of the Conservative People’s Party in Catalonia, Xavier García Albiol, also contradicted Millo and denied any “secret meetings” between the Spanish and Catalan Governments. He assured that Rajoy’s executive is willing to negotiate, but only after the referendum proposal is left aside.