Socialist MEP calls for jailed leaders to be moved to Catalan prisons

The Catalan pro-independence leaders in jails in the Madrid region should be moved to prisons in Catalonia, says a Socialist MEP. Javi López, member for the PSC Catalan Socialists in Brussels, told the Catalan News Agency that transferring the prisoners would help “heal wounds,” and he pointed out that the policy of keeping inmates in distant jails originated in the fight against terrorism, which “has nothing to do” with the officials being held in preemptive prison while awaiting trial for their part in the independence bid.

López also said he was “convinced” that a meeting between the Spanish and Catalan presidents, Pedro Sánchez and Quim Torra, will take place “in the next few weeks,” as one of the priorities facing Sánchez’s new government is “restoring political dialogue with Catalonia.” In fact, López suggested that the two new executives could “set the score to 0 and bring in a new phase in politics,” one that is far from the recent conflict and one based on “empathy, dialogue, respect for coexistence and for the rules.”

“Responsibility” required from both governments

In general, López is positive about the potential of the new Spanish government, which he says is “markedly Europeanist, progressive, modern and with a clear social sensibility.” For the MEP, the first step for Sánchez’s executive should be a “return to the political approach and to leave institutional conflict behind.” Yet, reducing tensions will not only require “responsibility” from the Spanish executive, but for López, the Catalan government also “has to make it clear that in its term it will operate within legality and according to the rule of law.”

As for Sánchez’s new cabinet, López praised the fact that the majority of ministers are women and he picked out the choice of Catalan MP Meritxell Batet in charge of territorial questions as “really great news.” For the MEP, Batet is the sort of figure needed to launch “the new political phase” of dialogue. “She is a reliable, firm voice, but one in favor of dialogue,” he said, adding: “Dialogue, let me say, that is needed between the Catalan and Spanish governments but also -and this has been lacking- within Catalonia itself.”

Borrell should get to add his “grain of sand”

López also commented on the appointment of veteran Catalan politician, Josep Borrell, to the post of foreign minister, someone the MEP described as “a well-respected figure in domestic and international spheres.” Asked about Borrell’s outspoken opposition to the Catalan independence movement, including controversial statements about “disinfecting” Catalonia’s social wounds, López said that, as a Catalan, it is important that Borrell “contribute his grain of sand”: “That Josep Borrell and others have been hostile towards the independence movement is a normal part of the political battle,” he said.