Socialists hit back at ERC, affirm Catalonia’s self-determination ‘does not exist’

The Catalan Socialists have rallied back against Pere Aragonès and Esquerra Republicana, reminding their pro-independence political rivals that Catalonia’s self-determination “does not exist.” 

Speaking at a party event in Barcelona on Saturday, Eva Granados, first deputy secretary of the party, claimed that the pro-independence camp did not want to negotiate a new model of autonomic consolidation.

Granados also reminded the left-wing ERC that they propped up the “worst period of cuts” seen in Catalonia, during the government of Artur Mas and lamented Catalan vice president Aragonès calling the Socialists "conservatives." 

Granados, along with Spanish congress speaker, Meritxell Batet, and the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, have emphasized the "centrality" of the Socialist party, and have predicted that Miquel Iceta will be the next president of Catalonia.