Spanish Socialist leader ramps up criticism of Catalan president

Catalonia’s new president, Quim Torra, has come in for plenty of criticism since he was appointed last week. Yet, one quarter from which the censure has been particularly strong is from the head of the Spanish Socialist party, Pedro Sánchez. After comparing Torra to French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, Sánchez on Wednesday called the Catalan president a “racist supremacist who denies the identity of half of society.” Sánchez’s words came a day after Torra called on the PSOE head to apologize for his previous similar comments.

"I regret that some tweets taken out of context addressed to the Spanish government offended some people,” Torra said during his investiture debate last week. He called for a “republic for everyone” and stressed that “for the Spanish people and the Catalan people, freedom means republic.”

Talking on Spanish television, Sánchez hit out at the ERC pro-independence party for choosing Torra as president, and he accused him of wanting to extend direct rule of Catalonia. Sánchez showed no intention of softening his tone towards Torra, despite the Catalan president on Tuesday expressing surprise at the “harshness” of Sánchez’s words and asking him for an apology. Yet, the PSOE leader reiterated that “neither racism nor supremacism could solve the Catalan crisis.”

"Racist shame of secessionism"

Sánchez’s attack on Torra is not the only one. Earlier in the week, the Socialist leader suggested that Torra’s election as president had unleashed the “racist shame of secessionism.” Comparing the Catalan president to xenophobic populists like Le Pen, Sánchez said “Torra is nothing more than a racist at the head of the Catalan government.” In particular, Sánchez made reference to controversial tweets made by Torra before becoming president, for which he has publicly apologized on more than one occasion.

Speaking about Torra, Sánchez proposed to sanction politicians whose actions discriminated against certain citizens. He said that this measure could affect politicians who take measures to prevent immigrants from receiving health care—an example that sparked controversy, as Torra himself promised to recover Catalonia's Universal Healthcare Bill, suspended by Spain's Constitutional Court, which allowed some 180,000 immigrants to receive health support.