‘There will be no self-determination referendum,’ Spanish president tells congress

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez has declared “there will be no self-determination referendum” on Wednesday morning in the Spanish congress, a day after his first official meeting with his Catalan counterpart, Pere Aragonès.

Sánchez defended the pardons given to the independence leaders as a sign of the "constitutional spirit" that he believes must mark a new stage of economic recovery.

"There will be no referendum on self-determination unless those who seek it manage to convince three-fifths of the chamber, and then Spaniards ratify it in a referendum, but the Socialist Party will never accept this," he told MPs and citizens who had “reservations” over his engagement in dialogue with the Catalan president.

He also assured that the law "will be applied whenever necessary,"but recalled that the judicial process "is not valid in itself to guarantee coexistence in Catalonia," and called on political leaders not to defer their responsibilities to the courts. 

"We will not give up"

Aragonès gave a direct response to the Spanish president's comments during a television interview with La Sexta later on Wednesday.

"We will persist to achieve independence through a democratic process. It is a matter of political will. We will not give up on or renounce our goals," the Catalan president said.

He also demanded that Sánchez's cabinet transfer the required powers to Catalonia in order for it to call a referendum.

Agreement for Amnesty and Self-Determination 

Pedro Sánchez and Pere Aragonès met on Tuesday evening in Madrid for their first official meeting, in which they agreed to resume the dialogue table over the independence conflict in September. 

The first meeting between the Catalan and Spanish administrations took place just before the pandemic started and monthly meetings were planned from then. However, the health crisis overtook all other priorities and instability in Catalan politics led to further delays, meaning the second meeting of the dialogue table will take place a year and a half after the first. 

For this meeting, Aragonès is formalizing the Agreement for Amnesty and Self-Determination with various pro-independence entities and organizations. 

The head of government wants to arrive at the September encounter with this agreement "consolidated" in order to go into the dialogue table "with full force." 

The ERC head also told Catalunya Ràdio that he does not foresee party president Oriol Junqueras or the other pardoned independence leaders taking part in the negotiations with Spain, although he has guaranteed them a "relevant role."

Aragonès to ignore interterritorial meeting

Pere Aragonès also says that, for now at least, he will not attend the interterritorial meeting of regional presidents as he thinks it will "not be useful to move forward".

The ERC head says that his priority is the bilateral talks with Spain, and believes that meetings such as the one scheduled for the end of July in Salamanca with other Spanish regions are more of a photo opportunity than productive work events.

"It will not be the most useful thing to move forward," he added. Thus, "unless there is some change", the forecast of Aragonès is to maintain dialogue with Sánchez and the central Spanish administration.

Elsewhere, the leader of the Catalan Socialists, Salvador Illa, is pressuring the Catalan president for a meeting.

He wants Catalan political parties to get together ahead of September's resumption of the bilateral negotiation table. "If not, the dialogue and Aragonès' negotiating position are "weak." 

Aragonès however has insisted again that the Catalan parliament is the place for debate between parties and that he is focusing on putting together the aforementioned Agreement for Amnesty and Self-Determination. 

Pro-independence parties challenge Sánchez

Sánchez's proclamation that there would be no referendum was challenged by Esquerra's spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián.

"Mr President, you said there will never be a self-determination referendum. Well, you also said there would never be pardons. Give us time," he said.

Far-left, pro-independence CUP MP Mireia Vehí defiantly told Sánchez that "in two years there will be a referendum in Catalonia," and compared the Spanish president's comments to that of his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy, saying it was "a trip to the past."

Jordi Sànchez, one of those released from prison after being granted a pardon by the Spanish president, also responded, saying "if there is no referendum there will be no possibility of resolving the political conflict."

The secretary general of Junts per Catalunya told Catalunya Ràdio that "[Pedro] Sánchez has a major problem and we have to ask ourselves what he intends to do."

Unionist anger

The Spanish president also drew the ire of right-wing unionist parties in Congress. People's Party (PP) leader called again for Sánchez to resign, saying that was the "only way history would pardon him." Casado said the pardons were "unacceptable" because pro-independence leaders have not expressed any "remorse."

Inés Arrimadas, the leader of fellow unionist party Ciudadanos, called on Casado to present a motion of no confidence in the Spanish president, telling the PP leader "Do not doubt that we will support you."