Torra and Sánchez make first phone call

The new president of the Spanish government Pedro Sánchez has called the head of the Catalan executive Quim Torra on Friday afternoon.

Both leaders have laid the ground to meet “very soon,” according to sources close to the presidency. Now it is a case of setting a date for the meeting.

The Spanish government spokeswoman Isabel Celáa has asserted that the debate on the right to self-determination will stay “absolutely out of the discussion,” when it begins negotiations with the Catalan executive. In an interview on Sunday, Torra said that, in their first meeting, he would ask Sánchez what his opinion is on Catalonia's right to self-determination.

She also ruled out tackling the situation of bringing imprisoned Catalan to prisons closer to home, stating that this is a matter for the judge overseeing their case, Pablo Llarena, as they are in preventive detention. 

Urgency

In an interview with Radio Euskadi (Basque Radio,) Celáa confirmed that Spain’s executive will offer a meeting with the president of Catalonia Quim Torra. She added that they want this to take place before the summer, and that an agreement is made.

“When people transform themselves attitudes are transformed and agreements that do not exist begin to emerge,” she said.

On Monday, Quim Torra expressed the urgency for both parties to sit at the table and engage in dialogue regarding the Catalan issue. On Friday, hte spokeswoman of the new Spanish government Isabel Celáa also stated that it is “urgent” to open dialogue with Catalonia, prioritizing the Catalan crisis as one of its main “obligations and concerns."