Catalan and Spanish governments should agree on mediator, Puigdemont proposes

Speaking to CNN, the Catalan president said he is willing to talk without “preconditions” 

Catalan president Carles Puigdemont receives applause in parliament on Tuesday (by ACN)
Catalan president Carles Puigdemont receives applause in parliament on Tuesday (by ACN) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

October 11, 2017 07:12 PM

The Catalan president proposed on Wednesday that two representatives from both the Catalan and Spanish governments agree upon a mediator for the ongoing political crisis.

"Perhaps it would help the dialogue if two people of the Catalan government and two people of the Spanish government agreed in a simple way: to designate a mediator, for example," Puigdemont said speaking to CNN, adding that the idea of a hypothetical dialogue must be based on the “recognition of reality.”

"The relationship between Catalonia and Spain does not work and there is a majority of Catalans who want Catalonia to become an independent state, and want to do so in accordance with Spain,” he said,  “but we must speak without conditions, we have to sit and talk truthfully.”

He described the current political situation as of the “utmost importance,” in his first public announcement since Tuesday’s heavily anticipated speech.