Torra’s allies cool down referendum ultimatum

Catalan president Quim Torra did not inform some of his pro-independence allies in Madrid before announcing the ultimatum on Tuesday to his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, in which he set November as a deadline for negotiating a vote on independence.

Gabriel Rufián, an MP in the Spanish Congress for Esquerra (ERC), Torra’s partners in government, stressed that "only ERC in Madrid can speak on behalf of ERC in Madrid."

ERC's leader in the Catalan parliament, Sergi Sebrià, stated that his party won't settle for anything less than Catalonia's self-determination, but warned that "whoever is aiming for shortcuts is either lying or being naïve."

Sources from PDeCAT, the party of former president Carles Puigdemont, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the head of government did not take them into account when making the announcement in parliament. They also warned that the move thwarts any possibility of the Catalan government getting the votes of non-pro-independence parties to pass the budget.

In contrast, Míriam Nogueras, PDeCAT’s vice president and an MP in the Spanish parliament, said via Twitter that the party will do what the Catalan president orders them to do.

Socialists reject ultimatum

Spain’s president Pedro Sánchez rejected Torra’s demands on Tuesday, and told him that he doesn’t have to wait until November in order to get a response to his ultimatum.

“When your words do not match reality it can cause frustration, and frustration can spur intolerance and violence,” said the leader of Sánchez’s Socialist party in Catalonia, Miquel Iceta, and put clashes between pro-independence supporters and police officers last Monday as an example.

Sánchez came to power last June with the support of pro-independence parties, which voted to oust his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, following a corruption scandal. 

With only a quarter of all parliament seats, the Socialists still rely on pro-independence parties, among others, to have a majority in the Spanish Congress.

CatECP: negotiating referendum within a month "impossible"

Catalunya en Comú-Podem, a left-wing coalition including the Catalan branch of Sánchez's main allies in Spain, Podemos, also rejected Torra's ultimatum. 

"It's impossible to negotiate a referendum within a month," said Jéssica Albiach, the party's president in parliament.

Standing in between political blocs, CatECP MPs have recently got closer to pro-independence parties, and even voted in favor of motions put forward by them.