President Torra sees ‘no honest dialogue’ with Spain without a referendum
Catalan leader urges to "recover unity that made the independence referendum possible"
Catalan president Quim Torra has stressed that dialogue with the Spanish government to tackle the independence crisis can’t be "honest" unless it agrees to authorize a referendum to let Catalans decide.
In his televised New Year address, aired on Monday evening, Torra doubled down on his criticism against Spanish authorities — but also included statements that could be directed at Esquerra party, his allies in the Catalan government, currently negotiating with the Spanish Socialists to help acting president Pedro Sánchez form a new government.
Torra affirmed his commitment to "dialogue", but asked for "specific measures" and "political and democratic solutions" to the independence crisis, including a referendum "to give Catalans the last say on the political future for Catalonia".
"Dialogue also means mutual recognition, in this case, a bilateral relationship", he said referring to the relationship between the Catalan and Spanish governments.
After months of political turmoil and a string of elections that has seen pro-independence parties competing and often criticizing each other, Torra urged to recover the unity that made the October 1 [2017] referendum possible".