Salvador Illa, Catalonia’s Socialist president and a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will meet exiled separatist leader Carles Puigdemont in Brussels on Tuesday to “normalise relations” between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists and Junts, whose seven MPs are key to the government’s majority.
A Junts spokesperson confirmed the talks, saying they are intended to “normalise relations”. An advisor to Illa said there was “no single reason or topic for the meeting,” describing it as part of Illa’s efforts to engage with former Catalan presidents.
“Now is the time to send a message about the importance of dialogue in democracy,” the advisor said.
The meeting coincides with Spain’s Council of Ministers approving a controversial €85 billion debt write-off for autonomous regions, including Catalonia – a measure stemming from an agreement between Sánchez’s PSOE and the pro-independence ERC.
Relations between the PSOE and the Junts have been strained over unfulfilled commitments tied to Sánchez’s 2023 re-election in 2023, including the repayment of an alleged €50 billion regional debt, the full implementation of the amnesty law and the recognition of Catalan as an EU language. Passed earlier last year, the amnesty law seeks to wipe criminal charges related to Catalonia’s 2017 independence referendum, including those still pending against Puigdemont, but it has faced resistance from Spain’s judiciary and scrutiny from Brussels.
Until now, “monthly meetings” have “remained discreet,” a Socialist spokesperson told Euractiv, but Illa – a party heavyweight and close ally of Sánchez – travelling to Brussels for a public meeting with Puigdemont signals a shift. Sources within the PSOE quoted in conservative Spanish media suggested that the meeting could pave the way for a possible Sánchez-Puigdemont encounter, which the prime minister has so far avoided.
The opposition has criticised the move. “Illa travels to Brussels as Sánchez’s messenger, as a puppet, willing to do whatever it takes to save him and stay in power, even if that means surrendering the dignity of our country’s institutions,” said Jorge Fernández, parliamentary spokesperson for the Catalan Popular Party.
Critics also warned that the meeting could lend political legitimacy to Puigdemont, despite Spain’s Supreme Court maintaining embezzlement charges against him relating to the 2017 independence referendum and refusing to grant him full amnesty. Justice Minister Felix Bolaños has rejected the Supreme Court’s “legal and political” reasoning and, like other Socialist ministers, he has accused the prosecutor of “overstepping his authority.”
Meanwhile, the legal battle over Puigdemont’s status continues. On Thursday, the Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice will deliver a non-binding opinion on Puigdemont’s appeal against the withdrawal of his parliamentary immunity. A final ruling on whether Spain’s amnesty law complies with EU law is expected later this year.
(de)
