Catalan president in exile, Carles Puigdemont, is very suspicious of supposed changes that the government of Pedro Sánchez is bringing to the conflict in Catalonia. In an interview in the German weekly Der Spiegel, the president in exile questions Sánchez's intentions.
"We know that when the Spanish Socialists were in government in the 80s, they didn't want federalism", Puigdemont recalls. "We can't be so naive to think they're serious now" on this issue, he concludes.
Puigdemont recalls that "Sánchez also voted in the Spanish Senate for a forced intervention in Catalan government". And "a member of his party has compared the independence movement with a viral disease", in reference to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
"There is only one political party in Spain in favour of holding a binding referendum in Catalonia: Podemos, new left", clarifies Puigdemont, who, however, admits that "there is a different mood in the socialist government".
Puigdemont assures that he listens to the Catalan president, Quim Torra, because "we are on the same team and we coordinate ourselves". But he adds that, despite Torra being "the head of government in Barcelona", "everyone knows that his room for manoeuvre is very limited" in the regional system.
Puigdemont assures that he will work for his own return to Catalonia soon and says that he has "great confidence" in European justice and in the UN Human Rights Committee.
The president in exile has announced that he will continue to travel to other countries. "I have travelled to Denmark, Switzerland and Finland to give lectures, and I will continue to do so.