The new leader of Spain's centre-right Partido Popular (PP), Pablo Casado, has held his first meeting with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez in the Moncloa government palace in Madrid today. During the meeting, he set out his party's red lines when it comes to the Catalan independence movement.
Casado made it clear that if Quim Torra's Catalan government continues on the path set out by president Puigdemont, his party will call for article 155 of the Constitution to be brought back into force in Catalonia. The article was used for the first time in history by the then-PP Spanish government last year to suspend Catalan autonomy and fire Puigdemont's government. Casado described this first usage of the article as a warning.
At the same time, Casado assured Sánchez of his party's support "in defence of the unity of Spain and of the Constitution". On the first, he said PP won't negotiate, under any circumstances, with anyone who aims to "break up Spain". He also suggested to the prime minister to reform the Penal Code to include a crime of illegal organisation of a referendum.
Finally, the leader of the Spanish opposition threatened the whole independence movement over the way they could react to the king if he decides to attend the ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the attacks on 17th August last year in Barcelona and Cambrils.
Loyal opposition
For his part, Sánchez called on Casado to offer "responsible and loyal" opposition over the great questions facing the country. "Our common objective has to be to make progress for Spain," the prime minister wrote on Twitter. When it comes to these "questions of state", he listed the specific areas of migration, European politics, domestic violence and infrastructure.