Spain's king Felipe VI, former Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan president Carles Puigdemont are some of the witnesses proposed by the defendants in the trial following the 2017 independence push. In defence filings today, Catalonia's former interior minister denies giving political instructions to the police. Meanwhile, two Catalan senior ministers will meet Spain's deputy PM on Thursday. Their proposal: launching negotiations over Catalonia to consider passing the Spanish budget. Madrid has already rejected this, but pro-independence parties insist they want steps towards self-determination in exchange for their votes.