Another two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting between PSOE and ERC's negotiating teams. And it seems some progress has been made towards reinvesting Pedro Sánchez as Spanish prime minister. Unlike after their first meeting last week, the parties this time issued a joint statement in which they agreed on the need to "activate the political path" to resolve the political conflict over Catalonia and in broad terms on social policy.
They have agreed to meet again next Tuesday, with the location still to be decided. Again different to after last Thursday's talks, this time ERC hasn't explicitly said it's stance towards the investiture is still "no".
The meeting started around half five and finished at about eight. It involved Adriana Lastra, José Luis Ábalos and Salvador Illa for PSOE and Gabriel Rufián, Marta Vilalta and Josep Maria Jové for ERC.
According to the joint statement, "in this second meeting [the teams] have reasserted that there's a political conflict and that we have to resolve it politically". They say they "have made progress in the reflection to activate the political path looking for the tools necessary to channel it". It also say they have "made progress on specific topics on which it's been possible to confirm [...] a shared social sensibility with respect to the recovery of civil, labour and social rights".
Leaving the meeting, Ábalos, acting public works minister and PSOE's organisation secretary, said it "went well" and that they "are making progress".
That said, although Pedro Sánchez had originally hoped to form a government before Christmas, the chances of that appears to be slipping away. ERC doesn't appear to agree there is any rush.