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The deputy chair of Spain's Constitutional Court, Encarnación Roca, has said in an interview today on RNE that the problem of Catalonia "is not legal, but political" and expressed support for negotiation. "This kind of crisis isn't sorted out by force of court sentences, because then the other [side] will respect it or won't respect it. And in that case, what's to be done", the magistrate said, abandoning the normal arguments of the state's institutions.

According to Roca, it's not up to the Constitutional Court to say what should happen in this situation. "I believe it's a problem of coexistence, of negotiation, of a very long negotiation, very long. It's not something that can be solved overnight," she said.

Despite this, Roca also recognised that the Constitutional Court has taken a side with respect to the situation in Catalonia, to protect the Spanish Constitution, and that its verdicts have been reached unanimously.

The judge expressed opposition to revising the Constitution, warning that a text "with open clauses is always difficult to apply".