Remember the dialogue table on the political conflict between Spain and Catalonia which was interrupted by the coronavirus crisis? The Pedro Sánchez government claims to recall it. But there are other priorities at present. Although a date has now even been given for the lifting of quarantines on tourist arrivals, the Spanish government still has no date for the next meeting of the two governments. "It will resume at the moment when the health situation is completely under control," was all that government spokesperson Maria Jesús Montero said today in Madrid. She once again rejected the figure of a mediator, as frequently demanded - most recently today by exiled Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.
At the press conference after today's cabinet meeting, when asked if the executive had set a date as requested by Catalonia's ERC party, the spokesperson avoided the question. She made it clear that "the commitments made when the government was formed remain firm", but that they have been "interrupted" by the pandemic, on which "all ministers have their five senses focused". Given this, her reply was the same as in recent weeks: "Once the health situation is completely under control, we will continue with the other tasks."
With regard to today's comment by Carles Puigdemont that a mediator was necessary after the fiasco of the government's agreement with the Basque party EH Bildu, the government again rejected it. "We have always said that the best rapporteur is the citizenry," said the Socialist politician, criticising the pro-independence leader. "He has never conceded that the Spanish government had any credibility, it's nothing new," he said.
In this context, the cabinet spokesperson called on all parties, including pro-independence groups, to "put shoulders to the wheel" in the fight against the pandemic. The minister also stressed that the dialogue is "fluid" and "permanent" with the political parties that made possible the investiture of the Sánchez government possible, including ERC - which voted against the government in the last vote on extending the state of alarm - as well as with other smaller parties. "Our investiture agreements are fully alive," the Socialist politician insisted.
Puigdemont: "A rapporteur is essential with Sánchez"
The blatant breaching of the agreement reached between Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and the Basque party EH Bildu on the vote to extend Spain's state of alarm is the proof, says Carles Puigdemont, that the figure of a rapporteur is "essential" to bring to fruition a dialogue table on the conflict in Catalonia.
“Does anyone really think we should sit down at a dialogue table without further guarantees when a swindler like Sánchez has been plying his trade in plain sight?” he asked today from Brussels.
"The Spanish government needs to reflect, to restore the credit it has lost as a reliable interlocutor before we can say that we are going back to the point where we left off, because many things have happened since," warned Carles Puigdemont.