Catalan president Quim Torra has once more appealed for dialogue and, with an eye to next Friday's Spanish cabinet meeting in Barcelona, has asserted that in relation to Pedro Sánchez's executive "we are condemned to understand one another in order to make progress".
Speaking on Saturday evening in Manresa, at the closing ceremony of that city's year as the Capital of Catalan Culture, and after the Spanish prime minister had earlier demanded a "serene, moderate and sensible" dialogue to improve cohesion, president Torra once again called for a dialogue that is "sincere" and "without fear" with the Spanish state to unblock the current situation in Catalonia.
In his speech, Torra also assured that Catalonia "does not have a problem of coexistence, but one of democracy and lack of respect for human rights and freedoms." For this reason, he declared his determination to "build bridges", putting aside ideological differences. "We, all of us, are somehow condemned to understand one another to resolve this," he said, making an explicit reference to three different groups: those that support Catalan independence, those who want a federal Spain and those who prefer the current Spain of autonomous communities.
The head of the Catalan government said that in Catalonia there are three "points of great consensus". The first is that 80% do not regard the institution of the Spanish monarchy as their own, the second is that a large majority believe that "policies of repression cannot be applied to democratic politicians," and the third consensus is on "the value of the right to self-determination." From his point of view, the implication is "not to recognize the Spanish monarchy as our own institution, to be against the repression of imprisoned politicians and to opt for the right to self-determination to resolve the situation."
Torra also made reference to the pro-independence political prisoners, with a special mention for those who are on hunger strike, including especially Jordi Turull, who on Friday was moved to the hospital unit of the Lledoners penitentiary.