Catalonia's president Quim Torra has rejected the "autonomist" proposal put forward by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and has reiterated that "the only thing" that could lead to reconsideration of the results of the referendum held on 1st October 2017 is "a new referendum". "The age of statutes is in the past, well in the past", said the Catalan leader, in reference to the autonomy statutes which have been the key legal instruments for defining relationships between Spanish autonomous regions and the central government. Torra was speaking to the press from an unusual location: the summit of the Puigsacalm peak near Olot, which he climbed as part of Saturday's huge initiative to climb Catalan mountains in solidarity with the prisoners and exiles.
Torra's words were in response to the proposal made by Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, to hold a referendum on an offer that would increase Catalonia's autonomy. Joan Tardà, ERC deputy in the Spanish congress, demanded this Saturday in a tweet that such an offer would not be useful unless it was accompanied by the option to choose self-determination instead.
Torra called for continued mobilizations, especially with regard to the verdict on the trial of the imprisoned pro-independence politicians. The president appealed to "the spirit of the 1st October" - the day of last year's referendum - and the "strength of the 3rd October" - the day of the "national stoppage" two days later - in reference to the date when the verdict of the yet-to-begin trial will be announced, adding that with this Saturday's mountain-climbing mobilization, "the first peak has been reached".
The president highlighted that what the people of Catalonia have demanded for years is "the right to self-determination" and not a new statute. "We have gone beyond the phase of statutes, we voted on 1st October last year in a self-determination referendum, and last 27th October, we declared political independence", the president reiterated.
"We won't stop"
The Catalan president, climbing the peak chosen by his predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, stated that people won't stop until the release of the prisoners and the return of the exiles has been achieved. "We won't stop until they're free - and our people are as well", he said. "We are capable of reaching the summits that we set as our goals, even the summit of the Catalan Republic, which is our objective," he added, underlining the "solidarity and fellowship" of this Saturday "of mass ascents".