Talks stretched to breaking point

The protest in Madrid called by the three right-wing unionist parties against the Catalan and Spanish government’s talks has stretched the chance of finding common ground to breaking point. The furore over the talks and the presence of an observer with only five days to go until the Congress votes on the 2019 budget, Pedro Sánchez’s executive had enough and offered talks with state parties and a “facilitator” but without discussing a referendum on self-determination. Through vice president Pere Aragonès and spokeswoman Elsa Artadi, the Catalan executive accused La Moncloa of “breaking off” the talks and said it would “not give up the right to self-determination”.

The week that began with the ERC party announcing it would reject the budget, which wrongfooted the Socialist executive in Madrid, ended with the PDeCAT party also saying it would not support the spending plan. Moreover, the Socialists also had to deal with criticism from sectors of the party and party barons like Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra. In the end, the Spanish executive came up with its final offer for the talks, stressing that “this government will never accept a referendum on self-determination.” That might be enough to placate the party and defuse Sunday’s protest calling for Spanish unity, but it did not sit well in Barcelona.

Deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo was the one to make the offer on Friday, warning ERC and PDeCAT that burying the budget on Wednesday would simply force a new election: “Without a budget, time is running out,” said Calvo.

Meanwhile, the Catalan executive refused to budge on self-determination, although it left the door ajar to resuming talks: “Despite the Spanish government abandoning the talks, the Catalan government will remain seated at the table,” said Aragonès.