Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Catalonia: a fraught dialogue begins

Tom Canetti 17th September 2021

The leaders of the Spanish government and that in Catalonia have met across the table—but the gap between them remains large.

Catalonia,dialogue,Sanchez,Aragones,Junts
How this plays out on the street will matter (davide bonaldo / Shutterstock.com)

The Spanish premier, Pedro Sánchez, rejected both amnesty and a second independence referendum in the highly-anticipated dialogue between Spain and Catalonia on Wednesday. But the Catalan leader, Pere Aragonès, said the initiation of negotiation between the two sides was a win in itself.

The purpose of the meeting, which lasted two hours at the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona, was to discuss the ‘process’—the issue of Catalan independence from Spain. In 2017, Catalans voted in a referendum which the Spanish state considered to be unconstitutional, leading to the 2019 sentencing of nine political and cultural leaders to 9-13 years in prison.

The date for the dialogue between the president of the Generalitat and the prime minister of Spain was organised in June, following the pardons issued by Sánchez to former political prisoners. It symbolised the start of what both sides describe as a transition towards progressive deliberation between Spain and Catalonia.

Right instrument

Both came out of the meeting on Wednesday agreeing that the table of dialogue was the right instrument for resolving the conflict. The Spanish PM said that he was committed to ‘the agenda of reunion’ (l’agenda del retrobament in Catalan), meaning that his ambition was to promote discourse and negotiation between the two sides rather than a unilateral approach. Aragonès, who is from the Republican Left Party of Catalonia (ERC), has been a proponent of the deliberative approach since taking power earlier this year and agreed that Wednesday’s meeting was the first of many to come. Both leaders agreed to engage in ‘public and non-public’ reunions to work through the negotiations ‘without haste’ and ‘without deadlines’. But both sides admitted to starkly contrasting positions.

Aragonès has consistently championed two main objectives for the dialogue: amnesty for exiles and former political prisoners and another referendum for Catalan independence. Sánchez, referencing the Spanish constitution (a clause about Spain’s ‘indivisibility’) and consistent with his dialogue throughout this year, said ‘neither amnesty nor a referendum are possible’ and suggested the two sides need to talk about ‘closer issues’.

The PM’s stance led Aragonès to label the two executives as ‘very far [apart] in positions’ but did not discourage him from praising the meeting, saying they had achieved ‘what seemed impossible’—referring to the Spanish executive coming to the table of dialogue. The Catalan republican stood by his ambition for another referendum and said that ‘there is room to raise options’ in regards to constitutional limitations.

Aragonès acknowledged the pardons issued in June as a progressive step towards recognition by the executive but said that ‘repression continues’. The Catalan leader will continue to fight for amnesty for all who were persecuted by the Spanish Supreme Court for their involvement in the 2017 independence referendum. The difference between amnesty and the pardons would be an acknowledgment by the Spanish executive that the condemned former leaders had not actually broken the law—rather than what some consider as an olive-branch offering of forgiveness.

Not represented

Controversy was sparked the day before the dialogue when the Catalan president rejected proposed attendees for the meeting from Junts—the other half of the ruling Catalan coalition. Aragonès justified his decision by saying that the attendees should only consist of members of the government.

Jordi Sànchez, a former Catalan political prisoner and the secretary general of Junts, responded that this was not a necessary requirement. But he blamed the Spanish executive for what he labelled a ‘veto’ of his party’s members. ‘We have felt that we have been vetoed by Pedro Sánchez’s government. This veto represents the conviction that the Spanish side fails to address the dialogue,’ said Sànchez on Tuesday.

Junts, which governed Catalonia under the leadership of the now-exiled Carles Puigdemont at the time of the 2017 referendum, was thus not represented at the table of dialogue. The Catalan side consisted of Aragonès, Laura Vilagrà (minister for the presidency) and Roger Torrent (minister and former president of the Catalan parliament). The Spanish side consisted of Sánchez, Yolanda Díaz as vice-president and ministers Félix Bolaños, Isabel Rodríguez and Miquel Iceta. Sánchez reduced the number of attendees from the Spanish side to account for the absence of Junts members.

How these discussions unfold, and their circumstantial outcomes, will surely have an impact on Sánchez’s fate in next year’s general election.

Catalonia,dialogue,Sánchez,Aragonès,Junts
Tom Canetti

Tom Canetti has a masters in political philosophy from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. A freelance journalist, he focuses on corruption and macroeconomics in Spain.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983c824 240f 477c bc69 697bf625cb93 1 Mind the Gap: Can Europe Afford Its Green and Digital Future?Viktor Skyrman
u421983467b5 5df0 44d2 96fc ba344a10b546 0 Finland’s Austerity Gamble: Tax Cuts for the Rich, Pain for the PoorJussi Systä
u421983467 3f8a 4cbb 9da1 1db7f099aad7 0 The Enduring Appeal of the Hybrid WorkplaceJorge Cabrita
u421983ae 3b0caff337bf 0 Europe’s Euro Ambition: A Risky Bid for “Exorbitant Privilege”Peter Bofinger
u4219834676b2eb11 1 Trump’s Attacks on Academia: Is the U.S. University System Itself to Blame?Bo Rothstein

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity”,

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641