Spain’s leader lauds mended relations with Catalonia. Separatists say it’s time to vote on secession

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Barcelona on Thursday in an effort to show that his pledge to push through an amnesty for Catalonia’s separatists was paying dividends with the leaders of the politically restive region.

After meeting with Catalan regional president, Pere Aragonès, in the medieval palace housing Catalonia’s government, the two emerged with a handful of deals that Sánchez said would “affect the daily lives of Catalans.”

Sánchez has been harshly criticized by Spain’s conservative opposition for his decision to grant an amnesty that, once it is passed by Parliament next year, would sweep away the legal troubles of potentially hundreds of people involved in Catalonia’s unsuccessful 2017 independence bid.

That amnesty deal was critical to Sánchez winning the parliamentary support of Catalan separatists parties that he needed to form a new government last month, following inconclusive national elections in July.

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Sánchez underscored on Thursday how his policy for Catalonia since he took power in 2018 had greatly eased tensions between Madrid and Barcelona. He also focused on the “bread and butter” deals that he struck with Aragonès. They included a commitment to push for new tech industries in Catalonia, the transfer of the management of local rail services to the region, and a proposed bill to defend Spain’s minority languages such as the Catalan language.

“Catalonia must make up for lost time in order to face the huge challenges ahead,” Sánchez said, specifically mentioning the record drought Catalonia is suffering.

Aragonès instead put the accent on their agreement to meet again in the first three months of next year to specifically discuss the separatists’ long-held goal of holding an authorized referendum on self-determination.

“All of this is possible because the amnesty has opened up a new phase in the resolution of the political conflict between Catalonia and the Spanish state,” Aragonès said about his renewed push for a vote on independence.

Aragonès recognized that Sánchez’s position is a firm “No” to considering any ballot that could break Spain in two.

“What we need to do in the next four years is work toward an agreement to reinforce the self-government of Catalonia,” Sánchez had said in a separate press conference.

But, Aragonès noted, Sánchez had also said that the amnesty for the Catalans was impossible — until he needed to concede one to stay in power on a new four-year term.

The political leverage wielded by the Catalan separatists comes while their popular support appears to be waning. They performed poorly in the July elections while Sánchez’s Socialists won the most votes in northeast Catalonia, and the massive streets protests for independence common just a few years ago have shrunk as the movement’s leaders scuffle.

Prior to their meeting, both leaders attended the presentation of a new supercomputer, the MareNostrum 5, at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. For Sánchez that was another welcomed example of the normalization of institutional relations that were shattered by their predecessors.