Spanish socialist heavyweights woo Catalan leader in Brussels

Spain’s Socialist leaders are on course to accept the demands of Catalan separatists to give incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a second run at the premiership, with the PSOE’s third-in-command Santos Cerdán and Spain’s S&D leader Iratxe García meeting Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in the European Parliament and Sánchez himself trying to convince party members of the move in a letter on Monday.

Sánchez needs the support of the Catalan nationalist parties to renew his term as prime minister, with the investiture vote expected as early as 8 November, even though the official deadline to form a government is 27 November.

With growing concerns over the required amnesty law among socialist voters, the letter intended to convince the 172,000 PSOE members of the party´s rapprochement with Catalan nationalists as the government strategy, including the coalition agreement with leftist Sumar and the support of Catalan and Basque nationalist forces, will be subject to an internal referendum starting on Monday and ending on Saturday.

In the letter, Sánchez explains that to reach the required majority, further progress is needed to overcome the wounds “resulting from a crisis [with Catalonia] that we socialists inherited [from Partido Popular, PP/EPP] when we came to government”, while also inviting party members to participate in the referendum.

In Sánchez’s view, the possible amnesty law is necessary “in the name of Spain, in the interest of Spain and in defence of coexistence among Spaniards”.

“I am convinced that the amnesty [law] will contribute to this [a true reconciliation]. Experience tells us that it is the right path, as accredited by the success of measures adopted in the last legislature [about the pardon of several separatist leaders in June 2021]. Measures that have undeniably contributed to improving coexistence in Catalonia”, Sánchez assured.

EU socialists’ president gets involved

Spain’s Socialists will not only have to convince their base, however, as the demands of Puigdemont’s JuntsxCat and the Republican Left of Catalonia go beyond the amnesty law and include self-determination, fiscal powers, further budgetary autonomy and control of the region’s railway system.

In the run-up to the concluding negotiations, PSOE´s Cerdán and the president of the S&D group in the European Parliament, Iratxe García, met with Puigdemont in his parliamentary office on Monday.

All party leaders enjoyed “the good atmosphere of the meeting and noted that the negotiations were moving in the right direction”, a note following the meeting reads.

Talks will follow in the coming days, the note concludes.

If Sánchez fails, Spain will be headed to another election round, possibly on 14 January 2024.

(Fernando Heller, Max Griera | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es and Euractiv.com)