Sanchez asks time to negotiate with a Catalonia impatient for its independence

USPA NEWS - The Spanish Government, with its Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, at the head, and the regional government of Catalonia, with its president, Pere Aragones, in the front line, met this Wednesday in Barcelona to regain dialogue between both administrations and move away the danger of secessionism in that territory in the Northeast of Spain. This is one of the objectives of the Spanish Government because, from the Catalan side of the dialogue table, the only thing that matters is that a referendum on self-determination be allowed and that the detained independentists be granted amnesty.

Objectively, this Wednesday was a meeting between a main government, the Spanish, and a subordinate government, the regional of Catalonia. But the Catalan government wants to become independent from Spain and negotiate with Madrid on equal terms. That is why he is in a hurry to obtain permission to hold a self-determination referendum and the official recognition of its result, especially if it is favorable to the interests of the independentists, and to obtain forgiveness for the independentists imprisoned for the secessionist attempt of 2017.

This Wednesday's meeting lasted two hours, longer than initially planned. According to the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, "it was worth it." It did not become a dialogue of the deaf, although almost. The regional government of Catalonia has only one objective, despite the fact that the latest polls reflect the growing rejection of Catalan society to independence. And the Spanish Government is in no rush. "It seems to me common sense to work slowly but without pause and without deadlines," said Pedro Sanchez after the meeting in an appearance before journalists. "This is going to go long," added sources from the delegation of the Government of Spain, while the representatives of Catalonia set a goal of two years.

The Spanish Government hopes to reach an agreement on the transfer of powers that will allow Catalonia to remain in the Spanish State. “Of course we do, we hope that we can reach an agreed solution because that will be positive for Spanish and Catalan society. We are going to need a lot of time,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in this regard. "No rush," he added.

Six ministers make up the Spanish Government delegation that will attend the dialogue table with Catalonia starting this Thursday. Four councilors of the regional government of Catalonia will sit opposite. The independence movement has lost support since 2017 in Catalonia, but the nationalist and independence parties do not renounce to carry out their proposals, which basically consist of creating an independent republic in Catalonia and amnesty for all independence politicians imprisoned in Spanish jails. The goal, a priori, seems difficult to achieve peacefully.