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Spanish PM seeks new dialogue with Catalan separatists

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met the head of the regional government of Catalonia Thursday evening in Barcelona to try to renew dialogue with the separatists who govern the wealthy northeastern region.

Dozens of protesters chanted “Independence!” as Sanchez arrived at the Pedralves Palace for talks with Catalan president Quim Torra.

The two men shook hands before going inside for the start of the meeting, which comes a day before Sanchez holds a cabinet meeting in Barcelona.

It is the first meeting between the two since Madrid talks in July a month after Sanchez came to power.

The gathering comes amid simmering tensions between Madrid and Catalonia’s separatist government since the wealthy northeastern region’s failed bid to break away from Spain last year.

“Our positions are very far apart, this is a reality we are all aware of,” said Catalan government spokeswoman Elsa Artadi, who stated there needs to be a “stable mechanism” for dialogue.

“We can’t advance if we have a meeting in July, the following one in December, if there isn’t a formal way to advance,” she added.

Sanchez took office in June after winning a surprise vote of no-confidence against the previous conservative government with the support of Catalan separatist parties.

But the separatists withdrew their support for his minority government after public prosecutors in November called for prison sentences of up to 25 years for 18 Catalan separatist leaders facing trial early next year over Catalonia’s failed separatist bid.

– ‘Invented grievances’ –

In October 2017, Catalan leaders pushed ahead with a controversial independence referendum despite a court ban, then declared independence on the basis of the results.

Madrid responded by deposing the Catalan executive, dissolving the regional parliament and calling early elections in Catalonia where separatist parties renewed their majority.

Sanchez initially adopted a more conciliatory tone towards Catalonia than his predecessor.

But his position hardened after far-right party Vox, which takes a tough line against Catalan separatism, won seats for the first time in a December 2 regional parliament poll in Andalusia, a Socialist stronghold.

During a recent debate, in parliament Sanchez compared Catalonia’s secession drive to Britain’s campaign to leave the European Union. Both movements were built on “a tale of invented grievances, magnified by manipulation”, he said.

In a sign ties may be warming again, Catalan separatist parties on Thursday voted in favour of the central government’s deficit targets underpinning the 2019 budget in the Spanish parliament.

But the separatist parties stressed that this “gesture” did not mean that they would back the budget itself.

– Protests planned –

Separatists are still reeling from the steps Spain’s central government took to block Catalonia’s independence bid. Pro-independence groups have urged their supporters to rally in Barcelona on Friday to protest Sanchez’s visit.

Friday’s cabinet meeting comes a year to the day after Madrid held its snap elections in Catalonia after blocking the move for independence and many separatists have called the timing of the meeting “a provocation”.

Grassroots separatist organisation ANC, which has previously staged massive pro-independence street demonstrations in Barcelona, has urged supporters to block the streets of Barcelona with their vehicles and to march on Friday.

A radical separatist group, the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDRs), has vowed to prevent Sanchez’s cabinet meeting from going ahead on Friday.

“We will be ungovernable on December 21,” the group said in a tweet alongside a picture of Spain’s King Felipe VI on fire.

Thousands of police will be deployed to provide security in Barcelona amid fears extreme elements of the independence movement could foment violence.

Sanchez’s cabinet will approve a 22-percent hike in the minimum wage, which the government has stressed will also benefit Catalan workers.

Against this backdrop, four jailed Catalan separatist leaders awaiting trial over their role in last year’s separatist bid, on Thursday called off a hunger strike they began at the beginning of December.

But in a separate development, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said Thursday that he and five other separatist leaders being held on rebellion charges in Spain, have filed a UN complaint against Madrid for rights violations.