Spain’s Socialists reach agreement with separatist Catalan party on government support
Spain’s socialist party and Catalan separatist party Junts have confirmed that they have reached a deal for Junts to support a Socialist-led government, Reuters reported.
The deal paves the way for Pedro Sánchez to formally become prime minister again in the coming days.
The socialists’ Santos Cerdán is expected to speak soon about the agreement. Junts’ Carles Puigdemont is also expected to speak in Brussels later today.
Key events
Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party is joining Spain’s right in criticising the deal, with Hungarian MEP Balázs Hidvéghi arguing that the rule of law is in danger in Spain.
“Today we live in a democracy worse than yesterday,” the conservative People’s party deputy secretary Miguel Tellado wrote following news of an agreement between the socialists and Junts.
El día de hoy pasará a la historia negra de España.
Sánchez ha entregado nuestra dignidad y nuestro Estado de derecho a cambio de 7 votos.
Hoy vivimos en una democracia peor que ayer.https://t.co/D0aV9upAuF
— Miguel Tellado (@Mtelladof) November 9, 2023
Spain’s Socialists reach agreement with separatist Catalan party on government support
Spain’s socialist party and Catalan separatist party Junts have confirmed that they have reached a deal for Junts to support a Socialist-led government, Reuters reported.
The deal paves the way for Pedro Sánchez to formally become prime minister again in the coming days.
The socialists’ Santos Cerdán is expected to speak soon about the agreement. Junts’ Carles Puigdemont is also expected to speak in Brussels later today.
Spanish socialist party politician Javier Izquierdo pushed back against criticism from the People’s party politician Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who said the reported deal between the socialists and Junts would usher in a “dictatorship”.
“Since they do not know how to accept the result, they invent apocalypses and try to undermine the constitutional legitimacy” of the prime minister, Izquierdo said.
La derecha entiende así la democracia parlamentaria y el art. 99 de la Constitución: si el resultado es un presidente socialista entramos en una dictadura.
Como no saben aceptar el resultado, inventan apocalipsis y tratan de socavar la legitimidad constitucional del presidente. https://t.co/WI0Jju4J2l
— Javier Izquierdo/❤️ (@javizqui) November 9, 2023
Spain’s interim government has dismissed questions from the European Commission on a planned amnesty law that forms the core of an agreement between the socialist party and Catalan separatist Junts to support a new government.
In a polite but blunt letter to EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders, dated yesterday, Spanish minister for the presidency Félix Bolaños García wrote that the Spanish constitution did not allow caretaker administrations to put legislation before parliament.
Any such legislation, he added, would be proposed by political parties. He did, however, offer to provide more details to the commission if and when the amnesty bill was tabled.
The minister also wrote that he hopes that in his next meeting with Reynders the commissioner will learn about the Spanish government’s efforts to overcome the institutional, political and social crisis with Catalonia.
He was responding to a letter from Reynders, who asked Spanish ministers for details on the amnesty plan. The European commissioner wrote:
Serious concerns are now being voiced as regards ongoing discussions on the possible adoption of an amnesty law. While for the time being there is no formal proposal, this has become a matter of considerable importance in the public debate and the Commission has been contacted on this matter, including by a large number of citizens.
I would therefore be grateful if you could provide me with more detailed information, notably as regards the personal, material and temporal scope of this envisaged law.
Sam Jones in Madrid and Lili Bayer in Brussels
Junts president Laura Borràs has spoken out on social media, writing that “the political conflict persists” and that “the solution will be democratic”.
Organització, il·lusió i determinació van fer possible el #9N, un exercici de democràcia que van menystenir però que ens enorgulleix.
El conflicte polític persisteix; nosaltres, també. La solució serà democràtica, sí o sí. pic.twitter.com/tQzTm9N942— Laura Borràs 🎗 (@LauraBorras) November 9, 2023
Sam Jones
Protests against deal plan for Catalan separatists
Thirty-nine people, including 30 police officers, were injured earlier this week outside the Madrid headquarters of Spain’s ruling socialist party amid angry demonstrations against the party’s plans to offer an agreement deal to Catalan separatists to help it secure another term in government.
About 7,000 people gathered outside the offices of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) on Calle de Ferraz on Tuesday night to protest against the proposed agreement.
The demonstration, which was attended by members of the far-right Vox party and by fascist and neo-fascist groups, led to skirmishes between protesters and riot police, who responded with teargas and baton charges.
Video footage of the event showed some participants calling Spain’s acting prime minister, the PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez, a “son of bitch”, a “criminal” and a “dictator”, and referring to Spain’s acting interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska – who is gay – as a “faggot”.
According to Madrid’s emergency services, 39 people – most of them police officers – were injured, while the authorities said seven people had been arrested. The confrontations followed similarly violent scenes outside the PSOE headquarters on Monday night.
The controversial issue of the agreement has emerged in the aftermath of July’s inconclusive general election, in which the conservative People’s party (PP) narrowly beat the PSOE. The PP, however, has been unable to muster the necessary support to form a government, meaning that Sánchez and his allies in the leftwing Sumar alliance have the best chance of forming a government. But they can do so only with the backing of the two main Catalan pro-independence parties, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and Junts (Together).
Both Catalan parties have said their support for getting the PSOE back into office would be contingent on an amnesty for hundreds of people who participated in the failed push to secede from Spain in October 2017. While the ERC has already reached a deal to back Sánchez, negotiations with Junts are dragging on.
Portuguese president set to announce next steps following Costa resignation
Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is expected to make an announcement later today, and could possibly declare his intent to call early elections.
On Tuesday, the country’s socialist prime minister, António Costa, resigned unexpectedly, hours after prosecutors announced that he was under investigation and police searched dozens of addresses, including ministries and his official residence.
The president now needs to decide whether to call new elections. One issue on decision-makers’ minds in the Portuguese state budget for 2024, and there is speculation that the president could delay formally disbanding parliament until the budget is approved.
Conservative party criticises reported deal between Spanish socialists and Junts party
Cuca Gamarra, secretary general of the conservative People’s party, has spoken out against the reported agreement between Spain’s socialist party and the Catalan separatist Junts party for government support.
Gamarra called the deal “shameful and humiliating,” El País reported this morning.
“We have to see how a fugitive from justice is going to appear from a country that is not Spain to tell us Spaniards how we are not going to be able to apply the rule of law,” Gamarra added, referring to exiled Catalan politician Carles Puigdemont.
Un acuerdo vergonzante y humillante.
Un prófugo nos va a decir que él y sus amigos están por encima de la Ley por obra y gracia de los 7 votos que necesita Sánchez.
El PSOE se rinde, pero España no se humilla y el PP no claudica: el 12 a las 12h salimos a defender este país. pic.twitter.com/7RhWnfLsoL
— Cuca Gamarra (@cucagamarra) November 9, 2023
Spanish socialists reach deal with Catalan separatist party: reports
Pedro Sánchez’s socialist party has reached an agreement with the Catalan separatist Junts party, paving the way for the formation of a new government, multiple Spanish media outlets reported this morning.
Junts has said it would back a new government with its seven votes in parliament in exchange for a controversial amnesty law.
If confirmed, the agreement could lead to Sánchez formally becoming prime minister again within days.
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.
It’s a big day for politics in the Iberian peninsula. We will be delving into the latest developments in Spain and Portugal.
Stay tuned and send comments to [email protected].
