Spanish Socialist Leader Warns Catalan Parties: No Referendum On Self-Determination

Election campaign posters of the Catalan pro-independence party PDECat-Espai CiU with the image of Roger Montañola is the candidate for Barcelona, with the slogan, now it's time, in the city on July 19, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. Voters in Spain head to the polls on July 23 to cast their ballots and elect Spain's next government. PHOTO BY ZOWY VOETEN/GETTY IMAGES 

A warning message from Pedro Sánchez to Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and Junts per Catalunya. On Thursday, the Socialist leader warned the two parties that they should forget about asking for a referendum on self-determination in Catalonia as a condition for again voting for him as prime minister after the July 23rd general election. 

“The pro-independence movement asked both for an amnesty and a referendum, and it has not achieved, nor will it achieve, either of these two things”, said Sánchez, making clear that pardons for political prisoners was not what the pro-independence movement was asking for and that, therefore, Catalans will never be able to decide their political future if he is in the Moncloa palace.