Spain’s Acting PM and Opposition Leader Agree to Open Talks on Catalan Crisis - El Pais

Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and opposition leader Pablo Casado of the Popular Party (PP) have agreed to open up a permanent communication channel on the issue of Catalonia, where the independence drive has deeply divided the region.
Such an initiative would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago, and it showcases how the PP has performed a U-turn following its resounding defeat at the general election on April 28, when it won just 66 seats in Congress, down from the 137 it took in 2016.

In this new climate of goodwill, Sánchez and Casado spent 90 minutes discussing the need for deals
Casado, who until recently had described Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) as a "traitor," a "squatter" and "a stand-in," has now adopted a completely different tone.

Until now, the Catalan crisis had created seemingly unbridgeable differences between both men. The last time Sánchez and Casado had met at La Moncloa, on August 2, the latter had walked out with the feeling that he "didn't trust" Sánchez not to yield to what he described as "separatist extortion." And in October, Sánchez officially broke off all talks after Casado called him "an accomplice to coup plotters," alluding to the fact that Sánchez had become the prime minister in June after leading a successful no-confidence vote against then-PM Mariano Rajoy, with support from Catalan separatist parties in Congress./ FocusNews

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