Dialogue with Spain deepens division between Catalan parties

The leader of Catalonia in northeastern Spain has announced that it’s excluding a separatist party in his ruling regional coalition from talks with the central government aimed at solving the tensions over the growing pro-independence sentiment

MADRID -- The leader of Catalonia in northeastern Spain has announced that he is excluding a separatist party in his ruling regional coalition from talks with the central government aimed at solving the tensions over the growing pro-independence sentiment in the region. Catalan President Pere Aragonès also said he will urge Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sànchez to accept a referendum on the region's independence when they meet Wednesday in Barcelona, the Catalan capital. The junior partner in the Catalan regional government, Together for Catalonia (JxCat), had proposed to send to the talks two of its members who had served prison sentences for their role in a tumultuous bid for Catalan independence four years ago. The 2017 secession push in Catalonia galvanized separatist sentiment amid a Spanish crackdown against the organizers of an illegal independence referendum.