Catalan president Quim Torra has stressed that dialogue with the Spanish government to tackle the independence crisis can’t be “honest” unless it agrees to authorize a referendum to let Catalans decide. In his televised New Year address, aired on Monday evening, Torra doubled down on his criticism against Spanish authorities — but also included statements that could be directed at Esquerra party, his allies in the Catalan government, currently negotiating with the Spanish Socialists to help acting president Pedro Sánchez form a new government.

Torra affirmed his commitment to “dialogue”, but asked for “specific measures” and “political and democratic solutions” to the independence crisis, including a referendum “to give Catalans the last say on the political future for Catalonia”. “Dialogue also means mutual recognition, in this case, a bilateral relationship”, he said referring to the relationship between the Catalan and Spanish governments.

After months of political turmoil and a string of elections that has seen pro-independence parties competing and often criticizing each other, Torra urged to recover the unity that made the October 1 [2017] referendum possible”.