Mr Rajoy also defended his refusal to bend on the Catalan issue during his four years as prime minister - a stance which has drawn considerable criticism. He said he had been right to refuse to negotiate a new financing deal for the region as it would have meant less distribution of money from the wealthy northeastern region to poorer parts of Spain, and that he had to stand up to the Catalan government’s defiance of existing laws, such as last year’s attempt to hold a referendum on independence.