With 24 hours to go to the second round of the investiture debate in the Spanish Congress, Carles Puigdemont has launched a double warning to the candidate, Pedro Sánchez, and the Catalan pro-independence party ERC which plans to carry him into office with its abstention. "Here, there's a people which wants to vote, which wants to decide its future and wants to exercise its right to self-determination. Mr Sánchez hasn't talked about that; well, he's spoken to say it won't happen. So, mistake."

He added that "Pedro Sánchez still hasn't demonstrated that he really wants to dejudicialise the conflict." The exiled Catalan president was speaking to Spanish channel Antena 3 from the European Parliament where today he collected his credentials as an MEP.

🔴 Antena 3 Noticias graba en exclusiva a Puigdemont y Comín paseando por los pasillos del Parlamento Europeo y 'jugueteando' con las taquillas que ahora tienen asignadas: "Hay un pueblo que quiere votar y decidir su futuro"

https://t.co/9aEEI1xQYf — Antena3Noticias (@A3Noticias) 6 de gener de 2020

Puigdemont says that without self-determination there will be no solution to the conflict: "It's more complex than a pact in an office." ERC, the party in coalition with Puigdemont's JxCat in Barcelona, has reached an agreement with Sánchez's PSOE to abstain in tomorrow's vote. With that, Sánchez just gets the simple majority of more 'yes' votes than 'no' votes that he will need to return as prime minister.

The journalist from Antena 3 noted that it was ERC that even sat down for talks with PSOE. Puigdemont said that it is "one more party" and that "a conflict is confused with the negotiations between two parties or governments but everything is very complex."

The interview took place today as Puigdemont and Toni Comín collected their passes in Brussels, showing them satisfied that "it's all fixed". Asked about Oriol Junqueras, he says he trusts he'll be able to travel to Strasbourg next week: "He'll be here with us on the 13th, I'm convinced."