The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE)-led government has continued its strategy of concessions to Catalan separatist-minded parties in exchange for parliamentary support.
On June 3, Barcelona officially declared the creation of an External Action and European Union Corps aimed at creating a body of civil servants specialised in international relations who will be posted across the regional government’s 21 legations abroad.
The Generalitat de Catalunya had attempted this measure in the past via councilwoman Meritxell Serret, who later joined President of the Together for Catalonia (Junts) party Carles Puigdemont in exile in Belgium.
The Catalan regional government had previously established its own Diplocat, or Catalonia Council of Public Diplomacy, only to see it later closed by the Madrid central government led by centre-right People’s Party (PP), accusing it of unconstitutionality.
The current Socialist national government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has relied on friendly separatist far-left forces in parliament as well as Catalan regional separatist parties for support since the 2023 snap elections.
President of the Government of Catalonia Salvador Illa – also the head of the Catalan branch of the PSOE – has been the main intermediary between the Madrid Socialists and regional forces, co-ordinating separatist demands with support for the Spanish Government under Sánchez.
