Catalan leader Quim Torra will relaunch on Tuesday his region’s campaign to split from Spain, rebuffing an offer from the central government in Madrid for a referendum on greater autonomy that would fall well short of independence.
Torra, who is due to set out his separatist roadmap at a lecture entitled “Our Moment” on Tuesday evening, was sworn in as regional head in May, replacing Carles Puigdemont who fled to Brussels last year after Madrid removed him from office.
Spain’s new socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has taken a softer line towards Catalonia since taking over from Mariano Rajoy, a conservative, in June, but Torra has shown no sign of shelving his demand for a vote on full independence.
“I will take it to the end,” Torra said in a television interview on Monday. “I will take it as far as the Catalan parliament wants me to go.”
His lecture comes one week ahead of the Catalan national day, the ‘Diada’, which traditionally draws hundreds of thousands of separatists onto the streets. Torra has called for a big turn-out this year to show continued support for Catalan secession.
Sanchez proposed on Monday a referendum on greater Catalan autonomy, but he has firmly…
